︎ Toga (2021).
︎︎︎ The workings of our current judicial system are
embedded in the garment that is worn in the
courtroom: the judge’s cloak. I am critical whether
the Dutch courtsystem is currently working equally
in favor of all parties involved. The cloak is meant
to perform ‘neutrality’ within the courtroom, but is this really the case? Is our current judicial system as transparant as she ought to be? In order to visualise my doubts I reimagined a judge’s cloak using transparant and democratic materials. I envision to orbit the documentation of the cloak around these concepts, bringing to life a series of portraits through an extensive collaboration process.
︎︎︎ For the first try-out of this portrait series I captured Naomi carrying the cloak in her appartment in Amsterdam. Naomi Appelman is currently finishing her Phd in IT-law and an active researcher at the Racism and Technology center (www.racismandtechnology.center).
︎︎︎ This work is in progress. Carrying on in the documentation process I am looking for social-law workers, law students, delinquents, courtroom administrators etc. to carry the cloak. A plethora of people who are confronted with the law on a daily basis, but do not possess the power of law-making. In that same spirit I am also looking for photographers who have witnessed the downsides of the law system to take the portraits.