SELF-PORTRAITURE FOR THE WORLD
“According to Joost, some of the best aspects of the NFT space are its accessibility, sense of community, and ability to monetize artwork.”
Joost Rutten is a 17-year-old conceptual photographer who fell in love with the art form after getting a camera in 2021 after being inspired by artists on Twitter.
“I started about a year and a half ago when I found artists like @_tyedied and @_ponygirl on Twitter,” he says. “I started minting NFTs because I was looking for a way to sell my art. I found the concept of crypto art interesting and figured I’d start minting stuff.”
He specializes in self-portraits taken in, what he describes as, ‘boring places’. The images are absurd, colourful, and sometimes dark all at once. Joost released “Nothing is Supposed to Make Sense” in 2022, his first cohesive body of work. This project consisted of 50 images taken over six months.
In the past, Joost had experimented with video editing but wanted more creative freedom, which is why he ventured into photography and the web3 space.
Joost doesn’t have much experience in the physical art space: his entire photography career to date has been in the NFT space. When first starting out, Rutten was still in school and was looking for a way to sell his art. “I was trying to sell my prints, but it wasn’t really working,” shares Joost. “When I found cryptoart, I figured I’d give it a try.”
According to Joost, some of the best aspects of the NFT space are its accessibility, sense of community, and ability to monetize artwork. People from around the world can view art and collectors can support artists. “I think the great thing about NFTs is that anyone around the world can grow an audience and start selling NFTs if they have a little bit of money and a Twitter account.”
Joost’s creative process starts by spontaneously taking photos or creating a concept and then building it out as a scene. Architecture inspires him, especially ordinary spaces like a common brick wall. He then uses a Sony camera, a tripod, and a remote control to take his self-portraits. After taking five to 20 images, he will compose them in Photoshop and Lightroom.
This young artist doesn’t create art to satisfy collectors, but rather to express his creativity and develop his own style. He is currently studying photography, film, and digital art at art school.
