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

"I'm only myself in front of my typewriter" ¬Joan Didion (I'd replace 'typewriter' by 'desktop PC'..)

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 exp.) back in the day.
The books can be ordered directly from the Blurb.com or Amazon.
www.blurb.com/user/ruudleeuw

CURRENT BLOG

Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot (b.Paris 28Sep1934 – d.Saint-Tropez 28Dec2025), often referred to by her initials B.B., was a French actress, singer, model, and animal rights activist.
She became one of the best-known symbols of the sexual revolution and gained international fame for portraying characters associated with hedonistic lifestyles. Although she withdrew from the entertainment industry in 1973, she remained a major pop culture icon.
She appeared in 47 films, performed in several musicals, and recorded more than 60 songs. She was awarded the Legion of Honour in 1985.

en.wikipedia.org:_Brigitte_Bardot

One of my all time favourites, high in my Top Ten, has passed on recently...
Christopher Anton Rea (b.04Mar1951 – d.22Dec2025) was an English rock and blues singer-songwriter, guitarist and record producer.
He was known for his distinctive gravelly voice, slide guitar playing and music style blending soft rock with the blues.
Rea recorded 25 studio albums beginning in the late 1970s.
Although he had modest success with Water Sign (1983) and Wired to the Moon (1984), his commercial breakthrough came with Shamrock Diaries (1985), followed by platinum-sellers On the Beach (1986)
and Dancing with Strangers (1987).

Two of his million-selling albums topped the UK Albums Chart: The Road to Hell in 1989 and its successor, Auberge, in 1991. Many successful albums followed.
His many hit songs included "I Can Hear Your Heartbeat", "Stainsby Girls", "Josephine", "On the Beach", "Let's Dance", and of course in this month: "Driving Home for Christmas".
Rea never toured the United States, choosing family life over greater fame in the U.S. plus spending a fortune on all sorts of cars and racing.

In February 2008, Rea released The Return of the Fabulous Hofner Bluenotes (Rea's first guitar was a Höfner V3 or 173 which he bought in a second-hand shop because, at the time, there were not that many shops in Middlesbrough where one could purchase a guitar), dedicated to the 1960s Höfner guitars, with 38 tracks on three CDs and two 10" vinyl records. I went to the concert but I preferred his own music.
November 2014 saw Rea embark on a European tour called The Last Open Road Tour, which I think attended too.

On 9 December, Rea collapsed during a performance at the New Theatre Oxford, the 35th concert of the tour. He was taken to hospital where his condition was stabilized.
In December 2020, Rea guest starred on the Christmas edition of 'Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing', where he discussed his health issues over the years.

en.wikipedia.org:_Chris_Rea

Martin Parr CBE (b.23May1952 – d.06Dec2025) was an English documentary photographer and photojournalist. He was known for his photographic projects that take an intimate, satirical and anthropological look at aspects of modern life, in particular documenting the social classes of England, and more broadly the wealth of the Western world.
The Martin Parr Foundation, founded in 2015, and registered as a charity in 2015 opened premises in his hometown of Bristol in 2017. It houses his personal archive, his collection of British and Irish photography by other photographers, and a gallery.

I love his talent for 'the decisive moment' and his great humour! When I learned of his passing (aged 73), I checked the internet for another book of his (which would fit the Christmas budget), although I do already have three books by him (one signed, which I bought in 2023 while visiting his Bristol gallery.
I am sure more titles will join my bookcase!

en.wikipedia.org:_Martin_Parr
www.facebook.com/martinparrofficial

"Paris Blues" is an impressive body of work by art director, designer and photographer Mathieu Bitton. Born in Paris in 1973, Bitton has had an impressive career photographing some of the world's most recognisable artists, including Quincy Jones, The Rolling Stones, Lenny Kravitz, Stevie Wonder and Lady Gaga. This book also includes impromptu photos of Charles Aznavour and John McEnroe; but I enjoyed his street photography the most.

This is Bitton's first photo book, a Leica ambassador and renowned fashion photographer, in a large coffee-table format. It is a deeply personal project that captures the rhythm, nostalgia, and raw beauty of Paris through over 200 black & white and color photographs.

The "Paris Blues" photography collection captures the unique charm of the city of Paris, which has a deeply personal meaning for Bitton. His works reflect a constant source of inspiration to many of us for his fine photography.

www.teneues.com/en/book/paris-blues
www.mathieubitton.fr

An impression of world history since the 1940s through photos from the international photo agency Magnum. Translated from French to Dutch by Ellen Brandt.

