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Void: Photographer imagines the invisible moments we share in elevators

Oh the pain and embarrassment of an elevator. Where do you look? What do you do with your hands? All you can do is stare at the wall or floor, keep silent, avoid eye contact with anyone and take the moment to reflect on your life. This is the exact sentiment that Dutch photographer Dirk Hardy explores and tries to recreate in his deeply moving series Void.

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Group of eight people standing in close proximity inside an elevator, facing forward with neutral expressions and avoiding eye contact

Focusing on New York City where there are sixty thousand elevators, Dirk points out that together, these elevators make eleven billion trips a year, which comes down to thirty million trips a day. At this moment, over twenty thousand invisible moments are about to be lost in time and space. Dirk imagines these moments by recreating them in staged scenes.

Now available in a beautiful photo book, Void follows the same theme as most of Dirk's work, which is curious and suggestive, and explores the complexity of human nature.

A graduate of the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam, Dirk's staged photographic images aim to challenge the viewer to slowly break through the stylised surface and connect with the narrative and often critical elements in his works. To discover more, visit www.dirkhardy.com.

Via direct submission | All images courtesy of Dirk Hardy

Man in business attire standing alone in a wood-panelled elevator with fluorescent ceiling lights, staring downward in contemplation
Woman in dark blazer and white shirt standing alone in an elevator with arms crossed, looking away pensively
Three people standing in an elevator, looking downward in awkward silence with tense expressions
Two people stand apart in a minimalist elevator with wood-panelled walls and overhead lighting, avoiding eye contact in an awkward moment of silence
Two people stand silently in a wood-panelled elevator beneath fluorescent ceiling lights, avoiding eye contact in an awkward moment
Businessman in white shirt and tie sits on a wooden bench inside a minimalist wooden-panelled elevator with fluorescent ceiling lights
A woman in a black top with a pink necklace stands between two men in suits inside an elevator, looking upward with a contemplative expression
A man and two children stand in a wood-panelled lift, each absorbed in their own thoughts, creating an awkward shared silence
Man in camel coat holding a baby in an elevator with wooden panelled walls and vertical striping
Two men in business suits stand silently in a wood-panelled lift, avoiding eye contact in a staged scene from photographer Dirk Hardy's series Void
Woman in beige blazer looks downward in an elevator, avoiding eye contact with another person visible at the edge of the frame
Three people stand in an elevator, avoiding eye contact and displaying the awkward silence typical of confined spaces in Dirk Hardy's Void series
A group of people stand silently in an elevator, facing forward with neutral expressions and avoiding eye contact, captured in Dirk Hardy's Void series
Several people stand silently in an elevator, looking downward and avoiding eye contact in Dirk Hardy's Void series
Man in business attire stands beside an office chair holding a potted plant against wood-panelled elevator walls
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