Reprint Jazz by Ed van der Elsken

Jazz by Ed van der Elsken ...5B4

I know I have already made my favorites list for 2007 but I do want to slip one late arrival in under the wire while we still have a couple days left. Jazz by Ed Van Der Elsken, originally published by De Bezige Bij in Amsterdam in 1959, has just been released in a facsimile edition from Karl Lagerfeld’s Edition 7L in Paris. This is one of several books that Edition 7L has created a facsimile edition of and in each case they have done so with beautiful results.

This small book, unassuming from the outside with its 6 ¾ by 7 ¼ inch trim size, reveals itself within the span of just a few pages to be a remarkable document in both photography and book design. Elsken’s small format camera and fast speed film is the perfect combination to catch the spontaneity of what is transpiring both on stage and in the crowd. Within a few frames he shifts our vantage point from passive observers of the musicians to placing us in the shoes and on stage among the players. Jumping from wide shots to extreme close-ups, the strength of the photography is its ability to be as energetic as the music.

The design, also by Elsken, is another achievement in raising the energy level. The page layouts have their own rhythms and structure that are as metaphorically musical as necessary to create a visual accompaniment that expresses the excitement felt while listening to the music. The book starts with the crowd responding to the first notes and the layout progresses in a fairly traditional way until Miles Davis steps to center stage; Elsken makes a double page spread out of a vertical photo and turns Miles sideways so he defies gravity.

Parr and Badger in their citation of this book in Photobook Vol. 1 name William Klein’s New York as a likely influence to the design. I would add that some of Elsken’s page layouts echo the John Hermansader and Reid Miles Blue Note album covers of the late 1950’s with their heavily cropped and contrasty photos of musicians emerging from the darkness. For me, one of the more seductive qualities of the book is how the difference in the coarseness of the film’s grain varies from photo to photo and becomes another element in the design.

Few of the images in Jazz escape with their original Leica proportions intact. Elsken crops the images down to their purest form and mostly for the sake of the book’s design. In one particularly creative page, Elsken splices the faces of Coleman Hawkins and Roy Eldridge onto the same head to form a tenor sax and trumpet playing hybrid. The book ends with a sequence of Sarah Vaughn building to a final never-ending note.

The production work on this facsimile edition was done by Steidl. The original was printed in gravure and with this edition; Steidl has accomplished a beautiful faux-gravure printing that is ever so slightly silvery-blue in tone and deeply rich. The paper choice and tack sharp grain of Elsken’s photos complete the feeling of vintage gravure printing.

The texts by Jan Vrijman, Hugo Claus, Simon Carmiggelt, Friso Endt and Michiel de Ruyter along with a song list of recommended listening appear in their original Dutch. A separate thin-paged booklet of English translations sits in the endpapers.

The regular edition retails for only $30.00 which I find surprising inexpensive considering the fine quality. There is a special edition of 1000 copies also available for $100.00. This special edition is a facsimile made from an original copy of Jazz from Ed Van Der Elsken’s estate where he had written the names of all of the performers in silver ink directly onto the pages.

Amsterdamse Concertgebouw jazz foto’s ... & see also
Jazz by ...William Claxton, William Klein, Ed van der Elsken

Paul Kooiker Hunting and fishing Photography

ART IN REVIEW; Paul Kooiker -- 'Hunting and Fishing' By GRACE GLUECK

Naked women running through woods and meadows is an almost foolproof subject, and in his first solo show in this country, the Dutch photographer Paul Kooiker pursues it with single-minded zeal. Almost all of the women are photographed from behind, seemingly in search of -- or pursued by -- someone or something. It is hard to tell which, a puzzle that lends an air of poetic mystery to these images.

To add to the intrigue, Mr. Kooiker has chosen to give his camera work the look of painting. The soft-focus photos are manipulated in the darkroom, then transformed into digitized images and printed on watercolor paper. The result is a blurry ''painterly'' look in which some bodies are easy to discern, others so indistinct that they all but blend with their woodsy backgrounds.
There are figures that could be takes from a pornographic movie, and others that suggest the innocence of, say, an anthropological film on tribal folkways. The most assertive (the works are all untitled) is one bathed in golden light in which a woman with a spectacular mane of Pre-Raphaelite hair, yet reminiscent of a Cézanne bather, steps like a wary animal through a field of tall grass; among the ghostliest is an image so deliberately out of focus that the body is almost indistinguishable from dappled areas of sun and shadow. But these seductive male visions are flawed by the suggestion in the show's sardonic title, ''Hunting and Fishing,'' of women as wild game. GRACE GLUECK

In Kooikers fotoserie zien we enkele blote vrouwen wegvluchten op de heide, alsof ze door de fotograaf zijn opgeschrikt uit hun bezigheden. Andere vrouwen kijken om alsof ze zich betrapt voelen. De beelden verwijzen naar de fotografie van de dertiger jaren, toen het vastleggen van sportieve jongens en meisjes, mannen en vrouwen erg populair was. Deze opnames van gezonde, bewegende, rennende of paraderende mensen werden meestal vanuit een laag standpunt gemaakt.

De foto’s van Kooiker doen ook denken aan de verraderlijke schone nimfen uit de Romantische poëzie aan het eind van de vorige eeuw. Deze vrouwen verleidden onschuldige mannen, brachten ze in hun ban en lieten ze vervolgens wegkwijnen in hun hartstochtelijke verlangens. Alle foto’s in deze serie zijn bewust vaag gehouden, waardoor de modellen onherkenbaar zijn.

