Welcome to my Blog!
I hope to share here my irrepressible thoughts on news, music, books, arts, history, cultural events and such like.
In general these will be items, events and issues which I feel have no place on my website (which focusses on aviation history and my travel photography).

The item immediately below this would be the latest posting.

Anybody, providing he knows how to be amusing, has the right to talk about himself. - Charles Baudelaire
Esse est percipi (To be is to be perceived) ¬Bishop George Berkeley

Not even I understand everything I am ¬Aurelius Augustinus of Hippo

In 2013 I started a series of photo albums on Blurb.com, named '36Exp' (a subject adressed in 36 exposures, a reference to the exposures on most common rolls of 35 mm film: 12, 24 & 36.) back in the day.
The books can be ordered directly from the Blurb.com or Amazon.
www.blurb.com/user/ruudleeuw

CURRENT BLOG

Jonathan Coe adresses in his often funny (wry?) 'Middle England' the crisis of national identity in Britain during the period leading up to the Brexit and shortly after.
I decided to reread it (see MyBlog-2019Q2) in the light of a summer vacation to England & Wales. A visit to post-Brexit England.

This is a socalled state-of-the-nation novel which storyline details the election of the British coalition government in 2010, through the riots of 2011, the brief upswelling of multicultural national pride that was the 2012 Olympics, to the 2016 referendum and its subsequent fallout, ending in 2018.
For my 2019 summer holiday travel it seemed rather apt to read, while I travelled from Cambridge to Aberdeen.
I liked the multilayered portrait of a country so dear to me, but which in the past 10 years or so also increasingly continued to test my composure while dealing on a daily basis the frustrations of things out of order, decrepid or unable to supply. The Brits anno 2023 still seem easily satisfied with things not working and we found restaurants & pubs closed because of lack of staff.
Again we cut our holidays by a full week, also because travelling with a camper van did not work for us (for one thing you can't park it anywhere!).

So much of the horror stories pre-Brexit (massive lines expected of trucks waiting to pass customs at Dover, drivers having to use the bushes as toilets..) and I did not see any of it these past two weeks.
I am not an economic, so I cannot judge the fall out of the Brexit (too soon?) in that respect; but I did see more obesity (esspecially with women).
Watching the news, the NHS does not seem better off and overall the country does not seem to be improving. People in Tesco and Morrison's, esspecially the elderly, looked often poorly.
For one thing, the country roads in the south of England and Wales seem to be even worse than ever.

Coe has published several books (The Rotters' Club in 2001 and The Closed Circle in 2004) in which some of the characters of Middle England, including Benjamin Trotter, the likable hero of those earlier novels, have a previous history. But I found it did not matter I had not read those books for me to enjoy Middle England.

All these characters have their ups and downs in life, in a changing society. The protagonists all seem rather average, a bit dull even, dealing with ordinary things in life. But the narrative is nice to follow and rereading this book and from what I have seen on this recent trip in june and follow almost daily on the BBC News's national broadcasts England hasn't much changed in the past 5-6 years or so.

Jonathan Coe (b. 19Aug1961) is an English novelist and writer. His work has an underlying preoccupation with political issues.

www.theguardian.com/books/.../middle-england-jonathan-coe-review
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Coe

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link

John E. Wills's interesting history leads us into the worlds of 1688, a pivotal year in world history, from the suicidal exaltation of Russian Old Believers to the ravishing voice of the haiku poet Basho.
Witness the splendor of the Chinese imperial court as the Kangxi emperor publicly mourns the death of his grandmother and shrewdly consolidates his power.
Join the great caravans of Muslims on their annual pilgrimage from Damascus and Cairo to Mecca. Walk the pungent streets of Amsterdam and enter the Rasp House, where vagrants, beggars, and petty criminals labored to produce powdered brazilwood for the dyeworks.

Through these stories and many others, Wills paints a detailed picture of how the global connections of power, money, and belief were beginning to lend the world its modern form.

The year 1688 is chiefly remembered by (English) students of British and European history as the time of the Glorious Revolution. Wills, a historian at the University of Southern California, was thought by one source as "..would have been well advised to analyze the overthrow of the Stuarts rather than indulge in the rambling and random descriptions of events from all over the planet that occurred in that year."
But I loved the net spread globally, though it is a fact that the essays are mostly if not at all without connections to each other, that would have been even better.

A list of chapters to show how far and wide the essays travelled: I. The World of Wooden Ships (sub: The Empire of Silver | Many Africas | Slaves, Ships & Frontiers), II. The World of the Great Company (sub The Cape of Good Hope | The Island World |+1), III. Three Worlds Aparts (sub: Tsar Pere's Russia | Survivors and Visionaries | + 4), IV. Vearsailles, London, Amsterdam (sub: The Sun King and the Ladies | A Hundred Years of Freedom | +2), V. Worlds of Words: Styles and Thought in Europe (sub: In the Republic of Letters | Aphra Behn | +1), VI. Islam and its Others (sub: The World of the Great Sultan | Mecca | +2).

I found most essays very intersting indeed! And the author someone to remember for his other publications.

For five years now, the Free section has appeared in the Saturday supplement of NRC.
Stories of people with everyday to very (very!) special leisure activities.
The section is made by various writers and photographers. Sanneke van Hassel and Manouk van Egmond provide most of the texts based on conversations with the hobbyists.

The photographers Folkert Koelewijn and Peter de Krom shot most of the pictures. The photos mainly show passion: a room full of puzzlers, a Saz player, a group of car spotters and a shanty choir in striped shirts. The fun splashes off.

The book contains 52 stories, out of 183. It has become a fascinating book.

uitgelezenboeken.blogspot.com/2022/11/vrij-wat-nederlanders-doen-als-..

The private historic country estate De Wildenborch is located on the Wildenborchseweg, between Lochem and Vorden. The Wildenborch, the oldest mention of which dates back to the year 1371, is part of the 'eight castles' in Vorden.
This country estate, formerly inhabited by the poet A.C.W. Staring (b.Gendringen, 24Jan1767 – d.at his castle De Wildenborch in Vorden, 18Aug1840), consists largely of a 18th century house with a round castle tower and side wings, a house constructed at a later date plus a coach house attached, 38 hectares of partly landscaped garden and partly meadows and park forest.
Large water features give the house and park a particularly romantic look.

The park forest is freely accessible for hikers. The House is privately inhabited and can therefore not be visited. The private gardens, laid out in English landscape style, are open to the public several times a year during the Open Garden Days (e.g. Whitsunday).
Distinct trees and plants as well as ornaments have plaques with information displayed. They even have
a huge seqoia tree from California!

