It’s here: Holiday, the Purienne edit

1. His 35mm photos
After his Italian art teacher gave him the skeleton key to Purienne’s art school’s dark room (so he could hang out in there after hours) he would do what he has mastered through the years: developing moments captured with old, lo-fi 35mm cameras. Purienne likes the beauty of old school, imperfect photos – they probably remind him of the photos he took when he ‘borrowed’ his mom’s camera. Purienne nowadays perfectly captures the flaws and blemishes of his subjects – his trademark 35mm camera is perfect for creating a natural photo.

2. His beautiful models
Purienne’s first love was a deaf girl that he met through his father’s work, a school for the deaf. Later, he would have lots of other girlfriends, whom he photographed a lot. His first book, Purienne, consists of summer holiday snapshots and portraits – he shot his girlfriends in various stages of undress, often at at the side of his pool. In an interview with the photographer the ‘Lovers and Drifters Club’ once Purienne what he looks for in a model. He answered: “An iconic quality. A sense of adventure. Trouble.”

3. His sunny environments
Every February, Amsterdam’s weather sucks. So when we can escape the bad weather in a sun-drenched book like ‘Holiday’, we can’t be more happy. Like we said before, Henrik Purienne loves to shoot his voyeuristic photos on the side of a pool or on the beach – the perpetual warmth he captures in his pictures (taken in South Africa, the Mediterranean and Los Angels) lets us easily forget Amsterdam’s rain.

4. His vintage tones
“Purienne – Very 1970s Playboy meets 1980s National Geographic.” – a striking quote from C-Heads Magazine, describing Purienne’s work. Because of his 35mm format, the exotic environments and his sexual and provocative models, ‘Holiday’ appeals to the ‘hedonistic’ hippie culture of the sultry 60s and the 70s. Even though not everyone at MENDO has experienced those era’s, we’re quite happy with the sunny day dream ‘Holiday’ provides.