Amicale

RH39 Photography is the result of two creative minds, Hakob Khodedanian and Rachel Van der Beek. Each of them was inspired by photography on their own and their encounter in 2021 gave birth to a common project and an approach where each complements the other. Each photograph is the result of a common work, whether it is the idea, the shooting, or the post-production. 

Hakob is Armenian, born in Russia in 1995, and has lived in France since the age of thirteen. He studied international trade and management and currently works in the automotive industry. He would like to make more room for photography and video in his professional life and plans to make it his main activity. 
Being behind his camera is his way to be in the moment; to observe and contemplate. It is his way of taking us with him into his world, into his head, without any words. His first camera worked on film, and he wanted to show others what was going on in his head, his inner world; to be able to show them something he was unable to explain in words. Having often found himself in situations where he didn't know the language, finding a different way to express himself through photography seemed simpler, more direct. He sincerely wanted someone else to enter his world with him, and that's what he found in photography: a way to share, to travel into each other's imaginations. 

Rachel is Belgian and Dutch, born in France in 1997 and raised partly in Belgium. She studied law in France, where she is currently a student lawyer. Passionate about human rights, she had the chance to do a 6-month internship at the European Court of Human Rights and plans to continue her professional career in this field. 
Photography called her at the age of fifteen when she saved up to buy her first reflex camera. Since then, her camera has become her partner on trips, parties, walks, etc. With her camera, she finds her place as an observer, a contemplator. But it is also with her camera that she expresses herself. When she met Hakob, photography took a definitive place in her life, in their life. Sharing this passion together has pushed her to learn more and to always improve herself in order to share this passion and make it available to as many people as possible. 
Today they live together in Schiltigheim, near Strasbourg, and work together on this common project which allows them to share and complete their creativity. 
Photography allows them to come back to the present moment, contemplate what surrounds them, and share this message by highlighting the beauty of each moment. It is an invitation to open up to oneself, to life, by contemplating every detail, because every detail counts.

The exhibition is centered on the present moment and includes 17 photographs printed on aluminium in 35x40 cm, 40x60 cm, 75x50 cm and 110x50 cm format, with the impressions and comments of the two artists in relation to each of them. 
The name of the exhibition "Here & Now" focuses on the present moment, the space that is created by the choice to pause in order to be able to consciously consider details that touch our physical, mental, or emotional feelings and where time stops, if only for a few seconds, to admire or rediscover the beauty of what is. 
The photographs represent our daily contemplations, bringing out the extraordinary in ordinary moments, to invite everyone to be more present in each moment of their lives, because each moment is extraordinary in itself. Thus, the work in post-production focuses on luminosity and cropping but does not alter reality in order to underline the fact that reality as it is and as it is perceived by everyone is already perfect in itself, provided that one is present.