Rising Waters: Behind the Book with Alice de Kruijs

This month, our focus is on creative sustainability. Sustainability, on its own, is often associated with environmentally conscious actions aimed at lowering waste and lessening our impact on the earth. Creative sustainability adds a dimension of how our artistic practices can remain life-giving over the long haul, as much for the planet as for our internal rhythms. The goal is to find ways of creating that feel nourishing for ourselves and others while avoiding feelings of exhaustion and burnout. 

We reached out to artist, storyteller, and Blurb creator Alice de Kruijs to learn more about her practice. With over a decade of experience in conceptual and storytelling photography, Alice has developed a distinctive vision that tackles important environmental themes. In 2022, she published Rising Waters, a moving project about the threat posed by rising sea levels all over the world. In this conversation, she tells us more about this publication, other bookmaking projects, and how she has sustained a creative practice both for herself and the environment.

You have an abiding interest in climate change and humanity’s relationship to the environment. Tell us more about how your project, Rising Waters, began and evolved, eventually taking you to several vastly different locations worldwide.

In politics and everyday life, we are overly concerned with commercialism, finances, and consumption. All while natural areas are deteriorating or disappearing at a rapid pace. It is an immense frustration for me that governments do not prioritize nature conservation and seem paralyzed by the looming threat of rising sea levels around the world. As a small counter to this, I felt a strong need to explore this question in my photography.

My homeland, the Netherlands, is a country largely below sea level. Over the centuries, many water emergencies have occurred here, along with many solutions. I had the idea of creating a triptych of stories, with a photo book spanning the different subjects. Once I started researching, I found many areas where rising water levels are creating major, even existential, problems. Several islands in the Pacific, as well as the low-lying and very densely populated Bangladesh, represent some of the most pressing cases of this issue.

We would love to hear more about your bookmaking process. You also make beautiful fine art prints. What made you realize that this project had to take the form of a book? 

I produced a book because I wanted to tell a story, and a story, I believe, is best told in the form of a book. Before laying out the book, I printed out all the photos in small format and made a mood board of the concept and color schemes. I then asked the owner of the gallery where my work is represented (CAMP Gallery in Miami) to write an introduction.

Tell us more about your one-of-one book Nature’s Way, where each image is literally spilling beyond the frame. We love the behind-the-scenes images, showing the importance of your process to the final result.

Last year, I started focusing more on three-dimensional work so that the viewer could really get sucked into the images. I became inspired by ancient Japan and the connection its people had with nature. First, I made photographs and then printed the images on fine art paper. Then, inspired by Japan’s rich tradition of textile crafts, I put threads over the pictures. The result was a very analog process. This makes each work unique, an edition of one.

What does creative sustainability mean to you and your practice? Do you have any advice for others?

I am motivated to tell the story of small communities and how conservation is actually realized by people and by communities. My work is both about raising awareness but also using sustainable materials so that I can practice what I am describing. Within my photography, I reuse as much as I can—whether recycled paper or leftover material from prior photoshoots.

Psychologically, creative sustainability is a question of motivation. If you are feeling less inspired by your work, I encourage you to look for cultures, stories, and images that touch you. You need to be stimulated by that one idea that can make your work yours and, therefore, unique. 

As for me, mine is: Without nature, we are nowhere.

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Looking to publish your first book or even just to hold your work in print? Blurb is here to help. Whether you’re documenting important stories like Alice de Kruijs or creating a personal collection of your work, our platform provides the tools to transform your vision into reality. 

From one-of-a-kind portfolio pieces to larger runs, we support creators at every stage of their journey. Our mission is to help your work endure and reach the audiences that matter most. Start your bookmaking journey today and join our community of passionate creators making their mark on the world, one page at a time.