The coach house offered a bar with tea, coffee and soft drinks plus a variety of cakes.
A pleasant afternoon indeed!

www.wildenborch.nl (NL)
NL.wikipedia.org:_Anthony_Christiaan_Winand_Staring

Karel Tomeï (Rotterdam, 1941) is a Dutch photographer who specializes in aerial photography.
He published several books with aerial photographs of the Netherlands and Belgium. He also photographed the Antilles and South Africa from the air.

In 1988 Tomeï received the Kodak Award. In 1990, King Gustav of Sweden awarded him a prize for artistic photography of landscape and environment.
In 2003, TNT Post issued two stamps with photographs of Tomeï.
He exhibited for the first time in 1988 and then in Moscow (1998), Japan and the departure hall of Schiphol Airport (2005).
In 2009 he was decorated with a knighthood by Queen Beatrix for his entire work.

It was hard to make a selection (Karel Tomeï started with making a selection of course). I made an effort not to include too many windmills, there's a lot of water but that's the Dutch Lowlands for you!
None of the photos are representative for the province, I was also keen to include some photos that stood out in terms of composition.
All in all it does paints a picture of The Netherlands and Tomeï's book is great fun to browse now and then, even for a Dutchman!

www.flyingcamera.nl
NL.wikipedia.org:_Karel_Tomeï (NL)

The camp location was established by the Government of the Netherlands in the summer of 1939, to serve as a refugee camp for Germans and Austrians (German and Austrian Jews in particular), who had fled to the Netherlands to escape Nazi persecution.

However, after the German invasion of the Netherlands in May 1940, that original purpose no longer existed. By 1942, Camp Westerbork was repurposed as a staging ground for the deportation of Jews.
Only one-half square kilometre (119 acres) in area, the camp was not built for the purpose of industrial murder as were Nazi extermination camps.
Westerbork was considered by Nazi standards as "humane".
Jewish inmates with families were housed in 200 interconnected cottages that contained 2 rooms, a toilet, a hot plate for cooking, as well as a small yard. Single inmates were placed in oblong barracks which contained a bathroom for each sex.

Transport trains arrived at Westerbork every Tuesday from July 1942 to September 1944; an estimated 97,776 Jews were deported during the period.
Camp Westerbork also had a school, orchestra, hairdresser and even restaurants designed by SS officials to give inmates a false sense of hope for survival.
Notable prisoners in Westerbork included Anne Frank, who was transported to Camp Westerbork on 4 August 1944, as well as Etty Hillesum, each of whom wrote of their experiences in diaries discovered after the war.
Camp Westerbork also housed German film actress and cabaret singer Dora Gerson who was interned there with her family before being sent to Auschwitz.

Jacques Schol, a Dutchman, was commander of the camp from 16 July 1940 and until January 1943.
German authorities took control of Westerbork from the Government of the Netherlands on 01 July 1942.
Deportations began under the orders of Gestapo sub-Department IV-B4, which was headed by Adolf Eichmann. Within the confines of the camp, German SS commanders were in charge of inmates, but squads of Jewish police and security under Kurt Schlesinger were used to keep order and aid in transport.

en.wikipedia.org:_Westerbork_transit_camp

World Press Photo (WPP) rewards photojournalism and documentary photography that addresses the most pressing issues facing the world in the past year.
In 2022, these included the devastating war in Ukraine, the historic protests in Iran and the situation in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. But also the many faces of the climate crisis in countries as diverse as Morocco, Australia, Peru and Kazakhstan are discussed.
My visit to the exhibition in Amsterdam recenly is detailed further down here.

This is the impressive result of Baltic testimonies of Soviet oppression by photographer Claudia Heinermann.
The trilogy shows a part of European history that is hardly known in Western Europe: the occupation of the Baltic states by the Soviet Union. Between 1940 and 1991, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were occupied.
And how relevant these days, with Russia's invasions in the Ukraïne in 2014 and 2022!

Heinermann has travelled far and wide, the same trails, as the victims during the annexation by the Soviet Union: mass deportations, executions and arrests took place.
Collective traumas that have left deep scars on the population.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, old fears are revived. But why is this fear so great and what is the cause of it?
Based on personal stories of eyewitnesses and relatives, Heinermann takes us to a history virtually unknown by many in the Western World and she establishes a document 'lest we forget'.

No one has ever been convicted of the crimes against humanity committed by the Soviets.
After the break-up of the Soviet Union, this was discussed openly for the first time, but in Putin's Russia, the Stalin past (crimes against humanity!) is once again swept under the carpet or even praised.
That is why it is important that the stories that were hidden from us behind the Iron Curtain for so long are heard and preserved, so that they can contribute to a correct historiography.

The exhibition, detailing the tragedies and injustice over decades, is extraordinary and monumental; the same goes for the photobooks, what dedication and perseverance!

www.nederlandsfotomuseum.nl/en/exhibition/siberian-exiles
siberianexiles.com

Nearly six decades lie between several long journeys Thomas Hoepker took throughout the United States: AMERICAN ROAD TRIP – REVISITED.

Thomas Hoepker was 27 years old when he set out on his ambitious journey across the United States,
one that took him from coast to coast and back again over the course of 3 months and resulted in thousands of photos.
The year was 1963 and Hoepker had been commissioned by the German magazine Kristall to 'discover' America through his camera. The photo reportages he made, published in 5 issues of the magazine across dozens of pages, revealed Hoepker’s complex, skeptical and sometimes melancholy view of the American everyday, in big cities, small towns and all in between.
His was an unromanticized vision in which the decadent existed alongside the desolate, the glitter with the grit.

As much as Hoepker recognized that the problematic American dream could go unfulfilled, he was fascinated with the country (settling in New York in 1976), and in 2020—at the age of 84 and after a successful career as a photojournalist and president of Magnum Photos—he once again set out on a road trip throughout the US.
'The Way It Was | Road Trips USA' has Hoepker’s colour photographs contrasting from this trip with his original black-and-white images, taking the reader on a journey both through his changing sense of America and through time.

The USA has been a second home for the renowned Magnum photographer Thomas Hoepker, for many years now; and, bar a few interludes, is where he has spent the most amount of time in his long life.
He currently lives on Long Island, in the state of New York.
At the time the succinct opening question posed to Hoepker and his author colleague Rolf Winter was, quite simply: "Would you like to discover America..?"
The editor said: "I suggest you’ll fly to New York; and then you rent a car and you drive westward, until you meet the Pacific; and then you drive back on another route; and you take pictures, and write about what you see. No time limit."
The year was 1963 and Hoepker was 27. This book has a lot of those photos (B&W) and contrast with the colour images of 2020. It was a Corona year, so people lack in a lot of the photographs, a contrast in itself.

