Nucleo by Wouter Van de Voorde

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Nucleo, whose title evokes the core nuclear family, is a visual odyssey that traces the life of Van de Voorde’s own family, starting from the birth of his son, Felix, and extending to the most recent moments captured during a twilight walk on Cooleman Ridge, a nature reserve close to his family’s home.

At the heart of Nucleo lies the theme of isolation. The family depicted in the book is portrayed as existing in a state of self-sufficiency. The story unfolds through shared moments of strangeness in the middle of the Australian bush.

Nucleo is designed to represent a vast and evolving family journey spanning a decade. The design utilises a horizontal layout folded in two. Upon opening the book, it subverts the typical chronological flow: the reader encounters the latest image from September 2023, prompting them to read in reverse order. This folding technique enables juxtaposing visual and natural patterns while challenging the conventional concept of time within the expansive narrative.