Critically acclaimed for her psychological landscape images, Awoiska van der Molen started out by photographing urban environments in 2003, shortly after graduating from art school. Now, more than twenty years on, she once again presents us with understated black-and-white photos of built-up environments that reveal traces of human presence. This time she zooms in on illuminated windows in the darkness of the evening.

The contours of this new direction in her work gradually emerged around 2015. ‘When I began photographing landscapes, there was still the occasional house in the frame. Back then, I slowly had to part ways with built-up areas. Now it’s actually the opposite.’ Departing the wilderness, she ventures into small villages and gazes upon windows behind which lives unfold.

Van der Molen encounters these windows while exploring the southern islands of Japan, where houses are constructed using traditional methods and materials. The walls are thin due to the mild climate. She is struck by the fact that apart from the din of a television, the soft shuffle of socks on echoing floors, or the clatter from a kitchen, she only hears the monotonous hum of air con. No heated discussions, no loud laughter, no sensual sighs. This is the first of her many travels through Japan to discover why she is so intrigued by these windows.

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