Cas Oorthuys & Dick Elffers Rotterdam Dynamic city a symphony of Photography & Typography

Rotterdam dynamische stad : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7bA2CG4I4g

Oorthuys, Cas (1908 - 1975)

Working period 1938-1975

Description Cas Oorthuys captured the growing self-awareness of the Dutch in the period of postwar reconstruction in a unique fashion. His photographs show industrial recovery, a hard-working nation on the way towards a booming economy and a thriving tourist trade. Like many photographers in those postwar years, Oorthuys focused on people. His work is however characterised by the endeavour to generate interaction between the people in his photographs and the environment in which they live and work. Another remarkable aspect is his strong sense of composition: the photographs are conceived precisely within the matt glass square of his Rolleicord.Cas Oorthuys' life and work were shaped by World War Two and the events leading up to it. The economic crisis of the early 1930s lost him his Amsterdam municipal council post as an architect. He embarked on his photographic career with pictures of communist workers, and from 1936 was a photo-reporter for the social-democratic weekly Wij. When war broke out he tried to make a living with portrait photography. He also forged identity cards and in the Hunger Winter was a member of the group later known as The Camera in Hiding (De Ondergedoken Camera). This group had formed in order to record the liberation, which was expected imminently. When it failed to take place they illegally documented the last year of German occupation with photographic material which has retrospectively shaped our image of the Hunger Winter.After the liberation, social engagement remained a vital issue for Oorthuys. It is particularly evident in Een staat in wording (1947, a state in the making), a photo-book advocating a peaceful solution to the Indonesian struggle for independence. It was a vain hope, and changed Oorthuys' views about the function of photography. After this, he rarely used the medium as a political weapon. Henceforth, his photographs of people were prompted mainly by human interest.Although ideology receded into the background, people continued to feature prominently in Oorthuys' photos. This is demonstrated not only by his numerous industrial publications, annual reports and commemorative books dating from 1945 to 1975, but also by some forty travel paperbacks commissioned between 1951 and 1965 by Contact and the book Rotterdam dynamische stad (Rotterdam, dynamic city), published by the same firm in 1959. In 1969 the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam invited Oorthuys to stage a one-man show appropriately called Mensen/People. A book with the same title appeared that year. Oorthuys divided it into fifteen thematic groups, beginning with death and ending with laughter.Cas Oorthuys' prolific postwar production required an efficient administration. All his films were numbered, contact-printed and arranged according to subject in looseleaf books. With some 500,000 negatives and 444 books of contact prints, Cas Oorthuys' archive is one of the largest and most accessible of Dutch photo archives.