WIKIPEDIA:
Hoepker was born in Munich, Germany. He first began taking pictures when he was 16 and received an old 9x12 glass plate camera from his grandfather. He developed his prints in his family's kitchen and bathroom, and began to earn a little money by selling pictures to friends and classmates.
Hoepker studied art history and archaeology from 1956 to 1959 in Göttingen, Germany, where he learned about understanding images and composition. While in school he continued to photograph and sell images to help finance his education.

From 1960 to 1963 he worked as a photographer for Münchner Illustrierte and Kristall, reporting from around the world. Then in 1964 he began working as a photojournalist for Stern. In the 1970s he also worked as a cameraman for German TV, making documentary films.
In 1976 he and his wife, journalist Eva Windmoeller, relocated to New York City as correspondents for Stern.
From 1978 to 1981 he was director of photography for American Geo. From 1987 to 1989 Hoepker was based in Hamburg, working as art director for Stern.
Magnum Photos first began distributing Hoepker's photographs in 1964. He became a full member in 1989. He served as Magnum President from 2003 to 2006.

For much of his career Hoepker used Leica cameras.
In the 1970s he began to also use single-lens reflex cameras alongside his Leica, using Leicas for wide angle shots and Nikon or Canon cameras with zoom lenses. In 2002 he began using digital SLRs.
Today, Hoepker lives in New York City with his second wife Christine Kruchen, with whom he produces TV documentaries.

www.magnumphotos.com/shop/collections/books/the-way-it-was-road-trips-usa
Leica-camera.blog/2022/04/04/american-road-trip-revisited/
en.wikipedia.org:_Thomas_Hoepker
His book about New York City is discussed on my Blog 2021Q3
His book about Wanderlust is discussed on my Blog 2023Q4
His book Italia (Buchkunst Berlin, 2023) is on my Blog 2024Q3

Ian Buruma is known as a connoisseur of Asia and in particular Japan. Less well known is that he is also a photographer.
In 'Spectacle in Tokyo' a wide selection of the fascinating photos he made in his Tokyo years (1975-1981) has been published.

In the early 1970s Buruma studied Chinese in Leiden in his twenties, but soon he was more attracted to Japan.
He 'connected' with Tokyo at the Cinémathèque in Paris. The city came across to him, as a young film lover, as a great exotic spectacle and in 1974 he traveled for the first time to Tokyo where he was able to study film at the art academy of Nihon University with a scholarship from the Japanese Ministry of Education.

Japanese film culture was already past its peak in the 1970s, modern theatre was still very much alive, and photography certainly was. Instead of director, Buruma became a photographer.
Also fascinating are the texts in which Buruma describes how he experienced those years and remained an outsider to the Japanese society, but did go on tour with a modern theatre group and also immersed himself in the world of tattoo lovers for a year.

A captivating account both in text as well as photography, although I did not like some of the photos across two pages where the photo was cut over an important part of the image.

en.wikipedia.org:_/Ian_Buruma

EN: 'Wall of Silence'

Þagnarmúr (2020) is the Icelandic title, which was translated in Dutch as 'Vallende stenen' (2022).
It is once more one in the series of the retired policeman Konráð (#4), investigating a crime but this one converges with his personal investigation into the violent murder of his father ('Seppi', a fraud and criminal).

In a house in Reykjavik a body is found in the basement, bricked up behind a wall for decades. Konráð's friend Eygló is shocked to read about this when she realizes she was called to this house as a medium, an acticity she stopped, about bad vibes in the basement..
She contacts Konráð but finds his other friend Martha refuses to divulge information about the investigation; there had been too many leaks of information and at the policestation people are meant to keep their mouths shut from now on. Later on Konráð learns Martha has been sent on leave but she refuses to speak with him about this too and the reader probably will have to wait the next book for more details about their relationship and Martha's fate.

Meanwhile Konráð is making almost no progress investigating his father's death, in front of a factory, out on the street. Konráð manages to get inside the factory, for he has found that a window had been open during the time of the killing. The killer was never found and may have hid inside the abandoned factory until the coast ws clear.
In an ash tray of one of the ovens Konráð finds an emblem of the Mason's Lodge.
The trail leads slowly to a burglary during which besides expensive items also pornographic photos were stolen, showing an under-aged child, the girl Nanna who was drowned in the river Tjörn (previous investigation / book).

Konráð visits an old love, Svanhildur, with whom he betrayed his wife Erna. This meeting does not go well, she throws him out. He is struggling with his conscience, drinks too much, but finally decides to tell his son about the affair. This goes from bad to worth and his sister sides with his son, Hugo.

The narrative intertwines with another one decades earlier, about Elsa and her husband Stan, petty criminals Mikki, Tommi and Benóný, the party that was burgled and a crooked jeweler.

Very intertaining read, as we are used to by Mr Indriðason!

en.wikipedia.org:_Arnaldur_Indriðason
NL.wikipedia.org:_Arnaldur_Indriðason
jolabokaflod.org/authors/arnaldur-indridason

When I was recovering from a concussion in hospital during the 1970s I listened a lot to American Forces Network broadcasting from Germany.
Singersongwriters I became to like were Dylan, Kris Kristofferson, Leonard Cohen and Gordon Lightfoot. Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald was a hit then. When I recovered I bought the LP asap!

This was the Official Statement: "It is with profound sadness that we confirm that Gordon Meredith Lightfoot has passed away. Gordon died peacefully on Monday, May 1, 2023 at 730 p.m. at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto. He died of natural causes.
He was 84 years old. He is survived by his wife Kim Hasse, six children– Fred, Ingrid, Eric, Galen, Miles and Meredith, as well as several grandchildren."

Gordon M. Lightfoot Jr. (decorated with Ordre de l'Ontario) (b.17Nov1938 – d.01May2023) was a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist who achieved international success in folk, folk-rock, and country music.
He is credited with helping to define the folk-pop sound of the 1960s and 1970s.
He has been referred to as Canada's greatest songwriter and his songs have been recorded by some of the world's most renowned musical artists.

Lightfoot's biographer Nicholas Jennings said, "His name is synonymous with timeless songs about trains and shipwrecks, rivers and highways, lovers and loneliness".
Personally I loved his songs about (Canadian) history, such as the Canadian Railroad Trilogy, Steel Rail Blues, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald and The Watchman's Gone. And his 'road songs' e.g.
Carefree Highway.

Besides the titles mentioned I still love to listen to If You Could Read My Mind, Sundown, Early Morning Rain, Rainy Day People, Beautiful, Did She Mention My Name to name but a few.
I regret never see him play live, but he never had much succes where I live and so I don't think he crossed the Atlantic much to play at our venues. I remember a review of long ago, on a rare visit here, stating a single person singing on stage with only his guitar becomes less interesting as it progresses..

