Arno Nollen (1964–2022) was an artist known for his approach to photography and visual storytelling. Rather than working with single, standalone images, he built large series and sequences, where each photo was just one piece of a much bigger picture.
His works shifted subtly from image to image, sitting somewhere between traditional photography and film—not quite one or the other.
He used repetition as a key tool in his art. By showing similar images again and again with small variations, he encouraged viewers to compare, reflect, and recall their own memories. This often triggered strong emotional reactions—curiosity, excitement, or unease—leading each viewer to build their own personal interpretation of the work. Nollen worked across many different formats: handmade books, video, printed photographs, and large installations.
For the Fotomuseum Den Haag, he went through his own archive of photos taken between 1997 and 2016, selecting and organizing thousands of images into eight themed series. Together, these became Just, a large and striking installation.
He trained at the Rietveld Academie, graduating in 1997, and won the Esther Kroon Award for his graduation exhibition. In 1998, he was nominated for the NPS Cultuurprijs, an important national award. His work is now part of major museum and institutional collections around the world.
www.ftn-books.com has some nice Nollen books now available.
