On the fourth and final day of Unseen Photo Fair, the Unseen Speakers' Corner continued with photographers Isabelle Wenzel (1982) and Andy Sewell. They were joined by Caroline von Courten at the MC Theater on the Westergasfabriek grounds, who asked questions regarding where they find inspiration for their work and the 'unseen' aspects of their work.

Isabelle Wenzel
Acrobat-turned-photographer, Isabelle Wenzel (1982), started the discussion with a short video, Building Images, that she created for the Virtueel Museum Zuidas after graduating from the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in 2010. The video is an introduction to her body of work, which is closely related to performance art. Wenzel has chosen the medium of photography for its ability to "capture the perfect moment. It is able to freeze time, and often results in something magical." The perfect moment that Wenzel is referring to are her photographs that focus mainly on the physical form of the human body. She often depicts the female body in the most impossible positions. Often, Wenzel works by herself: She presses the self-release and has only 10 seconds to get into position to take the shot (she sometimes does this up to 50 times per photograph!)

In her work, you can see the traces of performance art, of her former acrobatic training, of her fascination with movement and power symbols and her obsession with the perfect moment. When asked about where she finds inspiration for her work, one of the Youtube clips Wenzel shared was the video of 14 year old Romanian gymnast, Nadia Comaneci, who at the 1976 Montreal Olympics was the first gymnast to score a perfect 10.0. "As an artist, you want to try out new things and do something no one has done before," said Wenzel. Work by Isabelle Wenzel was presented by Seelevel Gallery at Unseen Photo Fair.

Andy Sewell
Self-taught British photographer, Andy Sewell, presented his first self-published book, The Heath, of London's northern park, Hampstead Heath. Sewell turned to photography after studying engineering, and after working primarily on commissions, he decided he needed to work on his own. The result? The Heath. Hampstead Heath has been "preserved in a state of wilderness." It is this paradox that Sewell wanted to explore - "I wanted to explore this paradox of managed wilderness. I wanted to explore what we perceive as natural. And the distinction between natural and human, two categories that don't have much meaning, and are actually intertwined." The work has been presented in a book, as photobooks are "what photography means to me," explains Sewell. "My main nourishment comes from photobooks."

When asked about where he finds inspiration for his work, Sewell shared the Mary Oliver poem, Entering the Kingdom. Much like poetry, he commented, his work "is something that doesn't across immediately. I like things that you want to come back to, that you can't put your finger on, things that are compelling but you don't know why they are compelling." Sewell also commented that he is drawn to the medium of photography because of its limitations - "Photography requires the viewer to bring something to the work." Photography, to him, is "ambiguous. It is one moment in time, taken completely out of context. It is mute." His thoughts on photography are best exemplified by the Paul Graham quote, "when you form the meaningless world into photographs, then form those photographs into a meaningful world." Work by Andy Sewell was presented by Robert Morat Galerie at Unseen Photo Fair.

For a full overview of the lectures and other festival items, visit the Programme page. More photographs from Unseen can be found on our Facebook page.