Pioneers of Travel Photography

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Visitors of this exhibition travel to eight destinations, following the footsteps of the first travel photographers of the second half of the 19th century. The travel locations more or less chronologically follow the paths of the travellers and photographers who pursued their curiosity about faraway countries and cultures. The exhibition has been organised thanks to a collaboration with the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, which has a rich collection of early travel photos, but can not exhibit them itself right now. Teyler Museum’s own collection of travel stories has been given a new context with this exhibit and they have set up the historic Kaiser Panorama with stereo photographs in the Schilderijenzaal.
Dates: October 3-January 4, 2009
Location: Teylers Museum, Spaarne 16, Haarlem
For more information visit: www.teylersmuseum.nl

Another online exhibition : “Global Views 19th Century Travel Photographs”

In the second half of the nineteenth century, the rapid development and increasing recognition of the art of photography, along with a growing fascination with other countries and cultures, marked the beginning of the formation of a “global visual culture.” In the decades following the invention of photography in 1839, professional photographic firms appeared in the major cities of Western Europe, as well as in more remote travel destinations such as Greece, Egypt, India, Asia, and the Middle East. The earliest travel photographers produced images primarily for publications which functioned as surrogates for travel, spurring curiosity and inspiring Grand Tour travelers who, by the 1870s and ’80s, were flocking to exotic sites to visit the monuments of the ancient and medieval past.Catering to this influx of European and American tourists, a growing number of travel photographers documented historical monuments and archeological sites, as well as scenes of daily life. Technological developments enabled these photographers to produce relatively large numbers of images that were chiefly intended to satisfy the burgeoning tourism trade and the thirst for images of the Orient, the term traditionally used in the nineteenth century to refer to the Middle East, South Asia, and East Asia. As the techniques of photography became less cumbersome, transporting equipment became more practical. Photographers began to sell their pictures on-site to tourists who collected them as souvenirs during their travels.

These unique photographs have artifactual value for the history of photography, as well as documentary value for the study of the architectural and social history of the regions in which they were produced…Read more and see the slideshow : “Global Views: 19th-Century Travel Photographs” Princeton

Van 3 oktober 2008 t/m 4 januari 2009 is in Teylers Museum een expositie met unieke historische reisfoto's uit de 19e eeuw. Een tijd waarin reizen en fotografie nog avontuurlijke en omslachtige ondernemingen waren.

De expositie wordt georganiseerd in samenwerking met het Rijksmuseum, dat een uitzonderlijke collectie foto’s bezit maar deze nooit tentoonstelt. Uit deze collectie is o.a. 'het panorama op Baalbek' van meesterfotograaf Gustave Le Gray te zien. Teylers Museum toont uit zijn collectie het zeldzame en eerste met foto’s geïllustreerde expeditieverslag 'Voyage au Soudan, met de vroegste foto’s van vrouwen uit Darfur (1854). Het Nationaal Archief leende twee groepsportretten van Alexandrine Tinne’s reisgezelschap in Algiers. Tinne was een Nederlandse ontdekkingsreizigster, die als een van de eerste vrouwen Noord-Afrika verkende. Lees verder ...

Beeld: beklimming van de grote pyramide door een toerist, 1885-1895 Blad uit het album van luitenant ter zee E.M. Wissmann (collectie Rijks Museum) 

Pioniers Direct na de introductie in 1839 werd al beweerd dat de fotografie van bijzonder nut zou zijn voor de illustratie van reisverslagen. Immers, een foto is sneller gemaakt dan een prent naar een tekening. Maar ook het maken van een foto was in het begin een moeizame onderneming en zeker op reis. Er moest een grote hoeveelheid materiaal mee, zoals de glazen platen die als negatief dienden, de lens met het zware onderstel, een tent of kar om in het donker ter plaatse te kunnen ontwikkelen en de flessen met chemicaliën waarmee dat gebeurde. Een verre reis was een kostbare investering: er waren heel wat dragers en transportmiddelen nodig. Verre reizen De meeste vroege fotoreizen vonden plaats in het kader van archeologische expedities. De fotograaf kreeg opdracht illustraties te maken voor wetenschappelijke verslagen. Maar de eerste fotoreizen volgden ook een andere traditie: die van de ‘Grand Tour’, de reis die vermogende westerse jongelingen ondernamen om kennis te maken met de antieke wereld. Zij reisden via Italië en Griekenland naar het Midden Oosten. Met de opening van het Suezkanaal in 1869 werden ook verdere bestemmingen beter bereikbaar: India, Indo-China, China, Japan en, vooral voor Nederlanders, Indonesië.
Professionals ter plaatse Al snel kreeg de fotografie een commerciële inslag. Sommige fotografen vestigden zich op populaire reisbestemmingen om de voorbijtrekkende expedities en particulieren van fotosouvenirs te voorzien. Zo waren er al vroeg Engelse fotografen permanent actief in Rome en werkte bijvoorbeeld de Engelsman Francis Frith in Cairo, waar hij zich specialiseerde in de spectaculaire 3D stereofotografie. In de expositie zijn veel foto's van deze specialisten te bewonderen. In kijkkasten kunnen de bezoekers voor even in 3D naar Amerika of Japan reizen en de opening van het Suezkanaal in 1869 herbeleven.
Boxcamera Na de introductie van de boxcamera van Kodak in 1888 wordt fotograferen een stuk makkelijker. De foto’s werden nu in een handzaam kastje belicht op een rolletje, dat ter ontwikkeling en afdruk naar het laboratorium werd verstuurd. Opeens was fotografie voor menigeen bereikbaar. Vooral na 1900 toen een simpele boxcamera nog maar 1 dollar kostte! In de tentoonstelling worden albums getoond van enkele amateur-fotografen, die rond 1900 de wereld afreisden. Onder hen zijn de Rotterdamse dominee Louis Heldring en de oprichter van de Koninklijke Shell, G.A. Kessler.