Biography
1908 Casparus Bernadus (Cas) Oorthuys is born on November 1 in Leiden.1926-1930 Studies architecture in Haarlem and develops an interest in photography.1930-1932 Employed by the Amsterdam municipal council as an architect, but loses his job in 1932 as a result of the economic crisis.1932 Joins the Vereeniging van Arbeiders-Fotografen (association of workers-photographers), founds the OV 20 combination for graphic design with painter Jo Voskuil and moves into a studio at 20 Prinseneiland. He and Voskuil provide photographs and photo-montages for brochures, magazines, book-jackets and posters.1936 Co-founder of the photo and film section of the Artists' Union in Defence of Cultural Rights (BKVK), and is involved in the organisation of the international exhibition The Olympiad under Dictatorship. A job as photographer for the weekly Wij and the daily Het Volk marks his decision to make photography his profession.1937 Participates in the organisation of the exhibition 'Foto '37' at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam.1944 Liberation seems imminent, and a group of photographers - including Oorthuys - decide to photograph the event. It took another six months for the Netherlands to be liberated, however, and the group later known as The Camera in Hiding (De Ondergedoken Camera) photographed the ensuing Hunger Winter instead. In 1947 these photographs were collected in the book Amsterdam tijdens de hongerwinter (Amsterdam during the Hunger Winter.1945 Co-founder of the photographers' branch of the union of contracted artists (GKf).1946 Assigned by ABC Press to photograph the Nuremberg trials.1947 Spends two months travelling through Indonesia for the Contact publishing company, taking photographs for Een staat in wording (a state in the making), published that July.1951 Publishes Bonjour Paris, the first in a series of travel paperbacks for which Oorthuys visits numerous European countries until 1965.1955 Oorthuys and six other Dutch photographers participate in the exhibition The Family of Man at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.1956 Travels to New Guinea for Bredero's construction company.1959 Photographs in the Congo for the Belgian information service, and then for Billiton in the Tanganyikan and Rhodesian ore mines. The photo book Rotterdam dynamische stad is published.1969 One-man show at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam to mark Oorthuys' sixtieth birthday. The exhibition is accompanied by the book Mensen/People.1975 Cas Oorthuys dies on July 22 in Amsterdam.
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Bibliography PRIMARY
D.J. Maltha, Landbouw, Amsterdam 1946
Alb. de la Court, Een staat in wording. Foto-reportage over het Indonesië van heden, Amsterdam/Antwerpen 1947
C.H.J. Maliepaard (red.), Rundvee, Amsterdam 1948
Evert Zandstra en Cas Oorthuys, Zwervend door Nederland, Amsterdam/Antwerpen 1950
C.H.J. Maliepaard (red.), Trekpaarden, Amsterdam 1950
J.W. de Boer, Rotterdam dynamische stad, Amsterdam 1959 [also english edition]
Bert Schierbeek, De draad van het verhaal, Wormerveer 1960
Gerrit Kouwenaar en Jan Mastenbroek, Amsterdam onze hoofdstad, Amsterdam 1963
Mensen/People, Amsterdam 19691944-45 het laatste jaar. Een verslag in foto's over onderdrukking en bevrijding, Amsterdam 1970
Guaranteed Real Dutch Congo, Rotterdam 1992Mensen aan de stroom. Reisimpressies van Cas Oorthuys in Belgisch Congo 1959, Tervuren 1992
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Contact-photo-pockets:
Jan Brusse, Bonjour Paris. Bonsoir Paris. Au revoir Paris. Parijse begroetingen, Amsterdam/Antwerpen 1951 [also german and french edition]C.J. Kelk, Dit is ons land Nederland, Amsterdam/Antwerpen 1952 [also german, english, french and spanish edition]Han G. Hoekstra, Dit is onze hoofdstad Amsterdam, Amsterdam/Antwerpen 1952 [also german, english and french edition]Ch.A. Cocheret, Dit is onze havenstad Rotterdam, Amsterdam/Antwerpen 1952 [also german, english and french edition]Neville Braybrooke, Dit is Londen, Amsterdam/Antwerpen 1953 [also german and english edition]Jan Brusse, De Franse Rivièra. Van Marseille tot Menton, Amsterdam/Antwerpen 1954 [also english edition]Benno Premsela, Dit is Florence, Amsterdam/Antwerpen 1954K. Jonckheere, Dit is België, Amsterdam/Antwerpen 1955 [also american, english and french edition]Evert Zandstra, Dit is Oostenrijk, Amsterdam/Antwerpen 1956René Patris, Dit is Rome, Amsterdam/Antwerpen 1956Bert Schierbeek, Hart van Spanje, Amsterdam/Antwerpen 1956 [also german edition]H. Molendijk, Dit is Amersfoort, Amsterdam/Antwerpen 1957 [also german and english edition]A. den Doolaard, Dit is Joegoslavië, Amsterdam/Antwerpen 1957A. den Doolaard, Dit is Venetië, Amsterdam/Antwerpen 1958B. Delépinne, Dit is Brussel, Amsterdam/Antwerpen 1958 [also german and french edition]Marise Ferro, Dit is de Italiaanse Rivièra, Amsterdam/Antwerpen 1958A. den Doolaard, Dit is Griekenland. Het vasteland, Amsterdam/Antwerpen 1958A. den Doolaard, Dit is Griekenland. De eilanden, Amsterdam/Antwerpen 1959A.B. Wigman en A.M. Hammacher, Dit is het nationale park De Hoge Veluwe, Amsterdam/Antwerpen 1960 [also german and english edition]H.J.A. Schintz, Dit is Zwitserland, Amsterdam/Antwerpen 1960P. Cressard, Dit is Bretagne, Amsterdam/Antwerpen 1961 [also french edition]Paul Ahnne, Dit is de Elzas, Amsterdam/Antwerpen 1961 [also french edition]M. Pezet, Dit is de Provence, Amsterdam/Antwerpen 1962Bert Schierbeek, Dit is Enschede, Amsterdam/Antwerpen 1962 [also german and english edition]R. Penrose, Oxford & Cambridge, Amsterdam 1962 [also english edition]Jean A. Schalekamp, De Balearen, Amsterdam/Antwerpen 1964W. Alings Jr., Napels en omgeving, Amsterdam 1964 [also english edition]Garmt Stuiveling, Dit is Hilversum, Amsterdam/Antwerpen 1964 [also german and english edition]Wim Alings Jr., De Italiaanse meren, Amsterdam/Antwerpen 1965