Several of Lightfoot's albums achieved gold and multi-platinum status internationally. His songs have been recorded by many notable artists. The Guess Who recorded a song called "Lightfoot" on their 1968 album Wheatfield Soul; the lyrics contain many Lightfoot song titles.

Among the performers who recorded one or more of Lightoot's songs included Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Chad & Jeremy, George Hamilton IV, the Clancy Brothers, and the Johnny Mann Singers.
Established recording artists such as Marty Robbins (Ribbon of Darkness), Leroy Van Dyke (I'm Not Saying), Judy Collins (Early Morning Rain), Richie Havens and Spyder Turner (I Can't Make It Anymore), and the Kingston Trio (Early Morning Rain) all achieved chart success with Lightfoot's material.
The man left a legacy I will treasure as long as I live.

gordonlightfoot.com
en.wikipedia.org:_Gordon_Lightfoot
en.wikipedia.org:_The_Wreck_of_the_Edmund_Fitzgerald
www.theguardian.com/- - -/gordon-lightfoot-obit

The annual World Press Photo Contest recognizes and celebrates the best photojournalism and documentary photography produced over the last year.
I could not immediately put my finger on it, but found the exhibition slightly less impressive.
Reading the catalogue and information on the website I found that the World Press Photo Foundation had launched a regional strategy last year, changing the set-up of the annual contest and the judging.
Perhaps that was why the visitors first encountered a series of iconic WPP winners in recent years plus in large size the winner of WPP 2023..? Note the photo immediately above and the winner further up.

The winners were selected from over 60.000 contributions by 3.753 photographers from 127 countries!

Six regions saw contributions in 4 categories: Singles, Stories, Long-term Projects and Open Format.

After the iconic winners from previous years, the visitors encountered a series of photos in 'Free Format', some less impressive in terms of photography, others more so.
Due to the fact that there were less photographs displayed on highlights in World News, one misses the 'Aha-Erlebnis'. But frequently the photography displayed put the spotlight on equally disturbing facts of life which did not make it into the mainstream media. Perhaps this new strategy will stick, but maybe not?
While walking around in De Nieuwe Kerk the categories were not immediate clear to me. And the captions too low for me to read them properly: when I bow over the reading part of my bifocals are useless without painfully craning my neck..

Various continents had work by photographers selected, e.g. Africa had 'The Big Forget' (Lee-Ann Olwage, about dementia), 'New Capital' (Nick Hannes, the megalomaniac New Adminsitrative Capital in Egypt), 'Before It's Gone' (M'Hammed Kilito, vanishing oasis habitat in Marocco), and 'Here, The Doors Don't Know Me' (Mohamed Mahdy, the Al Max community in Egypt being relocated).
There is also a series 'Honorable Mentions'.

The chapter on Asia brought winners: 'Shireen Abu Akleh's Funeral' (Maya Levin, Isralei police beat mourners accompanying the coffin pf Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, killed by Israelis), 'The Price of Peace' (Mads Nissen, Afghanistan suffering under the Talban), 'Battered Waters' (Anush Babajanyan, growing scarcity of water in Central Asian countries), and 'Woman, Life, Freedom' (Anonymous, on 16Sep22 Mahsa 'Jina' Amini died by the hands of Iran's morality police, images and video were captured by local journalists).

Europe has 'Yana and Victor' (Alkis Konstantinidis 'Singles', the mother Yana crying over her dead father Victor Gubarev), 'The Siege of Mariupol' (winner Evgeny Maloletka 'Stories', Mariupol was after Russia's invasion into Ukraine one of the earliest strategic targets), 'Net-Zero Transition' (Simone Tramonte 'Long-term Projects, renewable energies, new technolgies, circular economy, human-induced climate change), 'Passengers' (Cesar Dezfuli 'Open Format', the continued influx of immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers).
Here too 'Honorabe Mentions'.

North and Central America has 'The Dying River' (Jonas Kakó 'Singles', decrease in flow of Colorado River effecting bees and thus their pollinating of crops), 'Maria's Journey' (Carlos Barria 'Stories', how Maria managed with much defficulties to emigrate into the USA), 'Beautiful Poison' (Christopher Rogel Blanquet 'Long-term Projects', how some countries export their forbidden agrichemicals to countries where they cause cancer or brain damage, e.g. in Mexico), 'The Voice of New York Is Drill' (Ashley Peña 'Open Format', a new wave in rap music).

South America ('Oil Spill in Lima' (Musuk Nolte 'Singles', Repsol's oilspill at Playa Cavero, Peru 21Jan22), 'Alpaqueros' (Alessandro Cinque 'Stories', alpaca-farmers need see their natural pastures shrinking), 'I Can't Hear the Birds' (Fabiola Ferrero 'Long-term Projects', migration out of Venezuela), 'Shifting' (Johanna Alarcón 'Open Format', Ecuador-based visual storyteller & photojournalist).
This section also has 'Honorable Mentions'.

Southeast Asia and Oceania offers 'Retrieving the Dead'(MaukKham Wah 'Singles', People's Defense Forces in Myanmar retrieve their dead after battling regular military), 'Home for the Golden Gays' (Hannah Reyes Morales 'Stories', about a community of older LGBTQ+ people in the Philippines),
'Death of a Nation' (Kimberly Dela Cruz 'Long-term Projects', victims of Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs), 'Australian Floods in Infrared' (Chad Ajamian 'Open Format', aerial photos in infrared).
This section also has 'Honorable Mentions'.

The catalogue concludes with the winners, e.g. Photo of the Year by Evgeniy Maloletka 'Mariupol Maternity Hospital Strike', Mads Nissen in Story of the Year with 'The Price of Peace in Afghanistan', Anush Babajanyan with 'Battered Waters' in Long-term Projects and the Open Format price went to Mohamed Mahdy for 'Here, The Doors Don't Know Me'.

www.worldpressphoto.org/contest/2023
More photos on flickr.com/photos/

For 'And Many Others', photographer Carla Kogelman spent almost 80 shooting days on the set of the drama series 'A'dam - E.V.A.' and recorded the filming process.
The book shows interesting details of filmmaking a well as images that surprise, may have been taken on the actual streets.

Carla Kogelman (NL, 1961) has worked in the theatre industry for 25 years. In December 2011 she graduated at the Foto Academie Amsterdam. She has always been interested in stories back stage, in her own words the ‘true’ stories behind the actors instead of the stories performed on stage.

She won 1st Prize at the Zilveren Camera 2011 with a series of portraits of actors back stage.
She won the SO (Selection Of dutch photography) Awards 2013, the national photography portfolio contest. With her series ICH BIN WALDVIERTEL she won 1st prize Observed Stories at World Press Photo 2014, and again 1st prize @World Press Photo 2018 - long term projects.
In 2017 she got two prizes at the Zilveren Camera.
In her work she captures the daily life of people, especially children.
Another fascination is the back stage life of theatre, film and sport.

