In the Secret Lives of Colour (2016), author Kassia St. Clair recounts the remarkable story of Prussian Blue. It was discovered by accident in the early 1700s, when a paint manufacturer ran out of an ingredient for red pigment. It has since been used extensively in the art world, by everyone from Claude Monet to Anish Kapoor, as well as in pioneering “blueprints” by Sir John Herschel and Anna Atkins. A similar shade is central to Marie Dreezen’s The Bluest of Days, an eerie collection in which sandy beaches – rendered exclusively in blue – appear floodlit by spectral shapes. Windows, projected by an unknown force, appear across empty dunes. There is a feeling of estrangement; these locations, usually overrun with people, are barren. The series also captures branches, grasses and flowers against dark backgrounds – echoing Atkins’ 19th century botanical studies. Dreezen is an Antwerp-based photographer with a keen eye for “mundane and absurd” situations. mariedreezen.com | @mariedreezen
Image credits: Marie Dreezen, The Bluest of Days (2021). Image courtesy of the artist.