De fotoserie geeft een goed beeld van Kooikers uitgangspunten. Hij doet onderzoek naar de vorm van het menselijk lichaam en het beeld dat dit oplevert. Daarom werkt hij ook altijd in series. Zijn modellen zijn anoniem. Er wordt op de foto’s niets verhuld noch geaccentueerd. Hiermee maakt hij elke associatie met het beeld van de vrouw of man, zoals we die uit de reclame kennen, onmogelijk. Het gaat bij hem om de soort. De achtergrond van de modellen wordt gevormd door de natuur. Aan elke serie ligt een aantal strenge regels ten grondslag: de modellen worden opgenomen op dezelfde afstand, in dezelfde houding en in een zelfde soort omgeving. Binnen deze beperkingen worden de mogelijkheden van de verschillende lichaamsvormen uitgeprobeerd.

Technische kunstgrepen spelen een belangrijke rol bij de foto’s. Daarmee maakt hij het kijken naar de beelden niet gemakkelijk. De serie is met opzet onscherp. Deze wijze van weergeven dwingt de kijker ertoe in beweging te komen en op zoek te gaan naar het meest comfortabele standpunt om het werk te bekijken. Maar echt comfortabel wordt het niet, want het begluurde vage beeld valt niet scherp te stellen.

Read more for Paul Kooiker Seminar...

Paul Kooiker Hunting and fishing Photography

ART IN REVIEW; Paul Kooiker -- 'Hunting and Fishing' By GRACE GLUECK

Naked women running through woods and meadows is an almost foolproof subject, and in his first solo show in this country, the Dutch photographer Paul Kooiker pursues it with single-minded zeal. Almost all of the women are photographed from behind, seemingly in search of -- or pursued by -- someone or something. It is hard to tell which, a puzzle that lends an air of poetic mystery to these images.

To add to the intrigue, Mr. Kooiker has chosen to give his camera work the look of painting. The soft-focus photos are manipulated in the darkroom, then transformed into digitized images and printed on watercolor paper. The result is a blurry ''painterly'' look in which some bodies are easy to discern, others so indistinct that they all but blend with their woodsy backgrounds.
There are figures that could be takes from a pornographic movie, and others that suggest the innocence of, say, an anthropological film on tribal folkways. The most assertive (the works are all untitled) is one bathed in golden light in which a woman with a spectacular mane of Pre-Raphaelite hair, yet reminiscent of a Cézanne bather, steps like a wary animal through a field of tall grass; among the ghostliest is an image so deliberately out of focus that the body is almost indistinguishable from dappled areas of sun and shadow. But these seductive male visions are flawed by the suggestion in the show's sardonic title, ''Hunting and Fishing,'' of women as wild game. GRACE GLUECK

In Kooikers fotoserie zien we enkele blote vrouwen wegvluchten op de heide, alsof ze door de fotograaf zijn opgeschrikt uit hun bezigheden. Andere vrouwen kijken om alsof ze zich betrapt voelen. De beelden verwijzen naar de fotografie van de dertiger jaren, toen het vastleggen van sportieve jongens en meisjes, mannen en vrouwen erg populair was. Deze opnames van gezonde, bewegende, rennende of paraderende mensen werden meestal vanuit een laag standpunt gemaakt.

De foto’s van Kooiker doen ook denken aan de verraderlijke schone nimfen uit de Romantische poëzie aan het eind van de vorige eeuw. Deze vrouwen verleidden onschuldige mannen, brachten ze in hun ban en lieten ze vervolgens wegkwijnen in hun hartstochtelijke verlangens. Alle foto’s in deze serie zijn bewust vaag gehouden, waardoor de modellen onherkenbaar zijn.

De fotoserie geeft een goed beeld van Kooikers uitgangspunten. Hij doet onderzoek naar de vorm van het menselijk lichaam en het beeld dat dit oplevert. Daarom werkt hij ook altijd in series. Zijn modellen zijn anoniem. Er wordt op de foto’s niets verhuld noch geaccentueerd. Hiermee maakt hij elke associatie met het beeld van de vrouw of man, zoals we die uit de reclame kennen, onmogelijk. Het gaat bij hem om de soort. De achtergrond van de modellen wordt gevormd door de natuur. Aan elke serie ligt een aantal strenge regels ten grondslag: de modellen worden opgenomen op dezelfde afstand, in dezelfde houding en in een zelfde soort omgeving. Binnen deze beperkingen worden de mogelijkheden van de verschillende lichaamsvormen uitgeprobeerd.

Technische kunstgrepen spelen een belangrijke rol bij de foto’s. Daarmee maakt hij het kijken naar de beelden niet gemakkelijk. De serie is met opzet onscherp. Deze wijze van weergeven dwingt de kijker ertoe in beweging te komen en op zoek te gaan naar het meest comfortabele standpunt om het werk te bekijken. Maar echt comfortabel wordt het niet, want het begluurde vage beeld valt niet scherp te stellen.

Read more for Paul Kooiker Seminar...

Nature as Artifice New Dutch Landscape in Photography and Video Art

Around the world, the notion of 'the Dutch landscape' still evokes an image that is strongly influenced by the painterly tradition of unspoilt and idyllic farmland. However, like many other countries, the Netherlands has altered radically over the last century. Agriculture is being supplanted by suburbs, infrastructure for the sake of mobility, and recreation. The Netherlands currently enjoys international renown for its acuity in planning and radically high-tech methods used to control and mould the landscape and nature: water management, engineering technologies for spraying pancake-like layers of sand to drastically reshape or actually create land and computer-controlled horticulture in greenhouses. Since the 1980s, a number of outstanding landscape photographers and video artists have been taking this artificial character of the Dutch landscape and nature as their creative point of departure. Their works of art capture motorways, railways and the recently created landscape of symmetrical polders, glasshouses, business parks and suburban residential districts. At the same time they are searching for a new aesthetic that is no longer based on that of bucolic Old Master paintings. Several of these photographers and artists are already establishing a reputation in the Netherlands and abroad. Nature as Artifice brings them together for the first time, lending their work greater visibility abroad, positioning it in the context of international developments in contemporary art and photography, and simultaneously contributing to new perceptions of the Dutch landscape.