I admire her work, of incredible integrity and am very pleased I have a book in my photobook collection.

www.carlakogelman.nl:_info
www.dupho.nl/fotograaf/carlakogelman
www.vpro.nl/programmas/a-dam-e-v-a/en-vele-anderen (NL)

Visited the free market ('Vrijmarkt', exempt of taxes) in Velp on King Willem-Alexander's anniversary, also celebrating 10th anniversary of him being king of The Netherlands.
Later it was reported ca. 35.000 - 40.000 people visited the Vrijmarkt in Velp.
Business as well as privat sellers, a lot of 'vintage' but that's the fun of it. A band playing, restaurants and food trucks doing brisk business, 2ndhand books to browse too. Next time I'll bring a bag!

Koningsdag or King's Day is a national holiday in the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Celebrated on the 27th of April (26th if the 27th is a Sunday), the date marks the birth of King Willem-Alexander. When the Dutch monarch was/is female, the holiday is known as Koninginnedag or Queen's Day.

The holiday was initially observed on 31Aug 1885 as Prinsessedag or Princess's Day, the 5th birthday of Princess Wilhelmina, then heir presumptive to the Dutch throne.
On her accession in November 1890 the holiday acquired the name Koninginnedag, first celebrated on 31Aug1891.
In September 1948, Wilhelmina's daughter Juliana ascended to the throne and the holiday was moved to her birthday, 30 April. The holiday was celebrated on this date from 1949.

Juliana's daughter, Beatrix, retained the celebration on April 30th after she ascended the throne in 1980, though her birthday was on January 31st.
Beatrix altered her mother's custom of receiving a floral parade at Soestdijk Palace, instead choosing to visit different Dutch towns each year and join in the festivities with her children.

en.wikipedia.org:_Koningsdag
Also on my STREETPHOTOGRAPHY B&W + COLOUR

In this edition of Aperture's The Photography Workshop Series, internationally acclaimed color photographers Alex Webb and Rebecca Norris Webb, offer their expert insight into street photography and the poetic image.
Through words and photographs—their own and others'—they invite the reader into the heart of their artistic processes.

Alex Webb has published more than 15 books, including Memory City (2014, with Rebecca Norris Webb), La Calle: Photographs from Mexico (Aperture, 2016), as well as a survey of his color work, The Suffering of Light (Aperture, 2011). Webb became a full member of Magnum Photos in 1979.
His work has been shown widely, and he has received numerous awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2007.

Rebecca Norris Webb, originally a poet, often explores the complicated relationship between people and the natural world in her seven books, including The Glass Between Us (2006), Violet Isle: A Duet of Photographs from Cuba (2009, with Alex Webb), and My Dakota (2012).
A 2019 NEA grant recipient, she has exhibited at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Cleveland Museum of Art, among other museums.

Teju Cole is a photographer, essayist, and author born in the United States to Nigerian parents and raised in Nigeria.

See also further down my report on a recent visit to a retrospective of Alex Webb's work.

aperture.org/ - /alex-webb-and-rebecca-norris-webb-on-street-photography
On MyBlog-2024Q4 I reviewed Webb's book The Suffering of Light

Medieval festival @Castle Wijchen (Gelderland)

Main Hall @Castle Wijchen

'Aflaten', in medieval times one could buy papers or objects to beforgiven by the church for sins
or pray for healing of ailments, e.g. on hand or feet. Objects in beewax to be burned as candles
or for those with more money buy those objects in silver..

The castle offers an excellent archeological museum, with objects found in the region: money,
household objects, pots and cans, et cetera.

During the reign of Charlemagne (NL: Karel de Grote) there was a forceful, central
governance. Trade, industry and art blossomed. Influence of the church was growing.
Upon the death of Charlemagne the empire desintegrated, wars started and Vikings came
to plunder. Law and order disappeared, including at Wijchen, defence works were started.

Early history, Iron age (800 b.C.). Iron was harder than bronze and more
enduring, ovens were invented to raise the temperature to 1200 Celsius.

Medieval badges, they were used to identify ranks and hierarchy. They were also handed out
as a gift by the elite. They could also represent a craft, a pilgrimage, a belief in happiness or
(religious) protection. Some displayed humor or sexuality. During 1350-1475 in widespread use.

Early Middle Ages. After the rule of the Roman Empire ended a mass
migration occurred, Frankish tribes settled between Meuse - Schelde.
King Clovis' armies conquered the entire region from the Rine to the Seine.
No written records remain from that period, that's why the objects found are significant.

Various ways for burial, early Middle Ages, in Merovian times. A burial
place was found in Wijchen, people were buried or cremated. Items were
found buried with the person(s).

The Merovingian dynasty was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. Ths was after the rule of the Roman Empire ended. They first appear as 'Kings of the Franks' in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gallo-Romans under their rule. They conquered most of Gaul, defeating the Visigoths (507) and the Burgundians (534), and also extended their rule into Raetia (537). In Germania, the Alemanni, Bavarii and Saxons accepted their lordship. The Merovingian realm was the largest and most powerful of the states of western Europe following the breaking up of the empire of Theodoric the Great. [¬Wikipedia]

Dutch text for what's been found from the Merovion period.

During the Late Middle Ages towns started to grow, Duchies were
established. Monasteries had farmers working their fields. Trade and
industry received another boost. Wijchen had a significant settlement
between 11th-13th century, bu tin the 14th century The Plague and
other forces of nature ended economic growth.

An important occupancy of this castle was by Emanuel and Emilia in the 17th century.

Emilia remained faithful to her Protestant religion while Emanuel was a fervent Roman-Catholic.
For him the small chapel was built, where he could pray, a priest read mass and took confessions.

