Ritual of Suspension by Menno van der Meulen

Ritual of Suspension 2015, (Arnhem, The Netherlands)

In Ritual of Suspension Menno van der Meulen turns the human body into a hovering, almost ceremonial presence. A nude figure is held in mid-air, folded into an impossible pose, pressed against a backdrop of worn posters and wooden texture. Nothing in the scene explains why the body is floating — and that deliberate lack of logic is where the work becomes mystical rather than documental.

The composition suggests a rite: restraint, offering, elevation. The limbs curl like calligraphy, the torso is lit as if on stage, and the surrounding wall reads like urban archaeology — traces of performances, desires, announcements that time has already erased. Against this noisy history, the body becomes the only living scripture.

Van der Meulen often photographs bodies at the point where gravity, intimacy and theatre meet. Here he adds a layer of quiet occultism: the figure is neither falling nor flying, but held — by will, by gaze, by an unseen force. It is an image about control and surrender, about how a body can become symbol.