Includes work by Hans Aarsman, Jannes Linders, Wout Berger, Henze Boekhout, Edwin Zwakman, Theo Baart, Cary Markerink, Hans van der Meer, Marnix Goossens, Driessens/Verstappen, Hans Werlemann, Gert Jan Kocken, Bas Princen, Gábor Ösz, Gerco de Ruijter and Frank van der Salm.

Exhibition at the Kröller-Müller Museum from 7 June to 28 September 2008 in the context of the first Apeldoorn Garden and Landscape Triennial in 2008.Exhibition at the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich, Germany, from 22 October 2008 to 19 January 2009.

5B4: 5B4 Best PhotoBooks of 2007

1. Shimmer of Possibility by Paul Graham (Steidl)

OK…the end of 2007 is nigh and although there are still two healthy weeks left I have decided to put out my ‘Best Of” list now instead of spending my New Year’s Eve huddled over a keyboard since I’d rather be drink in hand trying to make that Terry Richardson clown puzzle sign Ole’ Lang Syne. (Maybe that’s an image best put out of your mind ASAP.)

So here are my favorites in an attempted order with five Honorable Mentions. Now mind you I haven’t seen ALL of the books that were published in 2007 so I’m sure I’m missing a few gems. Regardless, all of these titles made me think about photography in new ways even if some held firm to convention. Read more ... 5B4: 5B4 Best Books of 2007

3. The Park by Kohei Yoshiyuki (Hatje Cantz)

See also Martin Parr Year end .. time to look for the best photobooks of 2007

and...

& The Best Photo Books of 2007 : From Afghanistan to the plains of North Dakota, affluence to homelessness, this year's books define photography's big world.

Hans Eijkelboom now has a hip, hit show at Aperture in New York and a clever photo book published in conjunction with it. Sudden exposure didn't happen overnight. Since 1995 he has self published 21 photo diaries and note books in a bewildering array of formats, edition sizes, quality, and content. They are fabulous. Read more ...

Collecting Photography & Photobooks

Gerry Badger Collecting Photography

People have been collecting photographs since the first shots were taken, but its growth in the last decade has been phenomenal. Yet photographs are complex objects involving a minefield of specialist and technical issues. Collecting Photography assembles all the knowledge and information the first-timer needs. It analyzes every aspect of the art, shows how to build a collection, discusses the photographic print, and offers advice on displaying and caring for the images. Written by photography historian and collector Gerry Badger, this highly readable guide is supplemented with advice from some of the world’s leading collectors, curators, and dealers.

About the AuthorCurator, critic, and collector Gerry Badger has written extensively for photography publications. The author of several photography monographs, he lives in London and teaches history of photography at Brighton University.

Content wise, the book is broken roughly into two halves. The first half of the book is a discussion on collecting photographs, how to build a collection, thoughts on value of photographs and a discussion of collecting trends and strategies. The discussion is pragmatic and the author shares good insights to anyone looking to become a collector no-matter what their budget. The reader will come away well informed about what photography collection is all about and what to look for in selecting a photograph. This section is illustrated throughout with numerous examples of collected photographs, most of which are from the 20th century. These cover many different genres with some of them being famous whilst others are more obscure. You can spend a long time just browsing at these photos and getting inspiration from them.

The second half of the book is text only and it contains a series of appendices including: a chronology of photographic history, a glossary of photographic terms and techniques (detailing the many numerous chemical processes that have been used in photographic history), a list of famous photographers and a list of places to buy photos internationally. All these act as valuable references.

This book would be appreciated by anyone who has an interest in photography as an art, a collectable, or just something beautiful to look at. Overall, I found this really enjoyable to read as well as educational and it has inspired me to buy the odd photograph on-line.

See for Martin Parr's and Gerry Badger's Five Favorite Photobooks ...

Collecting Photography Books by Mike Johnston

The "golden age of book collecting" took place over a period of several decades roughly a century ago. In those days, even the greatest books from the history of moveable type were still available to private buyers; book collecting was a fashionable and high-status activity, and vying for rare treasures was an accepted sport of the ultra-rich — and sometimes a downright obsession. It was in those days that famous multi-millionaires such as J. P. Morgan, Henry Huntington, and Henry Clay Folger put together the exquisite libraries that bear their names. In certain cases, even book dealers became famous celebrities. In the 1920s, when a Shakespeare first folio sold for a record $50,000, it was front-page news in The New York Times. The burgeoning collection of one gung-ho young blueblood book collector, Harry Widener, became the core of Harvard's Widener Library (one of the five or six greatest libraries in the world today) after the eponymous Harry perished aboard the Titanic.
Those days are gone now. Most of the great treasures (and many lesser ones) are locked away in museum collections. There are only two Gutenberg Bibles still in private hands, for instance, and neither may ever again come up for public sale; the Folger Library in Washington, D.C. alone hoards no fewer than eighty Shakespeare first folios, forever denying many private collectors the opportunity of ever owning one. So the super-rich have moved on to other forms of self-glorifying conspicuous consumption. With the greatest books grown so scarce, it's no longer possible to build a first-rate private library with anything less than a Gates-caliber fortune.
Moreover, book collecting has fallen out of fashion. The main reason is that there's just not all that much out there left to collect. Fortunately, however, there are just a couple of exceptions to this general rule. And one major exception, believe it or not, is photography books. Read more...

Six Things You Should Know About The Photo Market
Ours is a generation that has grown up experiencing world events, and personal histories, through photographs--which may explain why photography has been one of the most potent sectors of the art market for the past 25 years. Read more ...