Countess Emilia of Nassau (b.10Apr1569 – d.16Mar1629) was the 3rd and youngest daughter of William the Silent (NL: Willem de Zwijger) and his 2nd wife Anna of Saxony. Emilia was born in Cologne. She is named after Amalia of Neuenahr who was in charge of her mother's household at the time of her birth. After her father's death she acted as hostess at the court of her brother, Maurice (NL: Maurits). It was on one of those occasions that she met Dom Manuel of Portugal, son of the Avis claimant of the Portuguese throne, António, Prior of Crato. She secretly (!) married him in The Hague on 07Nov1597. Maurits was firmly opposed to the marriage, because the Nassaus were Calvinists and Dom Manuel was a Catholic. Also: Emanuel would never be able to ascend the throne of his homeland, he was impoverished, as well as a bastard child. Maurits hastily returned from the front and put Emilia under house arrest; Dom Manuel had to flee to Wesel.. When Maurice found he could not convince her to divorce her husband, he banished her from court for 10 years. At the end they made their peace. In 1609 the couple bought the castle of Wijchen and had it rebuilt, it was derelict at the time. The purchase was made in part by selling a pearl necklace which Emilia had inherited from her mother, Anna of Saxony. In 1615 the family moved in. The wall anchors still form 2 interwoven letters 'E'. Emilia was (some sources say both were) at her brother's deathbed in 1625. Emilia and her husband had 10 children, 7 daughters (2 died in infancy) and 3 sons. The last years of their lives, they lived separately when her husband decided — due to financial concerns — to live in Brussels at the court of Isabella of Spain, archenemy of the House of Orange. Emilia went to Geneva (never to see Emanuel again) with her daughters, where she died 3 years later, at the age of 59. [¬ en.wikipedia.org:_Countess_Emilia_of_Nassau]

In 1609, after the quarrel with her brother Maurice of Nassau over the inheritance of father William of Orange, Emilia of Nassau and her husband, Don Emanuel of Portugal, bought Wijchen Castle from the widow Geertruid van Dalem. They built a new castle on the old foundations. The current appearance is the design of that time. Emilia and Emanuel left their 'signature' in the wall anchors, in the form of a double 'E'.

In 1640 Philips van Nassau, grandson of William of Orange, bought the castle. Other owners followed, including the Osy family who acquired the castle in 1771. In 1903 it passed to lady Van Andringa de Kempenaer, who wanted to restore the again neglected castle. A devastating fire in 1906 put a stop to this.

The Nijmegen architect F. A. Ludewig restored the castle on the basis of the original building plans from the 17th century.

After the death of the widow of Andringa de Kempenaer, the municipality of Wijchen bought the castle in 1932. It was used as a town hall. In the nineties the castle was thoroughly restored. Since 1996, the council and wedding halls of the municipality have been housed in the castle.

nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wijchen
x

IJskoude Leugens | Eva Björg Aegisdóttir

Eva Björg Ægisdóttir is an Icelandic writer. She was born in Akranes in 1988.
Her literary aspirations were apparent from an early age, when she won a short-story competition at the age of 15. She went to Norway for higher studies, and upon returning to Iceland, decided to write a novel.
Her first book, 'The Creak on the Stairs' (2018), was a No.1 bestseller in Iceland and won the Icelandic Svart Fuglinn (EN: 'Blackbird Award'). The same novel won the British literary award New Blood Dagger in 2021. The novel's success was also her international breakthrough.

Narrative: Single mother Maríanna disappears and the note on the kitchen table makes everyone assume suicide. Then, seven months later, her body is found in the lava fields and it becomes clear that she was a victim of murder.
Detective Elma is taking a closer look at the case and that case is becoming increasingly complex as the number of suspects grows. Elma follows the trail back to the childhood of Maríanna, a girl who was never like other children...Maríanna has a daughter named Hekla.
A second narrative starts fifteen years earlier, when a desperate new mother (who remains unidentiefied for much of the book, for the reader to find out) lies in a maternity ward, unable to look at her own child (also unnamed), the start of an odd and broken relationship that leads to a shocking tragedy.

GIRLS WHO LIE is #2 in the series FORBIDDEN ICELAND by author Eva Björg Aegisdóttir and the first book I've read by her. Original title 'Stelpur sem Ljúga' (Veröld, 2019)

en.wikipedia.org:_Eva_Björg_Aegisdóttir
www.goodreads.com/book/- - -stelpur-sem-lj-ga

'Between Shades of Grey' by Ruta Sepetys is a book where I hesitate to say I enjoyed it. The content is too shocking, but it is important and relevant to read what Russia (mankind!) is capable of.

In the year of 1941, the small countries of Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania were all absorbed by the Soviet Union, and became immediately subject to Joseph Stalin's communist rule. This is a period of history stained with tragedy and blood, but, surprisingly, is not very widely known to the general public as the genocidal nightmare it truly was.

Ruta Sepetys, the daughter of a Lithuanian refugee, has made it her mission to educate the world about this terrible time in history known as the Great Purge, and does so most effectively in her debut novel, 'Between Shades of Gray'.

The protagonist is Lina, only fifteen when she and her family are taken by the Soviet secret police. They are separated from her father who ends up in prison in Krasnoyarsk (though for a long time the family don't know about his fate).
After a long deporation, mainly by train, they eventually are forced to do hard labour in a Siberian prison camp. It is a harrowing journey, to say the least, as she is torn away from everything she knows and thrust unmercifully into darkness and witnesses the cruelties by the NKVD.

The book is a fast-paced and riveting one, but it also delivers an important message and allows its readers to open their eyes to a part of history than must never be forgotten, although we know it is hidden for the general public in Russia as history books are rewritten by autocrats and dictators (such as Putin).
Even more deadly than the Holocaust, the Great Purge is estimated to have killed up to twenty-million people, and is a huge scar on the past of this planet...

While the book 'In Between Shades of Gray' was published in 2011, Mrs.Sepetys reminds us of what could be if we turn our backs on the Ukraine (and Taiwan!) and continue to focus only on our own individual lives and interests.
Esspecially with the Russian invasion in 2014 in Crimea and in 2022 in Ukraine and the threat of China invading Taiwan the western world needs to be vigilant, willing and able to defend its democracy even if
it means hardship to our economies!

Ruta Sepetys (Lithuanian: Rūta Šepetys; b.09Nov1967- ) is a Lithuanian-American writer of historical fiction. As an author, she is a New York Times and international bestseller. Born in Michigan, Sepetys is the daughter of a Lithuanian refugee.

www.theguardian.com/- - -between-shades-grey_ruta-sepetys
en.wikipedia.org:_Ruta_Sepetys

On 16Apr1945, the 7 villages of the municipality of Rheden were liberated from the German occupiers, from the direction of Arnhem and Brummen.
For almost 5 years, Adolf Hitler and the Nazis had ruled our country.
This liberation is commemorated every 5 years with a so-called Liberation Ride. A procession of original army vehicles from WWII drives through the villages and towns, where various festivities are organized around the commemoration of the liberation in 1945.
The 'Bevrijdingsrit' travels from Rozendaal, via Velp, to Rheden, De Steeg, Ellecom, Laag-Soeren, Dieren and Spankeren.

Due to Covid pandemic, the ride was cancelled in 2020 and also a year later it did not happen either due to Corona restrictions.
In the context of 450 years of the Municipality of Rheden, the liberation ride was therefore held this year on Saturday 15Apr23. That day, more than 60 original vintage WWII vehicles will drive a route from Velp/Rozendaal (start 10.00 am) to the Spankeren, the closing end point (4.00 pm).
The route follows the trajectory of the liberators from 1945.
These photos were taken in Rheden.

