Casper Fitzhue
Born in Romania, 1990, Casper was initially educated in graphics and visual communication between Leeds and London. He lives and works in Belgium, undertaking a Master in Photography at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp.
Casper Fitzhue feels an for storytelling and therefore uses a variety of media and genres for his work - photography, books, videos, fashion, performance or installation. Casper says, that in his work he explores 'cyber-optimism', a nostalgia for past technologies, speculating from the banal to create new depths, filling up spaces (both emotional and physical) with stories, ways of coping, fantasy as traumatic growth.
"When still a cyber optimist, at times I feel nostalgic about things that haven't even happened yet.
Picture this: Earth, after years of wars and industrial spillage, toxic waste and climatic imbalance, the systematic annihilation of bees. A near or distant future, where all this became too much, resulting in the destruction of all organic plant life. That is the imaginary space/time in which my project was conceived.
Because we miss things which are beautiful and, unfortunately, we miss them most when they are gone, what would it look like if future Man attempted to build monuments to flowers from the scraps of the same technology that killed them?
Using only metal and plastic from DIY war-planes and tanks, I made these new species of plants - a message from the future. And yes, these flowers might smell of regret but, whether the future is machine or not, my belief is this: in the absence of hope, we will learn how to manufacture some. That will be our Optimal Prime."
Casper Fitzhue has been awarded as the "Highlighted Young Talent" at BredaPhoto International Photography Festival Netherlands in 2016.