Seven Tips for Beginning Collectors by Caroline Kinneberg

Starting an art collection can be intimidating for a number of reasons: financial constraints, lack of a formal art background, or the attitude beginning collectors can be greeted with at certain galleries, a standard of customer service W.M. Hunt of the (friendly) Hasted Hunt Gallery describes as: “You could be set on fire and no one would give you a glass of water.” Last week, Hunt moderated a panel at Aperture Foundation’s gallery about the first steps to creating a photography collection. In principle, the advice applies to other sorts of art as well, though Hunt told ARTINFO, "Photography seems like a smaller field of dealers and auction houses. As overwhelming as it is, it's easier to negotiate and, at least in the past, the financial consequences weren't so huge." At the panel, Hunt talked to beginning collector Gael Zafrany, who works at Charles Schwartz Ltd., preserving and creating museum and personal collections; longtime collector David Kronn; Modern Art Obsession blogger Michael Hoeh; and designer Todd Oldham about their experiences as fledgling collectors. ARTINFO gleaned the following pieces of advice on amassing pieces of art: Read more ...

See for 100 Important 20th-Century Photobooks ...

The academic study of the history of the photographic book makes for great photobooks as can be seen by The Book of 101 books, Fotografia Publica, From Fair to Fine, and Photobook: A History, volume I and volume II. Alessandro Bertolotti's collection of photography books, Books of Nudes is another title to add to this list. Bertolotti has been collecting books on the nude for over 30 years. This amazing anthology of over 400 reproductions includes books by Germaine Krull, Duane Michals, Robert Mapplethorpe, Victor Skrebneski, Pierre Molinier, Kohei Yoshiyuki, Eikoh Hosoe, Bill Brandt, Martin Munkacsi and many others from throughout the world. Each book is presented with its original cover and a selection of photographs laid out as double-page spreads. More copies are arriving this week.

In addition to being a photo curator and critic, Beaumont Newhall was also a "foodie." He wrote an article for the Brighton-Pittsford Post while working at The George Eastman House in Rochester from 1956 to 1969. This upcoming title by Radius Books, Beaumont's Kitchen features articles and recipes from the column along with photos from the "Newhall Circle" including Ansel Adams, Edward Weston and Henri Cartier-Bresson. Other upcoming titles found below along with expected dates are by Lee Friedlander, Malick Sidibe, Bill Owens, and William Christenberry.

The changing Dutch landscape in the smallest coffee-table-book of Holland Photography

Coolpolitics and Boomerang present a new mini-magazine. The theme of this issue: ‘The changing Dutch landscape’. The vision of Dutch photographers like Morad Bouchakour, Carli Hermes, Cornelie Tollens and Alek (Feriet Tunc Playmate Anneke Weerts) are brought together in the smallest coffee-table-book of Holland and is available at Boomerang racks from December 17th. Read more...

Kleinste koffietafelboek van Nederland


Corus photograph by Jules Stoop

Het landschap in Nederland is gepland. Alles heeft een bestemming en is steeds opnieuw in cultuur gebracht, ingedeeld, herverkaveld, bestemd en bevochten. In het groene laagland zijn de mens en zijn bedrijvigheid met het landschap één geworden. Zonder pompen geen polder, zonder koeien geen land. 'Het kleinste koffietafelboek van Nederland' brengt werk en visies van vooraanstaande Nederlandse fotografen onder andere Morad Bouchakour, Patricia Steur, Marcus Köppen, Cornelie Tollens en Jaap Vliegenthart over het Nederlands landschap samen in een publicatie op postcardformaat. Het boekje ligt vanaf 17 december in de Boomerang-rekken en is ook on-line door te bladeren op www.coolpolitics.nl .

'Het kleinste koffietafelboek van Nederland' is de tweede uit een reeks publicaties die voorlopig elk kwartaal verschijnen. De eerste verscheen op 22 oktober 2007 onder de titel 'De kleinste reisgids van Europa'. Elke boekje draait om één thema, dat bepalend is voor zowel inhoud als vormgeving. Het wordt verspreid via de rekken van Boomerang en heeft een oplage van 100.000 exemplaren.

'Het kleinste koffietafelboek van Nederland' wordt gezamenlijk uitgegeven door Coolpolitics en Boomerang.

Stichting Coolpolitics NederlandCoolpolitics biedt een podium voor maatschappelijke betrokkenheid, kennis en zingeving. De activiteiten lopen uiteen van afterparty's na verkiezingen tot tentoonstellingen, tv-programma's en debatten op festivals als Lowlands.

See also for the Photography of Carel Blazer, Paul Guermonprez, Nico de Haas, Karel Kleijn, E. van Moerkerken and others : Schoonheid van ons land

Ed van der Elsken Jong Nederland Lovely Bastards Photography

Ed van der Elsken (Amsterdam, 10 march 1925 – Edam, 28 December 1990), a photojournalist born in Amsterdam.

He lived with fellow photographer Ata Kandó (b. 1913 Budapest, Hungary) and her three children amongst the 'ruffians' and bohemians of Paris from 1950 to 1954. Ata was a principled documentarian whose pictures taken in the forests of the Amazon among the Piraoa and Yekuana tribes are her best known, but her more poetic leanings, exemplified in her later Droom in het Woud (Dream in the Wood 1957) must also have been an influence on van der Elsken. Much of his work subjectively documented his own energetic and eccentric life experience, presaging the work of Larry Clark, Nan Goldin or Wolfgang Tillmans. His adopted family and their lives became the subjects of his photographs along with the people he met including, during this Paris period, Edward Steichen who used many of the photographer's images in a survey of Postwar European Photography and in "The Family of Man". Another encounter was with Vali Myers who became the haunting kohl-eyed heroine of "Love on the left bank" (Een liefdesgeschiedenis in Saint-germain-des-Pres) published in 1956, the first of some twenty publications. Twenty years later she appears in his film Death in the Port Jackson Hotel (1972, 36 min. 16 mm colour).

