Cara Louwman Photography

In her photography, collages and assemblages Cara Louwman (The Netherlands, 1967) depicts memories, (family) history and the fragile beauty of transience. Her images are inspired by cabinets of curiosities: collections of objects that hold stories, emotions and fragments of identity. Many of the objects she uses in her photography once belonged to her ancestors, carrying with them the wight of history an the intimacy of personal memory. From this perspective, she elevates the everyday into images that are poetic, layered, and timeless.

“We are the sum of our experiences uniquely defined by our memories. Sometimes a simple object can summup the recollection. We spend a lifetime gathering a collection of treasured objects and symbols. Each of them holding a tiny fragment of our identity.”

Deeply influenced by the luminous Dutch light of the old masters, Cara creates photographs that radiate stillness and intimacy. Her work invites the viewer to pause and reflect, revealing hidden layers of meaning, tension, or beauty that only become visible upon closer attention. 

In July 2017,  she graduated from the University of Applied Photography (Fotovakschool). She then attended a one-year BredaPhoto MasterClass Course (2018) with photographer Jan Rosseel, and later completed the post academic programs ‘Photobook’ (2019) and ‘Story development and impact’ (2021) at the Fotoacademie.

In 2020 she won the prestigious Siena Creative Photo Award for her series Rooting. In that same year, she was Book Photographer of the Year with her book Rooting at the Moscow International Photo Awards. In 2019, she won the first prize for her series Wonder Room at the Tokyo International Foto Awards and her work was selected for Gup New Photography Talent.

Since the beginning of her career, Cara's photographs have been exhibited widely at museums, art fairs, galleries and photo festivals, including Frauen Museum Wiesbaden, Museum de Fundatie, KunstRai, Naarden The Art Fair, Affordable Art Fair, Galerie Kunst+Co, Galerie de Ploegh, Galerie Joseph le Marais in Paris, Anima Mundi Festival during Venice Art Biennale, BredaPhoto Festival, Kamp Amersfoort and Alliance Francaise Gurgaon in India.

Her photobook Rooting is included in the collections of the Rijksmuseum, Nederlands Fotomuseum and Royal Library.

You can reach me at mail@caralouwman.nl

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Thank you for your interest in my photography.