"When I’m alone in the nature of the island, I feel at my happiest..."—David van Dartel

Elliott Gallery is proud to announce the inaugural solo exhibition by the extremely talented, emerging Dutch Artist David van Dartel.

‘Op Vlieland’ is his striking series, an ongoing body of work taken on the rugged West Frisian Island in the Wadden Sea, The Netherlands.

Having visited Vlieland since childhood van Dartel has a deep affinity with the Island and has been photographing it from an early age, during all seasons - from the endless summers to bitterly cold and stormy winter days. This special relationship with Vlieland is reflected in this work, where he combines his love of the island with a celebration of those close to him, both friends and family.

He gently portrays his subjects in these breathtaking portraits, self portraits and landscapes - beguilingly intertwining their beauty.

“This series could be described as a kind of diary of experiences on an island, but experiences that have evolved into a carefully styled diary," says van Dartel.

Van Dartel grew up in the Dutch countryside, in a small village in Overijssel. There he started experimenting with self-portraiture in the fields and forests around him and nurturing his fascination for landscape photography.

This love of portrait and landscape photography naturally evolved and has resulted in him combining people and landscapes within his images - creating gentle, but also often by contrast, dramatically atmospheric and striking photographs.

“Many of my photographs show a landscape with just a single person in it, I think this is because I want to show how I feel when I’m alone on the island, alone in the beautiful nature of Vlieland." 

"When I’m alone in the nature of the island, I feel at my happiest and I really cherish and treasure these moments." says van Dartel

David van Dartel is a young emerging Dutch Photographer who works commercially with portraiture and fashion commissions. He has also assisted legendary music photographer Gered Mankowitz.

His work has been included in various publications including ID Magazine, GUP and The Daily Indie and and is fast attracting attention worldwide and is already in private collections in Canada, Spain, Israel, The USA, The Netherlands and Switzerland.

All of David van Dartel's photographs are available to purchase. 

Please contact Elliott Gallery for further information & to see more images.