Emmanuel van der Auwera is interested in conspiracy theories, surveillance photography and its ubiquity, giving texture to major events that are frequently smoothed out by media reporting. He shows the diversity of humanity and its vulnerability. He takes footage that he finds on the internet and uses it to focus on the unseen, the unheard, the threatening and the violent, as well as the absurdity of life and powerlessness in the face of forces beyond the control of individuals. While he sometimes focuses on the fatalistic, his work also gives hope that ultimately human values do prevail. He questions how mass media images operate and construct new narratives, restoring a sense of humanity to dehumanizing events and the subsequent reports of such events.