Foto en copyright by G.P. Fieret the Movie Photography

Photographer Gerard Petrus Fieret treated his photos, most of which he took in the 1960s, in a way that would horrify other photographers or collectors. He was careless with chemicals, piled wet photos on top of one another so they stuck together, and stamped his name in critical places. In this portrait, director Frank van den Engel goes looking for the world hidden behind this exceptional and eccentric talent. He interviews colleagues, former models, and collectors, and visits the photographer in his completely neglected, decrepit house. Fieret comes across as a somewhat confused and distrustful old man with a wild beard, and at first glance you might dismiss him as a hobo for whom life has come to mean very little. But gradually, a tragic and fascinating story unfolds of an artist who went unappreciated until it was too late. He once sold his work for 100 euros per photo, but nowadays American collectors shell out thousands of dollars for a "Fieret." Meanwhile, Fieret bids life farewell and a handful of Dutch enthusiasts try to rescue negatives and photos from his disastrous house. Fieret died in January of this year.

De speelse en subtiel erotische vrouwen portretten van fotograaf Gerard Petrus Fieret zijn gewild en hangen voor duizenden dollars in een New Yorkse galerie. Fieret leeft intussen “beroofd” en vervuild tussen de uitwerpselen van zijn huisdieren. Als hij te ziek wordt om nog thuis te wonen, duikt onder de troep een schat aan foto’s en negatieven op.

Voor de volledig autonome fotograaf, dichter en tekenaar Fieret, vallen werk en leven samen. Zijn foto’s zijn zoals hijzelf: onaangepast, chaotisch en slordig, aangevreten en vol levenslust en humor. Op straat en in zijn vieze maar gezellige atelier fotografeert hij jarenlang “de caleidoscopische totaliteit van het leven”: schaars geklede en naakte vrouwen, zichzelf, zijn poes en zijn innig geliefde duiven. “Kijk, als je als kunstenaar dingen gaat doen die buiten de standaard vallen, wordt je als gek verklaard.”

Door een schrijnend contrast tussen de kunstenaar en de kunstwereld, deelt Fieret nooit mee in zijn internationale succes. ”Kunst is niet van enig belang uiteindelijk. Het is allemaal prothese.” Zijn laatste onderkomen is een vervallen portocabin op een landgoed bij Duindigt. Hij sterft in januari 2009 op 85-jarige leeftijd aan een longontsteking. ‘Foto en Copyright by G.P. Fieret’ gaat over de kunst en de laatste levensjaren van deze eigenzinnige Nederlandse fotograaf.

Regie: Frank van den Engel.
Productie: Zeppers Film & TV.

See for a review Foto En Copyright by G. P. Fieret...

Forthcoming publication Lisboa, cidade triste e alegre Victor Palla Costa Martins Photography

PALLA, VICTOR & COSTA MARTINS

Lisboa: cidade triste e alegre.

Lisboa, Pierre von Kleist Editions, 2009 orig cloth photo-pictorial dustjacket reprint of the original 1959 edition 175 pp 28 x 22 cm includes a supplement with a new introduction by Gerry Badger and a full transcription into English of the book's index superbly printed new

Lisboa: cidade triste e alegre – Lisbon: Sad and Happy City is a lovingly produced volume of poetry and richly printed images depicting the Portugese capital in the late 1950s.

For three years architects Victor Palla (1922-2005) and Costa Martins (1922-2006) recorded Lisbon street life shooting naturally lit black and white photographs influenced in no small part by the Italian neo-realist cinema of the time. Often their most engaging subjects were found in the then poor quarters of Bairro Alto and Alfama.

Interspersing the carefully laid out photographs in the book is the work of Lisbon’s poets, including poems by the melancholy recluse and creator of alter egos Fernando Pessoa (1888-1935). Certainly it must be the sadness of the poetry that is refered to in the title as there are no images here that evoke much sorrow, in fact some photographs of smiling shopkeepers are more picturesque than is helpful. Was life always so convivial during the Salazar regime?

On publication Lisboa: cidade triste e alegre met with critical indiference and no further editions followed the initial print run of 2,000 copies. However, like many books featured in The Photobook: A History (Volume 1, Phaidon, 2004) by Martin Parr and Gerry Badger the few remaining copies have seen their value rise dramatically, and the volume featured here was sold at auction for double the reserve price of £4,500 ($8,865) at Christie’s in London in May 2007.

The book has a 20 page index of photographic information detailing the architects use of Plus-X and Tri-X, Leica M3 and Leitz Elmar 50 and 90mm lenses, but despite their attention to detail Lisboa never quite enriches one’s understanding of the city to the degree that Brasaï‘s Séville en Fête (1956) enriches ones understanding that other great Iberian city.

