The distinctive style of photographer and visual artist Ruud van Empel has evolved through an ongoing exploration of the tension between the camera and digital technology. He digitally dissects and reconstructs hundreds of diverse fragments taken from his own photographs to create synthesised, hybrid works that portray dreamlike scenes and natural utopias. Following in the romantic tradition, Van Empel’s stylised collages seek beauty, serenity, and the sublime; a subjective experience of the natural world fuelled by a disenchantment with our contemporary reality. ‘Making Nature’ is published on the occasion of an exhibition of his recent work at Museum Belvédère.