"Since 2014, I have walked along the Danube, from the Black Sea inland, gathering what the river leaves behind—fragments of nature overlooked or discarded. Leaves, seeds, bits of silted sand—each object quietly bearing witness to time’s passing. When held and examined, they become more than remnants. They become traces of life.
This work is not about collecting, but about noticing. A broken flower, once trampled or forgotten, gains presence under the lens of a microscope. What seemed like decay reveals intricate patterns, delicate threads, even a kind of spirit. Arranged in measured grids, these details resist disappearance. They hold still, if only for a moment.
The river moves constantly, shaping and erasing in the same gesture. In these images, I try to make room for both loss and recognition. Not to stop time, but to sit briefly inside it—where something fragile can become luminous, and something ordinary, almost sacred."
Joost Vandebrug