The caravan is accompanied by the Seaforth Highlanders, the Starlight Sisters and the Band of 4 Brothers, who perform in the villages during stops.
The local Oranje Vereniging provide care of coffees and sweets.
Local theatre associations have been asked to ride on the vehicles during 'Bevrijdingsrit', reenacting as liberated residents in 1945.
Great fun for the kids waving their flags. The Dutch flag in knitwear decorated trees and lampposts.

Bevrijdingsrit.nl (NL)
More photos on my Streetphotography B&W | Colour
More among my 'Gelderland' photographs @Flickr.com

Magnum photographer Alex Webb (San Francisco, 1952) is world famous for his street photography. His photographs are vibrant, dynamic and he always is on the lookout for that fleeting moment in which everything falls in place. In his photographs Webb represents the world as a remarkable place where everyday life can sometimes reveal itself as a kind of epiphany.
"I only know how to approach a place by walking, for what does a street photographer do but walk and watch and wait and talk, and then watch and wait some more, trying to remain confident that the unexpected, the unknown, or the secret heart of the known awaits just around the corner."
¬ Alex Webb

Webb’s photographs are characterized by rich, saturated colors. Regularly they are intersected by dominating, powerful shadows. His curiosity invariably leads him to borderlands, the edges of societies: places where cultures converge, sometimes clash, sometimes merge; the border of USA / Mexico is such a location but also Istanbul, where Asia and Europe connect.
He is considered to be one of the second generation of pioneers of color photography. Museum Helmond has the privilege of showing the first ever survey of Webb’s oeuvre which encompasses more than forty years of photography.

The exhibition presents about 80 stunning large-format photographs shot in the Caribbean, Haiti, Mexico, Cuba, Latin America, Europe and the USA. In addition, the museum presents a continuous screening of his short film about Istanbul, the city of a hundred names: ancient and modern, Islamic and secular.
Fantastic and inspiring!

Alex Webb (b.05May1952) is a photographer who makes vibrant and complex color (street)photographs. He has been a member of Magnum Photos since 1979.

Webb's books include:
Hot Light/Half-Made Worlds (1986),
Under a Grudging Sun (1989),
From The Sunshine State (1996),
Amazon (1997) Crossings (2003),
Istanbul (2007),
The Suffering of Light (2011),
La Calle (2016).
Plus with photographer Rebecca Norris Webb, his wife and creative partner:
Violet Isle (2009),
Memory City (2014),
Alex Webb and Rebecca Norris Webb on Street Photography and the Poetic Image (2014),
Slant Rhymes (2017),
Brooklyn: The City Within (2019).

museumhelmond.nl/EN/exhibitions/alex-webb
en.wikipedia.org:_Alex_Webb_(photographer)
www.webbnorriswebb.co

The book contains chapters on the history of Rotterdam, cause of the bombardment on 14May1940, the violent attack, personal memories of those WW2 days in may, the resurrection of Rotterdam and the making of the film.

Rotterdam's history goes back 12 centuries, oldest settlement is recorded as 'Rotta', on the banks of the 'Rotte'. The history of this city is closely linked to the harbour and its development. It became crucial for linking England to the European continent. A dam was added to deal with the frequent flooding.
Markets and trade stimulated growth for warehouses and transport.
In 1358 a defense wall was raised, during the 15th century Rotterdam could not yet compare itself to other Amsterdam and Antwerpen. Rotterdam was severely damaged during sieges, in 1572 the Spanish occupying forces left and Rotterdam joined up with Willem of Orange and later during the 16th century Rotterdam grew in importance.

History here also details how the Germans made air power and bombardment on civilians a tool of warfare that continues to this day during Putin's War in Ukraine!
On 26Apr1937, the Basque town of Guernica (Gernika in Basque) was aerial bombed during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939).
It was carried out at the behest of Francisco Franco's rebel Nationalist faction by its allies, the Nazi German Luftwaffe's Condor Legion and the Fascist Italian Aviazione Legionaria. The raid was intended to destroy bridges and roads. The attack gained controversy because it involved the bombing of civilians by a military air force. Seen as a war crime by some historians, and argued as a legitimate attack by others,it was one of the first aerial bombings to capture global attention.

The chapter on the bombardment also included details I did not know: there was a plan to divert the two flows of Heinkel HE.111 bombers if surrender was proclaimed by the Dutch. But the official paper requesting a surrender was vague and rejected, there were also communication breakdowns between the Dutch and while a German commander knew a surrender was a matter of hours and tried to break off the bombardment, a 2nd flow of Heinkel bombers continued and brought havoc and destruction..

The book continues with different chapters on Rotterdam and its inhabitants, but also details the continuation of civilian targets such as London by the Nazis, the Allied forces reacted on Hamburg (initially targeting industrial complexes and harbours but that did not seem to work sufficiently), Köln and Dresden followed (first bombs would expose roofbeams then firebombs would set the town on fire).
Japan was bombed by the Americans, first Yokohama, Osaka, Kobe and Nagoya but the Japanese Command ignored the loss of life which resulted in dropping 'Little Boy' on Hiroshima but Japan still rejected a unconditional surrender (a.o. refused occupying forces in Japan), which resulted in dropping 'Fat Boy' on Nagasaki (in fact Kokura was the target but weather made the B-29 bomber divert to Nagasaki!).

This book 'Het Bombardement' contains a lot of interesting details about warfare in the 20th century and is much more than an accompanying publication to a film. Well done!

NL.wikipedia.org:_Het_Bombardement
en.wikipedia.org:_Bombing_of_Guernica
en.wikipedia.org:_Rotterdam

Hackfort Castle is a castle in Vorden, in the Dutch province of Gelderland. The castle is owned by the Vereniging Natuurmonumenten, the Society for Preservation of Nature Monuments.

In 1392, the lords of Bronckhorst's Loan Register mentions a house to 'Hacforden', with outer castle and canals. It started as a residential tower.
It was largely destroyed by Spanish troops in 1586, during the Eighty Years' War.
In 1598 it was rebuilt by Borchard van Westerholt. This is stated on a façade stone, as well as that the castle was extensively renovated in 1788 by Borchard Frederic Willem van Westerholt.
It became a tighter façade with large windows, instead of a façade with protruding toilets and cross windows with window shutters at the bottom as before.
The gatehouse was demolished, so that the view of the now symmetrical façade and the landing became free.
The moat was also filled in. The castle is surrounded by forests and meadows.
Near the castle is also the Watermill of Hackfort.

