Karlijn Karthaus
DELUGED
‘Deluged’ is a project about the pressure to perform and how that is influenced by the way our society is structured. Throughout my life, I have dealt with this pressure to perform. I have been taught to be very result-oriented and performance-driven. I am conditioned to work hard if I want to achieve something, work even harder when things get tough or when I don’t know what or how to do something, all with the aim to achieve the best possible measurable outcome. Getting lost in this focus on the quantified result, I forgot how to enjoy. This results in stress that has led to all kinds of physical and psychological struggles within me.
More and more people are suffering from this pressure to a greater or lesser extent, causing an increasing number of burnouts or burnout-related complaints. Recent research has shown that one out of six employees in The Netherlands are impacted by burnout complaints (TNO Factsheet Week of the work stress, Nov. 2022). Looking at the number of people that are suffering from these kinds of issues, it is not a personal but public issue.
With this project I would like to highlight flaws within our society that are the root cause of this growing public problem.
In Cologne, since one week
Why do people offer to share their house with a stranger?
Discovering the reasons behind helping the other, I photographed the Abel family, who share their house with Jana and her dog Tina since one week. Fascinated by their drive to help others, I witnessed a relationship that arises regardless the communication hurdles.
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Contact:
Karlijn.karthaus@gmail.com
@karlijnkarthaus
