Henrik Purienne’s photography has the unmistakable mixture of ethereal natural and physical beauty, with a warm and often exotic ambience. All of this is interwoven with domestic and voyeuristic sexual imagery, which converge at a point between provocation and profundity. Most often the backdrop is a sunny domestic situation, engendering tender and nostalgic connotations; we can see and feel the heat through his images. Purienne’s portraits, both personal and commercial, show the features and gaze of his subjects in a light that reveals flaws and blemishes. It shows the natural untouched beauty of the people he portrays.
With Holiday, his second volume of photography, Purienne presents a series of holiday outings with friends and girlfriends captured between his native South Africa, the Mediterranean, and his new home, Los Angeles. Shot exclusively in his trademark 35 mm format, Purienne’s images often include imperfections that belie the sophistication of his technique, resulting in images at once reminiscent of the past and the future
