Gilleam Trapenberg — Big Papi — The Hague, Netherlands

Introducing Gilleam Trapenberg — UNIT’s youngest photography talent whom just graduated from the KABK art academy in The Hague, Netherlands with his project ‘Big Papi’, a project on representation and the concept of masculanity in the Caribbean, where he was born and raised. The project was shot over the course of the last two years in which he visited Curaçao, but also in St. Lucia, Barbados, St. Vincent, The Grenadines and St. Maarten.

“My graduation project is a visual research into the image culture of masculinity set against a sunset lit Caribbean landscape. A time of day in which borders are less defined. The stereotypes and clichés associated with macho culture form the starting point for the work, as is the same with most of my former projects. Since the work is greatly personal I am aware that while I am looking critically at the subject matter I am also seducing and romanticizing the subjects and landscapes I photograph.”