The Rhetorics of Work Randstad Photocollection Photography

The Rhetorics of Work. Randstad Photocollection.

The collection focuses on a specific theme, that of work. Started in 1988, the photography collection Work/Werk belonging to the professional services company Randstad Nederland has grown to comprise more than 300 images by international artists, all dealing with a concept as abstract as work. The photocollection concentrates on work by Dutch artists including Rineke Dijkstra, Inez van Lamsweerde and Carla van de Puttelaar.

The photocollection reveals the level of quality attained by Dutch photography, a phenomenon that has been labelled the “Dutch Renaissance”. Curiosity for one’s surroundings, an interest in the everyday, attention to detail and a profound ability to describe characterise the work of a group of artists who seem to have picked up the mantel of the great 17th-century Dutch portrait painters.

This is photography with a markedly documentary character, which describes in a precise, detailed and objective way the personality of the sitter. As Frits Gierstberg noted : “Often portraits of an individual have a symbolic meaning that goes beyond that person [...] It can also act as a mirror in which we see reflected both the luminosity and the weight of our own existence”.

Rhetorics of Work includes examples of the different trends that form part of this resurgence of photography in Holland, such as photography of place (Erwin Olaf), the documentary image (Margriet Smulders), landscape (Reinier Gerritsen), character portraits (Rineke Dijkstra), and the digitally-manipulated image (Inez van Lamsweerde).

Work/Werk
The idea of forming a photography collection had its origins in the proposal to build up a collection of graphic art that reflects the company’s identity and would be used to make the workplace more agreeable for employees and clients of Randstad Nederland. The works in this collection are therefore hung in the company’s offices and workplaces.

These are images that surprise, provoke questions and encourage debate. According to the company itself: “each work is much more than an artistic object used to decorate the wall”.

See also Hans van der Meer Werk / Work ... & the Port of Amsterdam by Cor Jaring ...