When Borchard Frederik Willem of the Westerholt family died in 1934, he left his 5 children as heirs. They were all unmarried except for Clara. Clara was evicted in 1935.
Her brother and 3 sisters each retained a quarter share of ownership. In 1964 their 'lady sister' died in The Hague. She left her share in the castle to Natuurmonumenten.
In the same year her brother Arend made a will in which he also left his quarter to Natuurmonumenten. Arend and his sisters continued to manage the castle until the last heir died. Arend died on 08Oct1970,
his sister Lady Emma on 28Nov1971.
The remaining sister, Sannie, was then the sole individual owner of Hackfort. Lady Sannie was the last Westerholt to die on 14Apr1981, with which Hackfort became wholly owned by Natuurmonumenten.

en.wikipedia.org:_Hackfort_Castle

Yesterday we visited the yard in the Kaardebol (Zutphen) where reenactors show life in the Early Middle Ages. A wonderful experience to see what life must have been like around 400-800 after the beginning of our era!
This was probably the opening weekend, there is allegedly something to do every month for the public on this medieval farmer's yard, from Easter to October. Varied activities show periodical dress, arms, and crafts.
One can 'meet' the inhabitants of Erve Eme, Saxony or Vikings. Learn about life on a medieval farm and perhaps participate in the daily activities.

Erve Eme is one of the parties on the De Kaardebol site. In addition to Erve Eme, the tropical butterfly greenhouse and the restaurant are also open at Easter.
There is also the show garden of Loek Gorris, who uses a lot of recycled materials in landscaping gardens and ponds.

erve-eme.com
kaardebolzutphen.nl

Grave is a town in the Dutch province of North Brabant, we visited two days ago.
The name Grave (lat. Gravia, var. Caruo, Carvo and Gravita) comes from 'graves' or 'moat' (graft) and is first mentioned in 1214.
A romanticizing statement concerns a Roman army commander Gravio, who is said to have founded a castellum (castle) here, but that story was thought up by earlier historians.

After the castle of the lord of the 'Land van Cuijk' was destroyed during a punitive expedition after the murder of Floris de Zwarte (1131) and Herman van Cuijk was exiled, he returned around 1138 and built
a new castle in Grave.
The town originated around it. In 1233 Grave was granted city rights by the Duke of Brabant. Soon Grave was the largest town in the Land van Cuijk, and it remained the only fortified place. Under Jan I van Cuijk, the city experienced a flourishing period.

The lords of Cuijk alternating with the Dukes of Brabant and Guelders, an important issue, because they were regularly at war with each other (1285, 1366-1388, 1479, 1480). In 1415 the city was hit by a major city fire.
Grave fell victim to many sieges. It suffered from the wars between the duchies of Guelders and Brabant. With the inclusion of Brabant and, in 1543, Guelders in the empire of Emperor Charles V, the threat of war was by no means over, because the Eighty Years' War soon began.

In 1568 the Spanish troops arrived in Grave, but it fell into State hands in 1577. Then, after the Siege of Grave (1586), Grave was again occupied by Spanish troops, and then by the State troops under Prince Maurits...
In 1672 Grave was taken by the French without much resistance, but the reconquest in 1674 by the Staatsen (led by Carl von Rabenhaupt) was accompanied by a siege in which the castle was destroyed
and much damage was done. After this siege, it was decided to modernize the fortifications. The castle was demolished and new defensive devices were created. As a garrison town, it sometimes had to deal with five times as many soldiers as there were inhabitants.

The Duchy of Brabant was a state of the Holy Roman Empire established in 1183 or 1190.
It developed from the Landgraviate of Brabant and formed the heart of the historic Low Countries,
part of the Burgundian Netherlands from 1430 and of the Habsburg Netherlands from 1482, until it was split up after the Dutch revolt.
After the War of Independence, Catholics in the Southern Netherlands were systematically and officially discriminated against by the Northern Protestant government until the second half of the 19th century, which had a major influence on the economic and cultural development of the southern part of the Netherlands.

NL.wikipedia.org:_Grave
en.wikipedia.org:_North_Brabant
More photos on Flickr.com

Richard Mead Atwater Benson (b.08Nov1943 @Newport,RI– d.22Jun2017) was an American photographer, printer, and educator who used photographic processing techniques of the past and present.He is perhaps best known for his innovations in photographic offset printing techniques and, later, ink-jet printing.

Benson was awarded two Guggenheim Fellowships and a MacArthur Fellowship. His work is held in the collections of Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and Whitney Museum of American Art.

Benson's book 'North South East West' combines a style of photography I like with favourite travel destinations. There's also something of Stephen Shore in his photography, you can't go wrong there but certainly not as easy as it looks!

Richard Benson is a former dean of the Yale School of Art and a MacArthur Foundation Fellow, has been a photographer for more than 4 decades, but his art often took a back seat to his prodigious achievements as a printer and a teacher.

From direct digital capture through inkjet output, his renowned technical wizardry has yielded unusually vibrant and beguiling colour prints that are at once ultra vivid and utterly natural, like our everyday visual experience. Their uncanny lushness and clarity give voice to Benson's generous, inquisitive eye. An essay by Peter Galassi, Chief Curator of Photography at MoMA, surveys the work, and a text by Benson explains how it was made (some of it can be applied through Photoshop too).

Benson travelled Rhode Island of course (where he lived), but also US States Wyoming (2007), California (2006+2008+2009), Texas (2006+2007+2008), Montana (2005+2006), Ohio (2009),Virginia (2008+2009), Arizona (2006+2008), Pennsylvania (2007), Florida (2005+2007+2008_2010), Washington (2007), Oregon (2007), Maryland (2005), New York (2008+2010), Illinois (2009), Georgia 2007, Puerto Rico (2007), Vermont (2007+2010), Arkansas (2005), North Carolina (2006), New Mexico (2006), Connecticut (2008), Tennessee (2005), Alabama (2007), Bermuda (2005).
He also visited Canada: Newfoundland (2008+2009), Nova Scotia (2008), Quebec (2006).

This book inspires one to book a ticket and go out there with a camera!

Published: 2011, Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)

en.wikipedia.org:_Richard_Benson_(photographer)

'The Silver Camera' is the most prestigious award for photojournalism and documentary photography in the Netherlands. Every year, professional photographers with Dutch nationality (living in or outside the Netherlands), photographers based in the Netherlands with another nationality can submit their work and photography students (exam year).

Winner for 2022 is Eddy van Wessel for his 'Ruins for freedom', documenting the war in Ukraine.
The exhibition can be seen from 12 February to 2 April 2023 in Museum Hilversum.
Excellent photography by Dutch photographers on international and national subjects: a.o. the Russian invasion in Ukraine, politics and protests in the Netherlands, portraits and touching documentaries on minorities or individuals.

www.zilverencamera.nl/jaargang/zc-2022/
More on Flickr.com