When she photographs, Nele Van Canneyt steps out of her everyday reality: not only does she leave her concerns behind, not only does she travels to a faraway place, but at the same time she creates her own context, a dream reality to realize her imagination. Her dream reality is the catalyst of a subtle subcutaneous reaction: emotions colour the perception and images of the photographer and through what she sees she starts off on an inner journey. Her act is liberating, even emancipatory; she had to and would break through the prejudices – don’t we all recognize the well-intentioned phrase “Is it really sensible to go out on your own to take pictures”? This conquered freedom liberates her senses: she becomes receptive to the impressions and she opens herself to the creation of a new oeuvre.
While wandering, she encounters her images, the superlative of coincidence, another word for serendipity. No mise en scène, no manipulation, just reality. Any photographer can tell you that there are several options for taking an image. The most obvious approach is to capture the scene in such a way that you can see at a glance what it is depicted or what is happening. However, Van Canneyt opts for a different strategy: in her images, characters walk or look to a point outside the frame, and she frequently also omits the context of her photo. Without those essential keys, the significance of the image is hidden. Her pictures become film stills, a fragment from a story that invites the viewer to reflect on what preceded the action or what happens after.
Like van Ostaijen, Nele Van Canneyt breathes the spirit of her time – she associates impressions with unfinished stories, she composes with images as if they were fragments of music and melodies, or edits a film like an editor at the editing table. Here, she opts for soothing harmony, there, it is Tom Waits who dominates with dissonant sounds. Her unfinished film “As If the Day Never Existed” takes us along and leaves us room for our interpretation and our truth.
(Fragment out of the book essay)