Moving back to Amsterdam in 1954 he records members of the Dutch avant garde COBRA, including Karel Appel whom he later filmed (Karel Appel, componist korte versie, 1961, 4 min. 16 mm black & white). He then travelled extensively, to Bagara 1957 (now in Democratic Republic of Congo), and to Tokyo and Hong Kong in 1959 to 1960, with Gerda van der Veen, his second wife (also a photographer). Shortly after he records on film the birth of their second child Daan in the old-fashioned working-class Nieuwmarkt in Amsterdam (Welkom in het leven, lieve kleine, 1963, 36 min. 16 mm black & white).

His imagery provides quotidian, intimate and autobiographic perspectives on the European zeitgeist between the Second World War and the seventies in the realms of art, music (particularly jazz), and cafe culture. His last film was Bye (1990, 1 hour 48 min, video, 16 mm film, colour and black & white) a characteristic response to his terminal prostate cancer.

Jurgen Vollmer Rock 'N' Roll Times Photography

1961. John Lennon, in his forward to Jurgen Vollmer’s book “Rock ‘N’ Roll Times” remarked “… Vollmer was the first photographer to capture the beauty and the spirit of The Beatles…We tried very hard to find someone with his touch after we returned from Hamburg, Germany…nobody could…The photographs…speak for themselves.”

Vollmer, along with Astrid Kirscherr and Klaus Voorman befriended the Beatles in Hamburg during the bands initial visit in August, 1960, but it was amidst the three-month stint at the Top Ten Club in March, 1961 when Vollmer approached the band about the possibility of photographing them. The images captured by Vollmer’s lens during a relaxed afternoon photo session sans audience at Hamburg’s Top Ten Club are among this collection of ten 8"x10" black and white photographs procured by our consignor at the very first Beatlefest in 1974 from the photographer himself, Jurgen Vollmer.

As a result of Vollmer’s appearance at that first Beatlefest in New York City, John Lennon’s assistant (and short-term love interest), May Pang, was dispatched to procure a set of the photos. Shortly thereafter, Vollmer and Lennon rekindled their friendship resulting in the famous doorway photograph finding its way onto the cover of John Lennon’s “Rock N Roll” album. MT.

Jürgen Vollmer

Jürgen Vollmer, in 1941 in Hamburg geboren, was in de woorden van John Lennon ‘de eerste fotograaf die de schoonheid en de geest van The Beatles vastlegde’. De beroemdste foto van The Beatles in hun Hamburgse tijd, met John met leren jasje en wit T-shirt leunend in een deuropening, gebruikte Lennon voor de hoes van zijn solo-album Rock 'n Roll uit 1975. Net als Klaus Voormann en diens vriendin Astrid Kirchherr behoorde Vollmer tot de groep jongeren die wat neerbuigend de Exi’s (nozems) werden genoemd. In 1961 verhuisde Vollmer naar Parijs, waar hij assistant werd van de beroemde fotograaf en filmmaker William Klein en veel op straat fotografeerde. Bij een van die gelegenheden, in september ’61, kwam hij toevallig Paul McCartney en John Lennon tegen. Die laatste herinnerde zich: ‘Jürgen droeg een broek met wijde pijpen, maar die vonden we voor Liverpool te mietig. Hij had ook een platte, sluike haarstijl met een pony aan de voorkant die we nogal leuk vonden. We gingen naar zijn kamer en daar knipte – hakte zou een beter woord zijn – hij ons haar in dezelfde stijl.’ Het Beatlekapsel was geboren en op de Parijse vlooienmarkt zochten John en Paul een nieuwe outfit bij elkaar. ‘Ze zagen er niet uit toen ze uit Parijs terugkwamen,’ volgens Ringo. Jürgen Vollmer bleef in de jaren zestig in Parijs. Hij maakte er onder meer een reeks foto’s van de danser Rudolf Nureyev toen deze het ballet Le Jeune Home et la Mort instudeerde. Aan het einde van de jaren zestig werkte hij als setfotograaf bij Europese filmproducties, o.a. van regisseur Alain Resnais, maar toen hij in 1971 voor een opdracht in New York was, werd hij verliefd op de stad en bleef in de VS. De eerstvolgende decennia werkte hij daar voor de Amerikaanse filmindustrie, als setfotograaf bij films van onder anderen Roman Polanski, Francis Ford Coppola en Barry Levinson. Hij fotografeerde talloze sterren, van Madonna tot Dirk Bogarde, van Jeanne Moreau tot Nastassja Kinski, en van Arnold Schwarzenegger tot William Burroughs. Enkele jaren geleden verscheen van een overzichtsboek van Vollmers werk, From Hamburg to Hollywood, met een voorwoord van Sir Paul McCartney.

The Teds by Chris Steele-Perkins Photography

"In early 1954, on a late train from Southend, someone pulled the communication cord. The train ground to a halt. Light bulbs were smashed. Police arrested a gang dressed in Edwardian suits. In April, two gangs, also dressed Edwardian-style, met after a dance. They were ready for action: bricks and sand-filled socks were used. Fifty-five youths were taken in for questioning. The following August Bank Holiday, the first 'Best Dressed Ted Contest' was held. The winner was a twenty-year-old greengrocer's assistant. Thus the Teddy Boy myth was born."

A classic of British documentary photography, "The Teds" is a vivid and absorbing book combining the images of Chris Steele-Perkins and text by Richard Smith to tell a fascinating story that spans some three decades. The book presents Steele-Perkins' unforgettable photographs of the antics, clothes, hairstyles, and in the end, lives of the British working-class youth of the Fifties. The style was tenderly called "Teddy Boy" or "Ted" for short. It brought the American cowboy to the United Kingdom and turned him into (as Elvis Presley did in the United States) the overt and unabashed expression of potent male sexuality.

