Wanda Tuerlinckx is a Belgian photographer based in Amsterdam. Her photos are part of the collections of the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam and the Amsterdam City Archives.

In collaboration with human-machine interaction scientist Dr. ir Erwin R. Boer, she has been working since 2016 on the ‘Robot Portraits’ series, which combines features of art photography with the scientific photographic narrative introduced in 1841 by William Fox Talbot, who in his own time reported on the technical and scientific revolution. Continuing this objective process of scientific registration, Wanda Tuerlinckx records the stages and realizations of robots through the reflexive eye of a 19th century camera, from a time when technological possibilities began to materialize in the world we live in today. By capturing the unfolding robot revolution with a camera from the time of the industrial revolution, Tuerlinckx brings the past, present and future together in one image.

In recent years, they have visited leading scientific institutes and universities in Europe, Asia and the US to photograph and research revolutionary developments in robotics; the fascinating evolutionary transformations of biomimetic robots that mimic the efficient physical function and shape of humans into humanoids whose human-like body has human capabilities to androids that resemble humans in every way and integrate many of the human cognitive and social interaction capabilities.

The development of robots over the centuries has been a two-fold goal. On the one hand, robot development is fueled by society’s economic need for cheaper, faster, safer. On the other hand, it has been fueled by human curiosity to understand what it means to be human. This human identity theme was reflected in all academic robot labs and especially in Japan. Most recently, the human creative process has been challenged by a British Android called Ai-Da that you can find on this website.