Contact-travel-pockets:
Evert Zandstra, Overijssel, Amsterdam/Antwerpen z.j.Auteur onbekend, De Vogezen. Lotharingen en de Elzas, Amsterdam/Antwerpen z.j.Evert Zandstra, Gelderland, Amsterdam/Antwerpen 1953Evert Zandstra, De Ardennen, Amsterdam/Antwerpen 1953Evert Zandstra, Luxemburg, Amsterdam/Antwerpen 1953Evert Zandstra, De Waddeneilanden, Amsterdam/Antwerpen 1954Evert Zandstra, Tirol & Vorarlberg, Amsterdam/Antwerpen 1954A. den Doolaard, Joegoslavië, Amsterdam/Antwerpen 1956Evert Zandstra, Limburg, Amsterdam/Antwerpen 1957Evert Zandstra, Tessin, Amsterdam/Antwerpen 1959 [idem: Vakantie in Tessin, 1959]

stamp design:
'Kinderzegels' [stamps], 1951'Spoorweg-jubileumzegels' [2 stamps], 1964'Bevrijdingszegel', 1975
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SECONDARY
Sybrand Hekking, Cas Oorthuys fotograaf 1908-1975, Amsterdam 1982
Flip Bool, 'Cas Oorthuys', in: Geschiedenis van de Nederlandse fotografie in monografieën en thema-artikelen, Alphen aan den Rijn/ Amsterdam 1984-, aflevering 22
Willem Diepraam, Een beeld van Cas Oorthuys, Amsterdam 1991

http://www.auctiva.com/stores/viewstore.aspx?id=17894

Plem 1909-1959 Company Photography De Stijl Elffers Oorthuys Thijsen Parr

1909 PLEM 1959.
[Text L. Harpman, P.A. Becx (redactie); Bertus Aafjes, R. Franquinet (essay); E. L. Kramer (foreword); F. Houben (introduction); H. Gelissen (firm's history). Photography Cas Oorthuys Illustrations: P.A. Becx Layout Dick Elffers en Ben Dui
Maastricht / 1959 / 154 p. / cb. / 26x24cm / with dustjacket / 136 b&w photographs, 7 color, in opdracht, uit bedrijfsarchief en uit niet-particuliere archieven / documentaire foto's / directeursportretten, huishoudelijke apparatuur, landschap en stedenschoon en schakelinstallaties). - Ill 11 b&w photographs, 35 colo / NN / Firmenschrift, Festschrift / Photographie - Anthologie - Auftragsphotographie, commissioned photography - Nederland, Niederlande - 20. Jahrh. / Printed by Firma Boosten & Stols, Maastricht (boekdruk). - Opdrachtgever: NV Provinciale Limburgsche Electriciteits-Maatschappij PLEM (50-jarig bestaan). - Foto-typo-taal. De elektriciteitscentrale wordt metaforisch voorgesteld als een sprookjespaleis uit duizend-en-een-nacht. De foto is onderdeel van een grafisch totaalontwerp. Grafieken zijn in aparte katernen op andersoortig papier afgedrukt. De tekst is gezet uit de Grotesk, Gill en Goudy catalogue. Lit.: M. Bruinsma, L. Ros en R. Schröder, Een leest heeft drie voeten. Dick Elffers en de kunsten, Amsterdam 1989, p. 42-43.

Plem 1909-1959 by : Martin Parr & Gerry Badger in The Photobook : A History volume II
It is a characteristic of the Dutch photobook, as it is of the Japanese photobook, that design is an important element of the total package. One of the best designed examples of the period was produced for the utility company PLEM ( Provinciale Limburgsche Electriciteitsmaatschappij), the electricity-generating company in the south of Holland, and it is the book's lead designer Dick Elffers, who is the driving force behind the look of the volume, even tough the photographic roster includes such distinguished names in Dutch photography as Cas Oorthuys (Oorthuys) and Koen Lenarts.
With its plethora of design 'references', the book might even be considered a prototype of the postmodern photobook, although graphic design, like fashion, was always a matter of visual appropriation. The borrowing begins with the cover, where the letters 'PLEM' are arranged in exactly the same way as the letters 'CPDE' on the cover of Man Ray's Électricite' (1931; see pages 182-83).
Another important design feature is a grid pattern that relates to the De Stijl movement of the 1930's, which numbered amongst its exponents Piet Mondriaan and Gerrit Rietveld. De Stijl was noted for its rigorous geometry and use of primary colours, and this is echoed throughout PLEM. Most notably, its piece de resistance is a two-page panorama of a power station at night, in which the space is fractured and expanded by means of red and yellow overlaid shapes.