Coming soon Oscar van Alphen the Monography Documentary Photography

Children in the Big City Kinderen in de grote stad - Oscar van Alphen / Adriaan Morrien

B/w photographs of children in the city by Oscar van Alphen, text in Dutch by Adriaan Morrien. Design Jurriaan Schrofer.(PBC 96, 97) A wonderful book depicting children in the big city. A book contemporary of Doisneau’s Gosses de Paris (1956) and of which many pictures are reminiscent of Helen Levitt (Ways of seeing is from 1965). Lees verder ...

Oscar van Alphen Alphen aan den Rijn, 8 September 1923
Pseudonym of Cees Nieuwenhuizen. After graduating from naval college he studied social geography for a few years, and then started to work for a trade company. Initially he was chiefly interested in technical photography but later on he focused more and more on the social aspects of photography. During the fifties and sixties he mainly photographed the post-war reconstruction of the Netherlands. From 1970 onwards his photographs became more journalistic in nature and more socially conscious. In his work he combines images with texts. In 1973 he was awarded first prize in the World Press Photo "features" category.

Coming soon Oscar van Alphen the Monography Documentary Photography

Children in the Big City Kinderen in de grote stad - Oscar van Alphen / Adriaan Morrien

B/w photographs of children in the city by Oscar van Alphen, text in Dutch by Adriaan Morrien. Design Jurriaan Schrofer.(PBC 96, 97) A wonderful book depicting children in the big city. A book contemporary of Doisneau’s Gosses de Paris (1956) and of which many pictures are reminiscent of Helen Levitt (Ways of seeing is from 1965). Lees verder ...

Oscar van Alphen Alphen aan den Rijn, 8 September 1923
Pseudonym of Cees Nieuwenhuizen. After graduating from naval college he studied social geography for a few years, and then started to work for a trade company. Initially he was chiefly interested in technical photography but later on he focused more and more on the social aspects of photography. During the fifties and sixties he mainly photographed the post-war reconstruction of the Netherlands. From 1970 onwards his photographs became more journalistic in nature and more socially conscious. In his work he combines images with texts. In 1973 he was awarded first prize in the World Press Photo "features" category.

Spotlight on Japan Paris Photo 2008 Photography

Paris Photo 2008 : A promising wind blows in from contemporary Asia

For the first time, Paris Photo turns to the Far East and is inviting Japan as its guest of honour. With work by more than 130 artists, Paris Photo will offer an exceptional overview of a unique vision, from the Meiji era to 1930’s avant-garde movements and the post-war years through to the most contemporary production.

Paris Photo invited independent curator and photography critic Mariko Takeuchi to curate “Spotlight on Japan”. See for Paris Photo 2008:200 preview picks, with a special focus on Japan

This exceptional overview of Japanese photography will consist of four parts:

In the General Sector, some 30 galleries will present Japan’s great classic and contemporarymasters.

In the Statement Section, eight invited Japanese galleries will show exciting work from a young generation of artists mainly born in the mid-sixties and seventies.

The Project Room will present a series of contemporary videos by Japanese photographers.

A publishers’ space in the Central Exhibition area will highlight the central role of the book on the Japanese photography scene. Lees verder ‘Japanse fotografen zijn filmischer en ruiger’ ...

This year Van Zoetendaal wil present new work by Paul Kooiker, Koos Breukel, Eva-Fiore Kovacovsky, Yuki Onodera, Kyungwoo Chun, Harold Strak, and Holger Niehaus. 13 - 16 November.Booth G07. See for THE BEST OF PHOTOGRAPHY AT PARIS PHOTO 2008 ...

Looking back Paris Photo 2007 ...