The "sexy" look has always been as cultivated, artificial, and precise as any other fashion or style that seeks to define a social class, a generation or a zeitgeist. What makes "The Teds" so unique is that the young men expressed all three and, intentionally or not, made the vitality, shamelessness, and exuberance of working-class British youth an enduring and permanent influence on global culture. The Teddy Boys are direct if ingenious representatives of one of the most seminal generations of the 20th century, captured here in stunning photographs by Steele-Perkins.

Smith's articulate, brilliant, and indispensable riff-essays complement Steele-Perkins's photographs in a seamless fusion. Originally published in paperback in 1979, "The Teds" has been re-issued in a hardback form by Dewi Lewis.

CHRIS STEELE-PERKINS

Geboren in 1947 te Rangoon, Birma. Leeft en werkt in Londen.

Chris Steele-Perkins is de zoon van een Britse militair en een Birmaanse moeder. In 1949 verlieten zijn ouders Rangoon om zich in Londen te vestigen. Chris Steele-Perkins behaalt een diploma psychologie met eervolle vermelding aan de Universiteit van Newcastle upon Tyne waar hij van 1967 tot 1970 studeerde.

In 1971 begint hij in Londen als onafhankelijke fotograaf en specialiseert hij zich in het theater. Zijn eerste project in het buitenland dateert van 1973: verschillende humanitaire organisaties geven hem een opdracht om een reportage te maken over de toestand in Bangladesh.

In 1975 begint hij met EXIT te werken. Dit is een groep documentairemakers die zich toeleggen op het bestuderen van sociale problemen in Britse steden. Zeven jaar later wordt een deel van het werk dat hij met EXIT uitvoert, gepubliceerd onder de titel Survival Programmes.

In 1976 vervoegt Chris Steele-Perkins het agentschap Viva in Parijs. Gedurende een korte tijd werkt hij samen met de fotograaf Mark Edwards en toont hij interesse in een meer conceptuele fotografie. Met Film Ends tonen beide kunstenaars hoe fotografen gebruik maken van uiteinden van films die vaak enkel gebruikt worden voor toevallige opnames om de filmrol volledig op te gebruiken en deze zo vlug mogelijk te kunnen ontwikkelen.

Het eerste boek van Chris Steele-Perkins, The Teds, wordt in 1979 gepubliceerd. Het wordt gewijd aan de laatste generatie van de Teddy Boys, soms nog jonge mensen wier stijl in de jaren 1950 aan het licht kwam. In hetzelfde jaar vervoegt hij Magnum Photos en wordt hij in 1982 lid. Daarna gaat zijn werk voornamelijk over de ontwikkelingslanden. Daar verslaat hij verschillende conflicten in het Midden-Oosten, Afrika en Centraal-Amerika. Zijn reportages kennen een groot succes bij het publiek en hij wint er verschillende prijzen mee waaronder de prestigieuze Prijs Oskar Barnack in 1988 en de Gouden Medaille van de prijs Robert Capa in 1989.

In 1989 beschrijft zijn boek met kleurfoto’s The Pleasure Principle in een zeer persoonlijke stijl de hedonistische levenswijze en de idealistische tendenzen in de Britse maatschappij. Vervolgens start hij met een ambitieus project over Afghanistan, dat in 2000 aanleiding gat tot de publicatie van een boek met als titel Afghanistan. Chris Steele-Perkins verbleef lang in Japan en hij legde zich er op toe diverse aspecten van het land in beeld te brengen: van scènes uit het dagelijkse leven in de stad tot de indrukwekkendste landschappen. In 2001 heeft hij Mount Fuji gepubliceerd waarin hij het beroemdste emblematische beeld van het land herbezoekt. Zijn laatste werk, Echoes, dat in 2004 werd gedrukt, betekent een beslissend moment t.o.v. zijn vroegere werken. Echoes verzamelt foto’s die hij van zijn familie nam tijdens het jaar 2001. Het is een zeer intiem en sentimenteel fotografisch corpus. © Chris Steele-Perkins / Magnum Photos

Prijzen (selectie) 1988 Prijs Oskar Barnack, World Press ; Prijs Tom Hopkinson 1989 Gouden Medaille Robert Capa, Centre International de la Photographie 1994 Prijs La Nación Premier Photojournalism 1999 Beurs van de Sasakawa Foundation 2000 Prijs World Press, Categorie Daily Life

Tentoonstellingen (selectie) 1999 Robert Capa Gold Medal Winners Exhibition, gemeenschappelijke rondreizende tentoonstelling in Japan 1999 Nomansland, Photo Gallery International, Tokyo, Japan 1999-2000 Afghanistan, Side Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne, Groot-Britannië ; Fotogallery, Cardiff, Groot-Brittannië ; Visa pour l’Image, Perpignan, France 2002-2003 Mount Fuji, Grandship, Shizuoka, Japan ; Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham, Groot-Brittannië ; Impressions Gallery, York, Groot-Brittannië ; Darlington Arts Centre, Groot-Brittannië ; Pierce Hall Art Gallery, Halifax, Groot-Brittannië ; National Theatre, Londen, Groot-Brittannië 2003-2004 The Teds, Stephen Daiter Gallery, Chicago, Verenigde Staten ; Noorderlicht Festival, Groningen, Nederland ; 292 Gallery, New York, Verenigde Staten

Publicaties (selectie) The Teds. Travelling Light, Londen, 1979 ; Dewi Lewis, Stockport, 2003 Survival Programmes : In Britain’s Inner Cities. Open University Press, Maidenhead, 1982 The Pleasure Principle. Cornerhouse, Manchester, 1989 Afghanistan. Marvel, New york, 2000 ; Westzone, Londen, 2001 ; Shobunsha, Tokyo, 2001 Fuji. Umbrage, New york, 2002 Echoes. Trolley, Londen, 2004

The Teds by Chris Steele-Perkins Photography

"In early 1954, on a late train from Southend, someone pulled the communication cord. The train ground to a halt. Light bulbs were smashed. Police arrested a gang dressed in Edwardian suits. In April, two gangs, also dressed Edwardian-style, met after a dance. They were ready for action: bricks and sand-filled socks were used. Fifty-five youths were taken in for questioning. The following August Bank Holiday, the first 'Best Dressed Ted Contest' was held. The winner was a twenty-year-old greengrocer's assistant. Thus the Teddy Boy myth was born."

