Outside the lines | The poetic photography by Anne Nobels
One day, just out of nowhere, Anne Nobels’s dad said to her: “I’m so sorry for how my generation has afflicted the world and now you will have to suffer the consequences”. It made a big impact on her, it scared her to be honest. She was around eighteen years old and although she knew it wasn’t going all that well with the environment it didn’t really resonate with her until that moment.
The idea for her series “Outside the lines” came from her need to look at the positive side of her panic disorder. “I was in a dark place and wanted to get out. So I forced myself to look at it from a different perspective. What did it bring me? My senses were heightened because of my condition and although it was hard to deal with, it also seemed to make my life more beautiful. Everything was more intens, and this has impact on how I perceive my surroundings now.”
“Outside the lines” has a story as a hole, not every single photograph has a story on it’s own. With this series Anne Nobels shows that negative things that you can’t really controle can have positive effects if you are willing to look for them. “What you see in the images is the positive side effect my disorder has on me. It literally makes my surroundings look other-worldly”.
For this series she drove around in a 20 km radius from her house and looked for (mostly) untouched nature. Most images are made with a 10second timer, for some she used a remote control. When walking around she really listened to her gut and emotions and tried to translate what she was feeling into an image. The poses came naturally. Most of them are linked to an emotion. She hopes this series inspires others to see that what makes you vulnerable is what makes you human and if you are ashamed of that side, you are oppressing a big part of yourself. “That shame stands in the way of our happiness. We can’t be perfect, we can’t do everything we want and we certainly can’t do everything right. We all have boundaries and that’s ok. It’s good to test those boundaries and fail. It’s how you grow”.