© Rinko Kawauchi - Untitled, from the series of "UTATANE", 2001 - Courtesy of the artist and FOIL GALLERY,Tokyo

Spotlight on Japan Paris Photo 2008 Photography

Paris Photo 2008 : A promising wind blows in from contemporary Asia

For the first time, Paris Photo turns to the Far East and is inviting Japan as its guest of honour. With work by more than 130 artists, Paris Photo will offer an exceptional overview of a unique vision, from the Meiji era to 1930’s avant-garde movements and the post-war years through to the most contemporary production.

Paris Photo invited independent curator and photography critic Mariko Takeuchi to curate “Spotlight on Japan”. See for Paris Photo 2008:200 preview picks, with a special focus on Japan

This exceptional overview of Japanese photography will consist of four parts:

In the General Sector, some 30 galleries will present Japan’s great classic and contemporarymasters.

In the Statement Section, eight invited Japanese galleries will show exciting work from a young generation of artists mainly born in the mid-sixties and seventies.

The Project Room will present a series of contemporary videos by Japanese photographers.

A publishers’ space in the Central Exhibition area will highlight the central role of the book on the Japanese photography scene. Lees verder ‘Japanse fotografen zijn filmischer en ruiger’ ...

This year Van Zoetendaal wil present new work by Paul Kooiker, Koos Breukel, Eva-Fiore Kovacovsky, Yuki Onodera, Kyungwoo Chun, Harold Strak, and Holger Niehaus. 13 - 16 November.Booth G07. See for THE BEST OF PHOTOGRAPHY AT PARIS PHOTO 2008 ...

Looking back Paris Photo 2007 ...

© Rinko Kawauchi - Untitled, from the series of "UTATANE", 2001 - Courtesy of the artist and FOIL GALLERY,Tokyo

1956 Lionel Hampton Ed van der Elsken Photography

1956 Lionel Hampton Ed van der Elsken Photography

the finishing touch Carel Blazer Cover Design Company Photography

The finishing touch: 100 jaar Twentsche Stoombleekerij NV door Max Dendermonde en Carel Blazer. [Text Max Dendermonde (firm's history). Photography Carel Blazer. Layout Gerard Wernars].

Goor / 1957 / 96 p. / hb. / 27x20cm / 94 b&w photographs, 2 color / bedrijfsreportage en foto's van landschap en folklore). - Ill. 7 b&w photographs / pentekeningen van tjaps). / NN / Firmenschrift, Festschrift / Wirtschaft, Firmengeschichte - Photographie - Anthologie - Auftragsphotographie, commissioned photography - Nederland, Niederlande - 20. Jahrh. / Printed by Drukkerij Meijer NV, Wormerveer (boekdruk). - Opdrachtgever: NV Twentsche Stoomblekerij (100-jarig bestaan). - Kenmerken van filmisch scenario. In de tekstkolommen, gezet uit de Baskerville, wordt direct gereageerd op de fotografie.

Frans Molenaar Haute Couture Dutch Fashion Design Photography

MOLENAAR, FRANS - MUAL, MAKIRI. - Frans Molenaar.
Terra/Lannoo, 2005. Cloth-covered boards with pictorial dustjacket (hardcover), 29,5 x 29,5 cms., 204 pp. profusely illustrated. Photography by Lood van Bennekom, Julian Beusker, Maurice Boyer, Hans Buter, Jan Francis, Martijn van Gelder, George van Herwaarde, Bianca Holzhaus, Paul Huf, Chris Hutter, Jan Keja, Inez van Lamsweerde, Bert Meijer, Sean MacAndrew, Frits Schroeder, Marcel van de Vlugt

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In the street New York Helen Levitt Photography

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Helen Levitt - In the Street
24 October 2008 to 18 January 2009

This autumn, Foam_Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam presents a retrospective of work by the famous American street photographer Helen Levitt (b. 1913, New York). Inspired by her mentors and friends Walker Evans and Henri Cartier-Bresson, Levitt recorded life on the streets of 1940s New York in black-and-white photos. Her work set the tone for a new documentary style in American photography. Her photos are visual poems in which form, colour and movement all play a key part. Among the exhibits in In the Street is a series of contact sheets which show how Levitt moved about when photographing on the streets, recording the choreography of the people around her. Helen Levitt was also a pioneer of colour photography. In addition to her black-and-white photos, the exhibition also features a selection of her famous dye-transfers (colour photos).

Helen Levitt grew up in Brooklyn, New York. Having left school early, she spent four years working as a commercial photographer, teaching herself the skills. Social unrest in the 1930s led the government to help set up projects to deal with problems caused by the Depression. One of these was the Farm Security Administration, which included a highly influential photography programme. But after she saw the work of Henri Cartier-Bresson, Levitt was less interested in rural America, and determined instead to record life in New York. Not as a documentary but as observation. Inspired by Cartier-Bresson, in 1936 she bought a Leica and took to the city streets, beginning by photographing children. She concentrated mainly on the poorer neighbourhoods in New York, since street life was more visually interesting here. Her pictures show scenes from everyday life: children playing, adults talking, passers-by. Despite their everyday subject matter, the photos are full of drama, humour and grace.

