Jannike Stelling’s latest series captures shape, colour and cleanliness

Date
31 July 2017

Jannike Stelling is a photographer with a curious eye for all things colourful and pristine. Her latest offering Stages depicts a pastel-hued journey she embarked on in South Africa. “It was my first time visiting this country,” she says. “The city had just been cleaned up for the upcoming soccer World Cup — everything looked extraordinary clean.”

“I went there with my former boss to work for a photography commercial. I only had ten days to fill up with initial impressions….there were a lot of photographers and models from all over the world seeking beautiful sceneries for their own projects. It gave me a feeling of being on some kind of stage. I describe this feeling as the ‘ambivalence in the pictures of South Africa’, which is the subject of my work.”

Stages is the result of Jannike’s ability to translate personal influences into images. No hidden meanings or interpretations have been embedded within the pictures; rather, the series showcases a beautiful occurrence, demonstrating flair with presenting shape and colour. “I have a strong desire to see things arranged and clean. I can’t work in chaos and I transfer this condition into my images,” she says. “I like things to be sorted — in my head, chaos often rules.”

Having in fact failed art class in school, Jannike only took on photography by chance after accidentally ending up in an advertising photography studio. “From there on I was curious what the world of photography would offer me,” she says. “All the different experiences I encountered has introduced work for several photographers, picture editors, universities, family, friends and traveling. These experiences have formed me into the photographer I am at the moment.”

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Jannike Stelling

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Jannike Stelling

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Jannike Stelling

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Jannike Stelling

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Jannike Stelling

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Jannike Stelling

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Jannike Stelling

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Jannike Stelling

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Jannike Stelling

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About the Author

Ayla Angelos

Ayla is a London-based freelance writer, editor and consultant specialising in art, photography, design and culture. After joining It’s Nice That in 2017 as editorial assistant, she was interim online editor in 2022/2023 and continues to work with us on a freelance basis. She has written for i-D, Dazed, AnOther, WePresent, Port, Elephant and more, and she is also the managing editor of design magazine Anima. 

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