Meta Scheltes
Meeting

2007
photography | c-print in frame
76,5 × 65,5 cm

The triptych Meeting (Ontmoeting) by Meta Scheltes is the result of numerous conversations that the artist conducted with students.
Here, she takes the approach of the building in its role as a meeting place rather than as an educational institution, so she has chosen the places where students often meet, such as the walkways and stairwells.

The thing that determined which ideas she decided to develop for her series were the feelings which stuck in her mind about the students and the building. Beforehand she made sketches of the images she had in mind, and during her visits she sought out her models, who were students from different departments.
When asked about her models she says, “In the first three seconds I have to get the feeling ‘You’re the one’, otherwise I don’t photograph them. They are always people that I think are photogenic.”

She takes photographs immediately, during that first encounter, but sometimes a second session is needed to arrive at the final picture.
Scheltes uses flash to create the image she had in mind beforehand – by combining existing light with flash, the models, and the encounter, become more or less isolated from the environment.

Exactly what the students are discussing or doing remains ambiguous. Scheltes leaves that up to the viewer to decide.