In 1959 and 1960 Levitt received two grants from the Guggenheim Foundation to record the city’s streets, this time in colour. In these photos, colour becomes an eloquent, expressive aspect of her subject. This powerful visual element draws the viewer to other parts of the picture. Moreover, the photos from this later period show different neighbourhoods, where Levitt searched for a new impulse. Her focus in these works is on older people, rather than children. The compositions are more tranquil, which partly reflects her own age (by the late 1970s she had turned 65), although rhythm and movement are still a vital ingredient in her work. Almost all her early colour work was stolen in 1970 when a burglar broke into her apartment, after which Levitt returned to the streets to produce yet more colour photos.

In 1943, Edward Steichen produced the first solo exhibition of work by Helen Levitt at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. In the 1940s Levitt also made two films, The Quiet One and In the Street. Levitt has published several books, including A Way of Seeing (1965), In the Street (1987), Crosstown (2001) and Slideshow (2005).

This year Levitt received the SPECTRUM prize, the Internationaler Preis für Fotografie der Stiftung Niedersachsen, which was accompanied by a new book: Fotografien 1937-1991. Levitt (95) has been photographing for almost 70 years and currently lives in relative seclusion in New York. Lees verder ...

23 Distinctively Dutch photographs Christie’s London Photography

Distinctively Dutch
For the first time ever in any Photographs auction, Christie’s London presents 23 Distinctively Dutch photographs from the Netherlands. An essay by Hripsimé Visser, Curator of Photography at Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, accompanies this section. The exceptional works offered are no longer available on the primary market and include sold-out works by key artists such as Desiree Dolron, with Xteriors VII , 2004 (estimate: £25,000-35,000); Céline van Balen’s Muazez, 1998 (estimate: £10,000-15,000); Marnix Goosens’ celebrated Cloud from ‘Regarding Nature’ , 2000 (estimate: £10,000-15,000) illustrated left; Elspeth Diederix, with Still life (milk), 2002 (estimate: £8,000-12,000) and Edwin Zwakman’s significant work Fly-over II, 1996 (estimate: £10,000-15,000).

Traditions, genres and concepts frequently become entwined in contemporary photography; this is exemplified in works from the Netherlands. The fusion of fashion and documentary disciplines is apparent in Viviane Sassen’s highly stylised Kathleen, 2006 (estimate: £5,000-7,000). Such crossovers between genres have underpinned new forms of expression. This is the case with the expressive pop photography of Anton Corbijn, such as Patti Smith, 1999 (estimate: £10,000-15,000).

The Dutch photographers featured have created highly personal works. They present staged worlds which become new realities; choose unexpected view points; remove contexts of understanding; construct remembered realities from maquettes and alter or blur focus. The resulting works are colourful, large and autonomous, such as Diederix’s Still life (milk) detailed above and illustrated right, which points to the long tradition of Dutch still life.Different examples include striking, digitally manipulated images such as The Ice Cream Parlour from 'Rain', 2004 (estimate: £15,000-20,000) illustrated page one right and the portfolio Royal Blood, 2000 (estimate: £10,000-15,000), both by Erwin Olaf, as well as World #16, 2006, by Ruud van Empel (estimate: £10,000-15,000).

Distinctively Dutch includes four powerful portraits of Muslim girls which are thought provoking and aesthetically beautiful. Céline van Balen’s Muazez, 1998, (estimate: £10,000-15,000) illustrated left, is part of an important series, Muslim Girls,which depicts girls in temporary accommodation in Amsterdam. Zaineb from ‘Sisters’ , 2006, by Martine Stig (estimate: £5,000-7,000) is part of her portrait series of young women at the University of Kuwait who deliberately chose to wear veils. The project revealed the fine balance between depictions of self and personal modesty. Hondius’s Amman from ‘Harmless’, 2003, (estimate: £5,000-7,000), taken with a hidden camera, is a candid image providing a rare glimpse into a normally closed world. Another unique, almost painterly, approach is Untitled #10 from ‘Frontstage’, 2006, by Anoek Steketee (estimate: £6,000-8,000), whose works illuminate the everyday life of Iranians and investigate the accuracy of portrayals by western media. From the main body of the sale a further work in this genre includes I am its Secret by Iranian photographer Shirin Neshat (estimate: £3,000-5,000). Also of relevance, is The Vegetable Shop, Mogador, Morocco, 1962, by Paul Strand (estimate: £15,000-20,000).