Swedish photographer Fanny Rådvik brings nature into her home through materials and colors. The everyday contrasts of nature and the imprints of time on materials feed the aesthetician's creativity and inspiration.
In my everyday work as a photographer, I tend to get inspired by contrasts; in materials, light and shadow, gradients of color, new versus old. To me, nature is the grand master of delivering contrasts. Look around and you’ll find it everywhere. A flower in a strong primary color facing a pale concrete wall, a freshly cut piece of wood standing against an aged plank.
Natural materials will let life show, that’s why I love to bring them into my home; both as furniture and as wild branches or delicate seashells picked by the sea.
My home is a modest canvas for nature's colors and contrasting qualities, I want them to play the lead. If you think about it, every color already exists in nature. Enhancing their beauty by picking up splashes of burnt tones and primary colors in art and textiles, we mimic nature and, with time, elements merge together and become a natural habitat for a human to live in.
At the moment, I’m particularly drawn to pale green tones. Spring has just arrived and everywhere you look there’s a harmonious green backdrop with strong splashes of color from all the flowers that bloom. It brings to mind modernist paintings.
That kind of green also works beautifully with wood and, as we love wooden furniture, it was the perfect color in our home. Sometimes I get asked if it’s stressful to live with wooden furniture, as it tends to scratch and stain easily. To me, a scratch is part of the biography of an item, and during its lifetime it will start to hold stories and memories.
Surrounding yourself with pieces with natural qualities, as in material and craftsmanship, will trigger creativity and a sense of calm and safety – because they contain life.
Fanny Rådvik is a Swedish photographer for whom photography is the perfect way to channel her academic competence into craftsmanship and self-expression. Fanny's painterly imagery whispers stories of bygone days, creating a bridge between the present and the past. Today, Fanny photographs for books, editorials and commercial publications.
