Rianne Noordegraaf finds inspiration in nature and finds ways to present the work with a strong sense of wonder, reminiscent of old analytical botanical illustrations. Her images are simplified to the core without over-simplifying—a hard thing to do—that can only be achieved by a careful, long process of art creation. But it pays off. Her work is exhibited internationally and won the Black and White International Photo Award 2025.

Rianne, born in Hoorn in 1973, is candid about her early life: up until her thirties, she was creatively lost. She knew she had a creative fire inside but couldn't land on the right form or tone. The searching stopped the instant she got a camera. "The moment I held a camera in my hands, everything clicked...I finally knew," she said.

She didn't become an overnight success, though. Rianne put in a lot of work, she tells me. She credits her time with the famous glamour photographer Govert de Roos for building her skills and confidence. She also tells me about lots of self-study, courses, and inner reflections. She brought examples of her own old work: beautiful, nice little booklets, one with portraits of what seemed to be artists, and one with a project she had done with Dutch artist and designer Judith Osborn.

But the real 'aha' moment (the one that defined her current art) happened during the strange times of the pandemic. "The COVID-19 period actually brought me to the exact place I had been seeking for years," Rianne explains. She was totally captivated by the plant studies of Karl Blossfeldt, with their strong sculptural shapes. She realized: "I want to photograph botanical objects like I photograph people, capturing the character and essence." It proved to be a turning point in her art career.

Blossfeldt's work wasn't just interesting; it was a wake-up call. "His studies were like a lightning bolt. The works showed strong, stone-like shapes, exactly how I felt it," she says. It was the visual language (the look) that resonated so deeply. That spark led directly to her Wonderlijk series. "The moment I finished those first images, I had zero doubt," Rianne recalls. "It gave me goosebumps because I realized I was finally speaking my true artistic language."

Then the conversation leads into her approach to photography. Her goal isn't just to document a plant; it's to create an experience for the viewer, a moment of pure, focused wonder. She wants her art to be a portal that pulls people away from their everyday rush.

"I love it when people look at my work and just forget time and everything else around them," Rianne explains. Just as she discovers new details while creating the image, she hopes the audience will do the same. This often leads to a moment of confusion and curiosity: "What am I actually looking at?"

She shows me her prints of her body of work Wonderlijk and tells me about the journey from the digital file to the final physical object. This involves the choice of paper, the printing, the framing, the details of her printing process, working with professional printers, and how the size of her work influences that process. And she tells it with passion. "Just like every other step in the process, printing is hugely important," she states. She has been fortunate to find collaborators who share her dedication to precision. "I'm incredibly happy that Herman van de Haar came into my life; I've learned so much about printing from this master craftsman."

She sees paper not just as a surface, but as a component that adds dimension, feeling, and depth. The prints she shows are on Japanese paper; she has fallen in love with this specific material. "The combination with my current work is just beautiful," she explains. She loves it not only for the look but for the ethos behind it. "Not only is the feel perfect, but I appreciate how the paper is traditionally made and is more environmentally friendly."

Other passionate specialists she also enjoys working with include Eric Levert, who is specialized in creating intimate and sensitive etchings of her work, Rogier Houwen and Jochem Doerrleben from Temple Studio. "They are one of the few who specialize in Japanese paper, they know what they are doing, it is truly wonderful to work with them.", she says.

Rianne isn't without ambitions. She hopes the work will become a book in the future, but she also hopes for a solo exhibition or one with a small number of artists. She'd want to include complementary art forms, like sculpture or textile work, chosen specifically so that the combination "works to strengthen the overall feeling." She pictures a space with inherent character. "I see it in an atmospheric, perhaps even historical, building that radiates peace, warmth, and silence," she says. It has to be a place where the artworks and space become one, where the artworks will truly fit, and where everything is perfect, with an exclamation mark!

As I ask every photographer I interview, I have to ask her about which other photographers, artists, or creative people she loves or is inspired by at the moment.

"I've been a long-time fan of Stephan Vanfleteren, Peter Lindbergh, and Anton Corbijn. They create incredibly powerful portraits that really resonate with me because they feel so authentic and raw. Beyond the portraitists, Edward Weston (along with Blossfeldt) is a huge source of inspiration.

And for contemporary photographers I love to follow, there's Paul Kooiker, Albarran Cabrera, Paul Cupido, Antoine Kohl, thefinalview (Sayuri Ichida), and Kyle Hoffmann. Their unique perspectives really keep me motivated!"