A classic of British documentary photography, "The Teds" is a vivid and absorbing book combining the images of Chris Steele-Perkins and text by Richard Smith to tell a fascinating story that spans some three decades. The book presents Steele-Perkins' unforgettable photographs of the antics, clothes, hairstyles, and in the end, lives of the British working-class youth of the Fifties. The style was tenderly called "Teddy Boy" or "Ted" for short. It brought the American cowboy to the United Kingdom and turned him into (as Elvis Presley did in the United States) the overt and unabashed expression of potent male sexuality.

The "sexy" look has always been as cultivated, artificial, and precise as any other fashion or style that seeks to define a social class, a generation or a zeitgeist. What makes "The Teds" so unique is that the young men expressed all three and, intentionally or not, made the vitality, shamelessness, and exuberance of working-class British youth an enduring and permanent influence on global culture. The Teddy Boys are direct if ingenious representatives of one of the most seminal generations of the 20th century, captured here in stunning photographs by Steele-Perkins.

Smith's articulate, brilliant, and indispensable riff-essays complement Steele-Perkins's photographs in a seamless fusion. Originally published in paperback in 1979, "The Teds" has been re-issued in a hardback form by Dewi Lewis.

CHRIS STEELE-PERKINS

Geboren in 1947 te Rangoon, Birma. Leeft en werkt in Londen.

Chris Steele-Perkins is de zoon van een Britse militair en een Birmaanse moeder. In 1949 verlieten zijn ouders Rangoon om zich in Londen te vestigen. Chris Steele-Perkins behaalt een diploma psychologie met eervolle vermelding aan de Universiteit van Newcastle upon Tyne waar hij van 1967 tot 1970 studeerde.

In 1971 begint hij in Londen als onafhankelijke fotograaf en specialiseert hij zich in het theater. Zijn eerste project in het buitenland dateert van 1973: verschillende humanitaire organisaties geven hem een opdracht om een reportage te maken over de toestand in Bangladesh.

In 1975 begint hij met EXIT te werken. Dit is een groep documentairemakers die zich toeleggen op het bestuderen van sociale problemen in Britse steden. Zeven jaar later wordt een deel van het werk dat hij met EXIT uitvoert, gepubliceerd onder de titel Survival Programmes.

In 1976 vervoegt Chris Steele-Perkins het agentschap Viva in Parijs. Gedurende een korte tijd werkt hij samen met de fotograaf Mark Edwards en toont hij interesse in een meer conceptuele fotografie. Met Film Ends tonen beide kunstenaars hoe fotografen gebruik maken van uiteinden van films die vaak enkel gebruikt worden voor toevallige opnames om de filmrol volledig op te gebruiken en deze zo vlug mogelijk te kunnen ontwikkelen.

Het eerste boek van Chris Steele-Perkins, The Teds, wordt in 1979 gepubliceerd. Het wordt gewijd aan de laatste generatie van de Teddy Boys, soms nog jonge mensen wier stijl in de jaren 1950 aan het licht kwam. In hetzelfde jaar vervoegt hij Magnum Photos en wordt hij in 1982 lid. Daarna gaat zijn werk voornamelijk over de ontwikkelingslanden. Daar verslaat hij verschillende conflicten in het Midden-Oosten, Afrika en Centraal-Amerika. Zijn reportages kennen een groot succes bij het publiek en hij wint er verschillende prijzen mee waaronder de prestigieuze Prijs Oskar Barnack in 1988 en de Gouden Medaille van de prijs Robert Capa in 1989.

In 1989 beschrijft zijn boek met kleurfoto’s The Pleasure Principle in een zeer persoonlijke stijl de hedonistische levenswijze en de idealistische tendenzen in de Britse maatschappij. Vervolgens start hij met een ambitieus project over Afghanistan, dat in 2000 aanleiding gat tot de publicatie van een boek met als titel Afghanistan. Chris Steele-Perkins verbleef lang in Japan en hij legde zich er op toe diverse aspecten van het land in beeld te brengen: van scènes uit het dagelijkse leven in de stad tot de indrukwekkendste landschappen. In 2001 heeft hij Mount Fuji gepubliceerd waarin hij het beroemdste emblematische beeld van het land herbezoekt. Zijn laatste werk, Echoes, dat in 2004 werd gedrukt, betekent een beslissend moment t.o.v. zijn vroegere werken. Echoes verzamelt foto’s die hij van zijn familie nam tijdens het jaar 2001. Het is een zeer intiem en sentimenteel fotografisch corpus. © Chris Steele-Perkins / Magnum Photos

Prijzen (selectie) 1988 Prijs Oskar Barnack, World Press ; Prijs Tom Hopkinson 1989 Gouden Medaille Robert Capa, Centre International de la Photographie 1994 Prijs La Nación Premier Photojournalism 1999 Beurs van de Sasakawa Foundation 2000 Prijs World Press, Categorie Daily Life

