100 jaar Grasso an Icon of Dutch Industrial Photography Books 1945 1965 Benno Wissing Violette Cornelius Graphic Design Company Photography

100 jaar Grasso
Publisher: Grasso’s Machinefabrieken NV, ‘s-Hertogenbosch
Year of publication: 1958
Binding: hardcover & softcover
Size: 280 x 240 mm
Number of pages: 74
Number of illustrations: 100 black & white photographs; 1 color
Type of illustrations: documentary; product photography (machines, compressed air installations)
Printer: Drukkerij Meijer NV, Wormerveer
Type of reproduction: letter press printing, offset
Photography: Violette Cornelius; Carel Blazer
Design: Benno Wissing
Text: E. Eberle (company history)
Type: commemoration book (60 year anniversary)

100 jaar Grasso [A Century of Grasso Engineering works] is a trilingual commemoration book commissioned by Grasso’s Machinefabrieken NV in Den Bosch. The idea and concept for this book are by graphic designer Benno Wissing (1923-2008). The book consists of two parts, with the first discussing the history and application of cooling technologies and the second a history of compressed air. The people on the shop floor of this family firm hardly appear in this company book. Eugène Eberle, violinmaker and reviewer of the left-wing daily Het Vrije Volk described the history of the firm and the production process. The distinguishing feature of 100 jaar Grasso is the varying page layoutswith sometimes a number of smaller photographs and a fair amount of white space, in some cases the photographs are set opposite a large bleed – small and informative versus large and evocative.The text is set in the Baskerville. An edition prepared for the personnel is published as a paperback.

The heyday of Dutch industrial photography books, 1945 - 1965

Photographer Paul Huf Paul Huff: Highlights (English and Dutch Edition) once commented succinctly on his work as follows: 'They get what they ask for, but I deliver damn good work' - the very thing that makes industrial photography books so attractive. The books show work from a period during which photographers could not make a living as artists/photographers and depended on such prestigious commissions. With this highly professional approach, photographers like Violette Cornelius Violette Cornelius and Ata Kando: Hungarian Refugees 1956, Cas Oorthuys 75 Jaar Bouwen, Van ambacht tot industrie 1889-1964, Ed van der Elsken , Ad Windig Het water - Schoonheid van ons land and Paul Huf established their reputations and influenced our present-day impression of workers and entrepreneurs in the postwar Netherlands. Experimental poets and well-known writers also contributed to these books, fifty of which are on show. 'Het bedrijfsfotoboek 1945-1965. Professionalisering van fotografen in het moderne Nederland' Het Bedrijfsfotoboek 1945-1965 .