The starting-point for the photography of Kooi (born 1962, Leeuwarden, The Netherlands) is the Dutch landscape, which she transforms into the setting for ambiguous and inexplicable events. The apparent naturalism of her images, which always have the spontaneity of a snapshot, derrives from a complex creative process involving preparatory drawings, models, and design of the lighting and location in a way comparable to film or to the great Baroque paintings. This blending of naturalism and artifice gives Ellen Kooi's photographs a troubling atmosphere that irresistably attracts and holds the viewer's gaze. Recent exhibitions and shows: "Espacio Liquido" (solo show), "Gijon" (SP); Galerie Les Filles du Calvaire, Paris (FR); CPIF Art Centre, Paris (FR); NY C Photo, Philips de Pury & Company, NY, USA; Catherine Clark Gallery (solo show) San Francisco (USA); LUMC, Leiden (NL); Clay Center for the Arts, West Virginia (USA); PULSE London, by PPOW (NY, USA), ARCO Art Fair/ DFOTO - San Sebastian International Contemporary Photography and Video-Art Fair/Art Brussels, presented by Les Filles Du Calvaire, (Paris); Art Chicago, presented by PPOW (NewYork, USA); Centro Atlantico de Arte Moderne (CAAM), Gran Canaria (SP); and Night & Day, Vishal Haarlem (NL).