Cas Oorthuys (1908-1975)
As no other photographer, Cas Oorthuys has expressed the growing self-confidence of the Dutch in the period of post-war reconstruction. His photographs show the restoration of the industry, hard-working Holland on the road to a society with a booming economy, and the growth of tourism.
Just like many other photographers in the post-war years, he chose people as his major subject. Characteristic for Oorthuys, though, is that he has always tried to let the environment in which they live and work play a role in his photographs. Another striking feature is his strong sense for composition: his photographs are composed carefully within the square of frosted glass of his Rolleicord.
At the beginning of the thirties he was personally affected by the consequences of the economic depression when he was fired as architectural assistant by the municipality of Amsterdam. He started his career in photography as a communist labour photographer, working since 1936 as photo reporter for the social-democrat weekly Wij.
After the outbreak of the Second World War, Oorthuys tried to survive as a portrait photographer. He also forged identity cards and in the 'Winter of Starvation' of 1944/1945, he was a member of the group that later would become known as 'De Ondergedoken Camera' ('The Hidden Camera'). This group had come into being around Dolle Dinsdag ('Crazy Tuesday', 5 September 1944) intending to capture the Liberation. When this unexpectedly failed to occur, the group documented illegally the last year of the German occupation. In retrospect this photo material has come to define our view of the 'Winter of Starvation'.
After the Liberation, social commitment continued initially to be the focus point for Oorthuys. This is evident especially in his photo book Een staat in wording (A Nascent state, 1947), a plea for a peaceful solution for the Indonesian struggle for independence.
When his hopes turned out to be vain, his view on the role of photography changed. He was to use the medium of photography no longer as a political weapon, and started to photograph people mainly motivated by the aspect of human interest. Ideology was pushed into the background, but people continued to play a prominent role in his photographs.

Dick Elffers (Rotterdam,1910 - Amsterdam,1990) occupies a crucial position in the development of graphic design in the Netherlands in the 20th century. He was a talented, diversified artist whose activities varied from painting to architectural & exhibition design, large scale sculpture, tapestries, ceramics, photography and an extensive body of graphic design. After studying at the Art Academy in Rotterdam (1929-1933) he worked with Piet Zwart and Paul Schuitema; interrupted by the 2nd World War he established his own studio in Amsterdam in 1945. He retreated from the austere modernism of the thirties and began to use a painters approach for his imagery creating his own expressionist style. His famous poster "Weerbare Democratie" has become an icon for the changing approach to poster design in the Netherlands after the war and his numerous music and film images designed for the Holland Festival in the fifties and sixties, with their bold colours and inventive typography, exude a vitality which has never been duplicated since.
In 1949 Elffers was the first recipiant of the H.N.Werkman Prize awarded by the city of Amsterdam; he taught at the Academy of Art in Eindhoven in the seventies; he designed the Dutch memorial exhibition in the Staatsmuseum Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1980 and in Westerbork in 1983.

Plem 1909-1959 Company Photography De Stijl Elffers Oorthuys Thijsen Parr

1909 PLEM 1959.
[Text L. Harpman, P.A. Becx (redactie); Bertus Aafjes, R. Franquinet (essay); E. L. Kramer (foreword); F. Houben (introduction); H. Gelissen (firm's history). Photography Cas Oorthuys Illustrations: P.A. Becx Layout Dick Elffers en Ben Dui
Maastricht / 1959 / 154 p. / cb. / 26x24cm / with dustjacket / 136 b&w photographs, 7 color, in opdracht, uit bedrijfsarchief en uit niet-particuliere archieven / documentaire foto's / directeursportretten, huishoudelijke apparatuur, landschap en stedenschoon en schakelinstallaties). - Ill 11 b&w photographs, 35 colo / NN / Firmenschrift, Festschrift / Photographie - Anthologie - Auftragsphotographie, commissioned photography - Nederland, Niederlande - 20. Jahrh. / Printed by Firma Boosten & Stols, Maastricht (boekdruk). - Opdrachtgever: NV Provinciale Limburgsche Electriciteits-Maatschappij PLEM (50-jarig bestaan). - Foto-typo-taal. De elektriciteitscentrale wordt metaforisch voorgesteld als een sprookjespaleis uit duizend-en-een-nacht. De foto is onderdeel van een grafisch totaalontwerp. Grafieken zijn in aparte katernen op andersoortig papier afgedrukt. De tekst is gezet uit de Grotesk, Gill en Goudy catalogue. Lit.: M. Bruinsma, L. Ros en R. Schröder, Een leest heeft drie voeten. Dick Elffers en de kunsten, Amsterdam 1989, p. 42-43.

