Helmersstraat

Marens van Leunen photographed the house she grew up in – a space her father still inhabits, surrounded by an eclectic array of belongings. Inside, you'll find eleven identical chairs, four similar sofas, at least seven tables, seven to eight computer screens, and six or more gas stoves – just to name a few. The interior is ever-changing, undergoing frequent rearrangements. Furniture comes and goes, bought and sold via Marktplaats.nl, the Dutch second-hand platform her father fondly refers to as "the God of the oversupply."

With this body of work, van Leunen examines our relationship with the home and the objects we fill it with. What do our everyday items reveal about who we are? What is their value – both practical and emotional? And how do they shape the dynamics of our relationships?

In addition to her own photographs, van Leunen incorporated an archive of images she found on her father’s computer – an ever-growing collection of over 3,000 photos taken for the purpose of selling household items. She reorganized this archive and presented it on her website, where visitors can also find a link to her father’s Marktplaats profile. A curated selection of these vernacular images has been made into a poster, included alongside her black-and-white photographs in a self-published booklet titled Helmersstraat.

Together, the images form an intimate portrait – both a preservation of memory and a tribute to her father’s lovingly sourced second-hand treasures, which, over time, have grown into accidental collections.