Art photographer Paul Blanca died yesterday at the age of 62 in his home in Amsterdam. That writes fellow artist Peter Klashorst on his Facebook page.
Blanca (born Paul Vlaswinkel) taught herself the trade and led a rough life full of alcohol and drugs. “His body was gone,” an insider confirms to ANP news agency.
The photographer made a name for himself in the 1980s with provocative photos and self-portraits. That’s how he carved his back a crying Mickey Mouse with thumb up. The image became iconic within Dutch portrait photography.
For his self-portraits, Blanca molested himself with various objects. So he sewed his lips shut and pierced an arrow through his cheek. Fellow photographer Erwin Olaf described Blanca as a photographer of emotion.
Mother
Also known is a portrait that Blanca shot in 1985 of himself and his mother. Both hold each other naked. Nearly thirty years later, he took the photo again, but he carries his mother in his arms—the way he put her to bed when she couldn’t walk.
In the 1990s, Blanca was accused by fellow artist Rob Scholte of the Amsterdam bombing, in which Scholte lost his legs. The allegations were never proven, but galleries dropped Blanca.
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