Bedroom - 2, 2016

The work of Christiaan Bastiaans (1951, the Netherlands) revolves around the human condition. With it, Bastiaans tries to create awareness for those most vulnerable in a society calibrated towards power and success: the people who struggle to find their paths in life, the alienated and the displaced. These photographs – ‘Bedroom-2’ and ‘Corridor-2’ - were taken in Kings County Hospital Center, a psychiatric center in Brooklyn, New York. The stark room and corridor are devoid of all life and exude a sense of isolation and alienation, feelings that are heightened by Bastiaans’ use of metallic paper for printing the photographs. “I do not want to impose an opinion with my work,” says Bastiaans, “I do want to inspire people to think about social issues.”