Tentoonstellingen (selectie) 1999 Robert Capa Gold Medal Winners Exhibition, gemeenschappelijke rondreizende tentoonstelling in Japan 1999 Nomansland, Photo Gallery International, Tokyo, Japan 1999-2000 Afghanistan, Side Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne, Groot-Britannië ; Fotogallery, Cardiff, Groot-Brittannië ; Visa pour l’Image, Perpignan, France 2002-2003 Mount Fuji, Grandship, Shizuoka, Japan ; Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham, Groot-Brittannië ; Impressions Gallery, York, Groot-Brittannië ; Darlington Arts Centre, Groot-Brittannië ; Pierce Hall Art Gallery, Halifax, Groot-Brittannië ; National Theatre, Londen, Groot-Brittannië 2003-2004 The Teds, Stephen Daiter Gallery, Chicago, Verenigde Staten ; Noorderlicht Festival, Groningen, Nederland ; 292 Gallery, New York, Verenigde Staten

Publicaties (selectie) The Teds. Travelling Light, Londen, 1979 ; Dewi Lewis, Stockport, 2003 Survival Programmes : In Britain’s Inner Cities. Open University Press, Maidenhead, 1982 The Pleasure Principle. Cornerhouse, Manchester, 1989 Afghanistan. Marvel, New york, 2000 ; Westzone, Londen, 2001 ; Shobunsha, Tokyo, 2001 Fuji. Umbrage, New york, 2002 Echoes. Trolley, Londen, 2004

Kadir van Lohuizen Aderen Rivers of the World Photography

Kadir van Lohuizen is a photo-journalist who often works in areas of conflict. He is regularly in Africa where the image of the “continent without hope” appears to be confirmed time and again.In 1996, he went in search of “the other Africa” and travelled down the Niger River. His journey inspired him to follow other rivers to their source: the Yangtze (China), Ganges (India), Danube (Central and Eastern Europe), Amazon (South America), Mississippi (United States) and the Ob (Russia). The result is Rivers of the world, a joint production of the Institut Néerlandais and the Kunsthal in Rotterdam.

A French Actes Sud publication with texts by the photographer himself will be presented at the exhibition. http://www.lohuizen.net/

"Niger"© Kadir van Lohuizen, Les grands fleuves du monde, 2003

Before Kadir van Lohuizen became a photographer he was a sailor and started a shelter for homeless and drug addicts in Holland. He was also an activist in the Dutch squatter movement. He started to work as a professional freelance photojournalist in 1988 covering the Intifadah.In the years after he worked in many conflict areas in Africa, such as Angola, Sierra Leone, Mozambique, Liberia and DR Congo. From 1990–1994 he covered the transition in South Africa from apartheid to democracy.After the collapse of the Soviet Union Kadir covered social issues in different corners of the former empire. He also went to North Korea and Mongolia. In 1997 he embarked on a big project to travel the seven rivers of the world, from source to mouth, covering the daily life along these lifelines.In 2004 he went back to Angola, Sierra Leone and Democratic Republic of Congo to portray the diamond industry, following the diamonds from the mines to the consumer markets in the western world. The exhibition travels not only in Europe and the USA, but also in the mining areas of Congo, Angola and Sierra Leone.In 2004 he also initiated a photo project together with Stanley Greene and six other photographers on the violence against women in the world. In 2006 he co-founded the magazine The Issue with Stanley Greene. Recently Kadir has covered the conflict in Darfur, Chad and in Lebanon. Since hurricane Katrina happened he has made several trips to the USA to cover the aftermath and continues his work on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina still today. In 2006 Kadir started a new project: a visual investigation on migration in the America’s. For this he travels from Terra del Fuego (Patagonia) to Northern Alaska.

awardsIn 1998 van Lohuizen won the most prestigious Dutch award in photojournalism ‘de Zilveren Camera’ for his story in Zaire on Rwandan refugees. For the same story he received the 2nd prize spot news stories at the World press. In 2000 (Sierra Leone) and 2005 (diamonds) he won the ‘Dick Scherpenzeel’ prize in Holland for best reporting on the developing world. In 2006 he won the prize for Investigative journalism in Holland and Belgium for his story on the diamond industry, for the same story he received a second prize, contemporary issues at the World Press Photo. In 2007 he won the “Kees Scherer' prize for the best photobook in Holland in the last two years. He also won a PDN annual award in the USA for his work in Chad.In 2000 and 2002 van Lohuizen was a jury member for World Press Photo. He has also taught several workshops for them.Van Lohuizen has published in numerous magazines and newspapers such as Vrij Nederland, de Volkskrant, NRC Handelsblad, Le Monde, Liberation, The Guardian, The Observer, Independent Sunday Review, New York Times magazine, Time magazine, Paris Match, Newsweek and GEO and has worked reguarly for Medicins sans Frontieres (MSF) since 1990.

exhibitionsExhibitions were shown at
Canon Image Centre, AmsterdamMozambique (1992) Museum of Ethnology, Leiden, Mozambique (1993), City hall, Amsterdam, South Africa (1994), Amsterdam Historical Museum, Amsterdam, Moroccan family (1997), Photo festival Naarden, Naarden, Surinamese family (1997), Word Press Photo exhibition (1998 and 2006). Dutch Photo Institute, Rotterdam, Tibet (April 1999), India International Centre, New Delhi, www.tibet.chin.com (2000), Photo festival Naarden, Tibet (2001), Museum of Ethnology, Leiden (2002), the Nenets and the gas industry, St. Petersburg, war photography (2003), group exhibition, Photofestival Skopelos, rivers (2003), Institut Neerlandais, Les grands fleuves du monde (2003), Kunsthal Rotterdam, rivers (2003), L’Oeil sur Seyne, Les grands fleuves du monde (2004), FOAM, Amsterdam, Diamond matters (2005), Visa pour l’Image, Perpignan, Diamond matters (2005), Various locations DR Congo, Angola, Sierra Leone, Diamand matters (2005)., HOST gallery, London, Diamond matters (2006), Maison Robert Doisneau, Paris, Diamond Matters (2007).

worked with
Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF)Human Rights Watch

collectionsMuseum of Contemporary Art, AmsterdamPrivate collectionsSBK foundation, Amsterdam