From Laboratory Science to Visual Communication

Born in Apeldoorn on May 3, 1986, Maurice was drawn to science from an early age, driven by a desire to understand the world and help others. After completing high school in 2003, he trained as a Medical Laboratory Analyst, completing internships at the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) in toxicology and parasitology. He graduated in 2007 as a licensed analyst, but a growing interest in visual communication and creative expression led him in a new direction.

Later that same year, Maurice made a bold transition by enrolling in Interactive Media Design at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague (KABK). There, he discovered how to combine his scientific background with design, technology, and photography. He graduated best in class in 2011 with Photodispatch, a streamlined online photo publishing service that delivered images in under 60 seconds, marking his first major step in bringing technology and visual storytelling together.

Photography and Commercial Practice

Over the years, Maurice built a diverse portfolio, working on commercial campaigns and editorial assignments for global brands such as Adidas, Microsoft, Grolsch, Spotify, Playboy, and T-Mobile. His work spans advertising, portraiture, architecture, events, and documentary photography, and is known for its clarity, creativity, and conceptual depth. Alongside his commercial practice, he developed a growing interest in using photography as a tool for investigation and visualization.

Microscopy, Art and Experiential Work

In 2015, Maurice returned to his scientific roots with Micrograph Stories, a self-initiated project exploring the hidden structures of everyday substances, including pharmaceuticals, food additives, illicit drugs, and human tears through microscopy. The project brought his backgrounds in laboratory science and photography together, using imaging to reveal structures and phenomena normally hidden from the human eye. This work aims to reveal the unseen beauty and complexity of materials we often overlook.

From this project emerged one of Maurice’s most recognized series: Imaginarium of Tears. What began with a single tear evolved into a global exploration of human emotion, capturing tears from individuals experiencing joy, grief, frustration, and relief. Each tear, when crystallized and viewed under a microscope, reveals a unique microscopic landscape, a frozen moment of emotion connected to an individual story.

The project gradually expanded beyond photography and into the realm of contemporary art. Maurice began designing and building his own scientific imaging equipment and experimental setups, giving him greater control over how these microscopic worlds could be observed and captured. At the same time, he explored how scientific imagery could move beyond the two-dimensional image and become something people could physically experience. Microscopic tear structures were translated into virtual and physical spaces, including large-scale three-dimensional (3D-printed) sculptures and installations reaching up to 10 metres in diameter, allowing visitors to step into landscapes that originated from a single human tear.

Through this combination of scientific imaging, photography, technology, and spatial experience, Imaginarium of Tears became an important part of Maurice’s development as a cross-disciplinary artist. The project has been featured in Wired, National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, Business Insider, and other international platforms, establishing his work within the field.

Scientific Visualization and The Centrifuge Camera

This growing interest in developing custom scientific imaging tools led Maurice to a broader question: how can we observe physical processes that unfold inside laboratory instruments where direct observation is normally impossible? Many of these systems effectively operate as black boxes, revealing their behaviour only through indirect measurements.

This question led Maurice to conceive The Centrifuge Camera, beginning a self-initiated research and development trajectory in his studio that would later evolve into collaborative academic research. By designing and building camera, lighting, and imaging systems capable of operating directly inside a spinning centrifuge, he created a way to observe sedimentation and separation processes in real time under centrifugal force. What began as an experiment in making an invisible process visible gradually evolved into a method for extracting quantitative information from the resulting imagery.

The Centrifuge Camera subsequently led to a collaboration with TU Delft, where Maurice collaborated with Lorenzo Botto on the ERC-funded SludgeCam research project as a technical researcher. Within the project, the original imaging concept was further developed into a scientific visualization and measurement system for studying sedimentation and sludge dewatering. Image analysis enabled motion and interfaces to be tracked, physical parameters to be extracted, and separation processes to be studied as they evolved over time.

InSituVision

Following the completion of the SludgeCam project, Maurice continues this line of research independently through InSituVision, collaborating with universities, research institutions, and industry. Building on the principles developed through The Centrifuge Camera and SludgeCam, InSituVision develops in-situ imaging technologies that integrate directly into experimental environments, providing researchers with new ways to observe and investigate processes while they happen.

Maurice’s current research combines custom scientific imaging instruments, experimental setups, image analysis, and quantitative methods to transform visual observations into measurable scientific data. While centrifugation remains a central area of development, the underlying approach extends beyond a single instrument or application, exploring how direct observation can provide new insights into physical processes that have traditionally been difficult to access.

Current Practice

Today, Maurice’s practice brings together scientific research, instrumentation, art, photography, and visual communication. Through InSituVision, he develops new approaches to scientific imaging and visualization, while his artistic practice transforms scientific and technological phenomena into photographic works, installations, and experiences that people can see, encounter, and connect with. Alongside this work, Maurice actively collaborates with brands, institutions, and organizations on commercial and commissioned photography across advertising, editorial, portraiture, architecture, events, and documentary projects.

Across these different areas, photography and visualization remain central to his practice: as tools for scientific investigation, artistic exploration, communication, and storytelling. Whether developing new imaging technology, creating an installation, investigating an unseen process, or producing a commissioned photographic project, his work is driven by a shared curiosity about how images can help us observe, understand, and connect with the world around us.

Let’s create something meaningful together.