Partly it is the breadth of coverege that gives the Hungarian exile the advantage. Palla and Martins produced a wonderful volume, but they never match the caught moments and eye for graphic form of the master Brassaï. Certainly some of the more touristy looking images would hve been better edited out (or, in that perrenial trick used when presenting lesser work, printed very large).

Of course it is often easier for an outsider to see the wholeness of a place, but then again Brassaï was a great photographer.

The dust jacket is printed with quotes on photography by a host of master photographers from Ansel Adams to Minor White. However, the quotes do not refer to the book.

Waste is our largest product Oil Edward Burtynsky Photography

Interview with photographer Edward Burtynsky before the opening of his OIL exhibition in the museum Huis Marseille in Amsterdam (Nov 29 2009 - Feb 28 2010), about his approach of the subject connected to his photographic style, as well as about his commitment to the environment...

Waste is our largest product Oil Edward Burtynsky Photography

Interview with photographer Edward Burtynsky before the opening of his OIL exhibition in the museum Huis Marseille in Amsterdam (Nov 29 2009 - Feb 28 2010), about his approach of the subject connected to his photographic style, as well as about his commitment to the environment...

Damrak the Fifth Avenue of Amsterdam Theo Niekus Street Photography

At the end of November 2009 the first issue of the new photography magazine REPORT will be published by Theo Niekus. The start of Report was inspired by the photography magazines Reportage by Menno van der Koppel & Colin Jacobson and Record by Daido Moriyama. The magazine, size 19x26,5 cm with 48 pages, has only full colour page-size pictures. Only 500 copies will be printed, just small/big enough to hopefully make it into a collectorsitem as soon as possible. REPORT #2 shall be published mid 2010.

See also street photography of Rotterdam by Otto Snoek ...

& see the Beauty of Street Photography Photojournalism ...

Passage passanten Hotel de Roode Leeuw Damrak Amsterdam Netherlands may 20th 2007 ...

Damrak the Fifth Avenue of Amsterdam Theo Niekus Street Photography

At the end of November 2009 the first issue of the new photography magazine REPORT will be published by Theo Niekus. The start of Report was inspired by the photography magazines Reportage by Menno van der Koppel & Colin Jacobson and Record by Daido Moriyama. The magazine, size 19x26,5 cm with 48 pages, has only full colour page-size pictures. Only 500 copies will be printed, just small/big enough to hopefully make it into a collectorsitem as soon as possible. REPORT #2 shall be published mid 2010.

See also street photography of Rotterdam by Otto Snoek ...

& see the Beauty of Street Photography Photojournalism ...

Passage passanten Hotel de Roode Leeuw Damrak Amsterdam Netherlands may 20th 2007 ...

the Mysterious Ways of Beauty in Photography Hans Aarsman

Posted by Monique van Dusseldorp on November 30, 2009 at 9:08 am

TEDxAmsterdam: Hans Aarsman from TEDxAmsterdam on Vimeo.

TEDxAmsterdam: Hans Aarsman from TEDxAmsterdam on Vimeo.

Hans Aarsman’s talk at TEDxAmsterdam was titled “From pretty to ugly and back again; mysterious ways of beauty in photography” and the audience judged it one of the highlights of the day. Surprising, insightful and at times hilarious, Aarsman shows different concepts of beauty in photography, and suggests that the only real photographic beauty is to be found in pictures that were made without such a goal in mind.

Hans Aarsman is a former photographer, who worked as a photo journalist at a Dutch newspaper and published a series of books. In 1989 he published the book “Hollandse Taferelen” (Dutch scenes). He published three more photo books before he left photography. He now writes about photography, a.o. for the Dutch daily newspaper the Volkskrant.

Reports on his talk

• (in Dutch) Video interview and report of his talk by the TEDxAmsterdam crew
• (in Dutch) Marketingfacts: Hans Aarsman, een hoogtepunt op TEDxAmsterdam, longer video interview by Joris van Heukelom in the Blueshots TV show ‘Curriculum Vitae’.
• (in Dutch) Video interview for FD

Selected quote, from Wired UK, Our man in Amsterdam

“Hans Aarsman, a photographer, resumed by talking about his work, exploring different concepts of beauty in photography. He arrived at the paradoxical conclusion that “if you want to make an interesting picture, you ought not to want to make it” and contrasted the notion of aesthetic photographic beauty with an investigative type, where beauty lies in discovering something through or in the picture. He summarised the benefits of this approach: “I got paid more money and I moved into a bigger apartment”.

And as a bonus, Aarsman’s most popular picture, which derives its popularity from its ressemblance “to any painting by Casper David Friedrich”. (Free high resolution downloads of 99 Aarsman pictures including this one are available via the Dutch Fotomuseum)

Hans Aarsman, Waterhuizen (from Hollandse Taferelen), 1989