Biography

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In 1998, Erik Hijweege (1963) decided to follow his heart and change his career to become a photographer. In his personal work Hijweege has shown himself to be an explorer, fascinated by nature, its romantic beauty and its overwhelming power.

After three expeditions in Africa, he published Noir, a book of photographs of members of San tribes and African albinos. Hijweege started chasing big weather and tornadoes in 2006. This resulted in his first international solo show in New York and the Supercell book.

In 2013 Hijweege started using the 19th century wet plate collodion process for his work. This first project with glass positives focused on a fragile subject. Inspired by the IUCN Red List, Hijweege creatively photographed endangered species preserved in ice. The series was exhibited at the Natural History Museum in Rotterdam raising awareness for the issue. The accompanying book, titled Endangered was published in 2014. New Habitat, started in 2017, can be seen as a follow up to the Endangered project. This series is about relocating endangered species, whose natural environment is no longer secure, to safer grounds. The New Habitat tintypes were also exhibited at the Rotterdam Natural History Museum.

Within the Sublime Nature theme waterfalls play an important role. Over the years Hijweege travelled to the largest waterfalls on earth. This resulted in the Nishikigoi project, which combines his waterfall tintypes with a poetic Chinese legend.

Hijweege’s passion for “the Sublime” and love of nature come together in his Nibelungen project, featuring images of thousands of starlings whirling in the sky before they go to sleep, creating stormlike clouds. The Nibelungen project resulted in the publication Swirling Starlings and exhibitions at the Natuurmuseum Fryslân and the Flower Art Museum, both in the Netherlands.

The Uncharted project started in 2015. It presents landscapes as early explorers must have seen them. These spectacular vistas were photographed with a Petzval Lens based on a 19th-century design. Using the wet plate process, Hijweege again created a series of tintypes.

For a sequel to his Supercell series, Hijweege looked for a combination of sublime nature and the human element. This resulted in his latest series, Remote, a record of dwellings situated in grand nature.

Monographs

• Noir, Uitgeverij de Verbeelding, 2004
• Human, Blurb 2009
• Supercell, Hatje Cantz, 2011
• Holland, Uitgeverij de Kunst, 2012
• Een eigen gezicht, Ella Editions, 2014
• Endangered, Ella Editions, 2014
• Spreeuwendans / Swirling Starlings, Waanders Uitgevers 2023