Collaboration sits at the guts of the creative world. When artists bring together their talent, a special alchemy can occur. This was the case for make-up artist Thomas de Kluyver and photographer Zoë Ghertner’s recent book, already past and already again there. Created meticulously over the course of three years, the book presents a free-flowing series of images that explore the human body inside each the natural and ‘hyper-natural’ worlds.

After first meeting on the set of a shoot nine years ago, the 2 creatives bonded over their shared artistic understanding and have since built up a definite language which they dropped at already past and already again there. “Zoë and I even have something quite symbiotic after we work together, and I feel the book takes you on a journey into that world,” says de Kluyver, who is understood for his work with brands like Gucci, Simone Rocha and Miu Miu. He credits his and Ghertner’s ability to construct connections with the themes they shoot as a part of the rationale for his or her successful collaboration. “As a make-up artist, your work is delivered to life by the faces that you just paint and the people you collaborate with. With Zoë, I feel we have now similar ideals in what we are attempting to say with our work.”

Within the book, the duo play with the balance between recognisable imagery and abstract concepts. De Kluyver’s looks are dropped at life by Ghertner’s photography, where we see the gentleness of skin contrasted with harsher environments and textures: grey concrete, soil and wood. These surroundings served as inspiration for De Kluyver and he brought a spontaneous approach to the shoot, often creating the make-up looks in situ.

From touches of brilliant orange on lashes to mauve pressings of glitter underfoot, these looks command your attention at first but then usher it away just as quickly to the larger picture. This result, he explains, is intentional: “The make-up looks on this book aren’t traditional make-up as such; they’re more touches, colors, and textures that add an additional layer of emotion to every of the photographs.” The theme of texture throughout the project also extends to its physical form. Designed by Jonny Lu Studio, the finished product includes a combination of coated and uncoated paper stock, with pages that could be unfolded.

The project demonstrates the fantastic thing about art made inside a partnership of people that share a creative understanding of each other. “We shot a mixture of people that felt very special to us: artists, friends, friends of friends, and models that we each love and feel inspired by,” De Kluyver shares. These conditions of connection and authenticity that the book was built upon come together to create an alluringly intimate project. One where De Kluyver’s outlook on beauty shines through, “I all the time love beauty looks which can be about self-expression and identity. Things that provide you with power and convey something you are feeling on the within creatively on the skin.” he explains. 

already past and already again there by Zoë Ghertner and Thomas de Kluyver is out now, published in a limited edition run of 500 copies.