Plem 1909-1959 by : Martin Parr & Gerry Badger in The Photobook : A History volume II
It is a characteristic of the Dutch photobook, as it is of the Japanese photobook, that design is an important element of the total package. One of the best designed examples of the period was produced for the utility company PLEM ( Provinciale Limburgsche Electriciteitsmaatschappij), the electricity-generating company in the south of Holland, and it is the book's lead designer Dick Elffers, who is the driving force behind the look of the volume, even tough the photographic roster includes such distinguished names in Dutch photography as Cas Oorthuys (Oorthuys) and Koen Lenarts.
With its plethora of design 'references', the book might even be considered a prototype of the postmodern photobook, although graphic design, like fashion, was always a matter of visual appropriation. The borrowing begins with the cover, where the letters 'PLEM' are arranged in exactly the same way as the letters 'CPDE' on the cover of Man Ray's Électricite' (1931; see pages 182-83).
Another important design feature is a grid pattern that relates to the De Stijl movement of the 1930's, which numbered amongst its exponents Piet Mondriaan and Gerrit Rietveld. De Stijl was noted for its rigorous geometry and use of primary colours, and this is echoed throughout PLEM. Most notably, its piece de resistance is a two-page panorama of a power station at night, in which the space is fractured and expanded by means of red and yellow overlaid shapes.

Cas Oorthuys (1908-1975)
As no other photographer, Cas Oorthuys has expressed the growing self-confidence of the Dutch in the period of post-war reconstruction. His photographs show the restoration of the industry, hard-working Holland on the road to a society with a booming economy, and the growth of tourism.
Just like many other photographers in the post-war years, he chose people as his major subject. Characteristic for Oorthuys, though, is that he has always tried to let the environment in which they live and work play a role in his photographs. Another striking feature is his strong sense for composition: his photographs are composed carefully within the square of frosted glass of his Rolleicord.
At the beginning of the thirties he was personally affected by the consequences of the economic depression when he was fired as architectural assistant by the municipality of Amsterdam. He started his career in photography as a communist labour photographer, working since 1936 as photo reporter for the social-democrat weekly Wij.
After the outbreak of the Second World War, Oorthuys tried to survive as a portrait photographer. He also forged identity cards and in the 'Winter of Starvation' of 1944/1945, he was a member of the group that later would become known as 'De Ondergedoken Camera' ('The Hidden Camera'). This group had come into being around Dolle Dinsdag ('Crazy Tuesday', 5 September 1944) intending to capture the Liberation. When this unexpectedly failed to occur, the group documented illegally the last year of the German occupation. In retrospect this photo material has come to define our view of the 'Winter of Starvation'.
After the Liberation, social commitment continued initially to be the focus point for Oorthuys. This is evident especially in his photo book Een staat in wording (A Nascent state, 1947), a plea for a peaceful solution for the Indonesian struggle for independence.
When his hopes turned out to be vain, his view on the role of photography changed. He was to use the medium of photography no longer as a political weapon, and started to photograph people mainly motivated by the aspect of human interest. Ideology was pushed into the background, but people continued to play a prominent role in his photographs.

Dick Elffers (Rotterdam,1910 - Amsterdam,1990) occupies a crucial position in the development of graphic design in the Netherlands in the 20th century. He was a talented, diversified artist whose activities varied from painting to architectural & exhibition design, large scale sculpture, tapestries, ceramics, photography and an extensive body of graphic design. After studying at the Art Academy in Rotterdam (1929-1933) he worked with Piet Zwart and Paul Schuitema; interrupted by the 2nd World War he established his own studio in Amsterdam in 1945. He retreated from the austere modernism of the thirties and began to use a painters approach for his imagery creating his own expressionist style. His famous poster "Weerbare Democratie" has become an icon for the changing approach to poster design in the Netherlands after the war and his numerous music and film images designed for the Holland Festival in the fifties and sixties, with their bold colours and inventive typography, exude a vitality which has never been duplicated since.
In 1949 Elffers was the first recipiant of the H.N.Werkman Prize awarded by the city of Amsterdam; he taught at the Academy of Art in Eindhoven in the seventies; he designed the Dutch memorial exhibition in the Staatsmuseum Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1980 and in Westerbork in 1983.