Since the Second World War, the world has changed dramatically, and many events have passed before the camera lens of news photographers. Not only tragic conflicts, but also impressive personal achievements, cultural upheavals, and the people who have changed the world: from Gandhi to Mother Teresa, from Marilyn Monroe to Martin Luther King, from Nelson Mandela to Mikhail Gorbachev.
But also the history of ordinary people and the enormous changes in our daily lives have been captured by the camera.
The Magnum Agency in Paris has been responsible since its founding in 1947 for the most striking and representative news photographs ever taken.
All notable people and events of the past 60 years have been immortalized in their photo archives, and together these photos provide a complete picture of modern world history. 'What a World!', published on the occasion of Magnum’s 60th anniversary, includes: – Photos of the highlights of each decade, introduced by a brief historical overview – Informative text blocks that place the photos in a historical context – Testimonies from the photographers and explanations of their work – Biographies of the 60 included photographers – A concise continuous timeline, which makes the historical framework clear – Famous quotes and slogans that have marked an era (such as ‘I have a dream’).

A magnificent book keep close to hand and to browse on occasion for the recent history!

Éric Godeau is an associate professor of history and holds a doctorate in history.
He earned his PhD in history with his dissertation on tobacco titled "The SEITA and the Tobacco Market in Metropolitan France, from 1940 to the Present," which he defended in 2005 at the University of Paris. As a higher education teacher, he has been teaching at the Hélène Boucher High School (Paris 20) since 2012.

Explore the unique city of Beijing, the capital of the People's Republic of China. Regarded as a political, educational, and cultural center, the city is the second most populated in China.
Published shortly before the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, one can experience the glorious attractions of this ancient capital.
Captivating then-and-now photographs highlight urban Beijing's blend of traditional architecture alongside the city's more modern buildings.
Perhaps familiar landmarks include Tiananmen Square (Gate of Heavenly Peace), the Temple of Heaven, the Summer Palace, Ming Tombs, and the Forbidden City, which was the former residence of the emperors of China.
The book contains fascinating street scenes, along with images of the city's walls and gates, the Drum and Bell Towers, the Ancient Observatory, Confucious Temple, the Legation district, and the Marco Polo Bridge.
From the ancient walls of this capital city to the contemporary buildings of Beijing, the photographs collected in Beijing Then and Now portray a majestic city that is experiencing vast expansion and development.

About the Author Brian Page, he is a professor at the University of Colorado where he is the chair of the Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences.

https://clas.ucdenver.edu/ges/brian-page

Barend Cornelis Koekkoek was born on 11 October 1803, in Middelburg, Zeeland. He was the first and eldest son of Johannes Hermanus Koekkoek and Anna van Koolwijk.
Aside from Koekkoek, whose father was a Dutch renowned marine painter, from whom he received his earliest tuition, Johannes and Anna's other sons were Hermanus (the elder), Johannes (de) (the Younger) and Marinus.
Barend grew up in an artistic environment and came to be known during his lifetime as the “Prince of Landscape Painting” and was an applauded landscapist of his time and regarded as the founding father of Dutch romantic landscape painting.

The flat Dutch countryside could not satisfy Koekkoek's romantic soul for very long. ‘Surely’, Koekkoek wrote in 1841 ‘Our fatherland boasts no rocks, waterfalls, high mountains or romantic valleys. Proud, sublime nature is not to be found in our land’.
With that in mind, in the summer of 1834 he moved to the old Ducal capital of Cleves, Germany, where he found his ideal subject matter in the region of the Ahr, Ruhr and Rhine.
Soon large oak trees, winding paths and panoramic views filled his paintings with an artful blend of minute detail and atmospheric mood.

The oeuvre of Barend Cornelis Koekkoek includes more than 500 paintings. He became especially famous for his forest landscapes. The vast Reichswald in the vicinity of Kleve provides a wealth of motifs for landscape painters who follow Koekkoek's call to Kleve.
During his many travels, especially through the Netherlands and Germany, he primarily searches for untouched forests.
The museum also has paintings by others, pupils or those inspired by Barend.

Romanticism discovered the beauty of the native nature and in particular of the forest. In the centuries before, it was depicted in art as a threatening and dangerous environment. Now it becomes a symbol of perfect divine creation, of the truthfulness of nature, of freedom for humans and happiness for him, Barend Cornelis.

koekkoek-haus.de
en.wikipedia.org:_Barend_Cornelis_Koekkoek

14-year-old Anne Sey from Dennenburg came into contact with Japan at a crucial moment in her life. A book about the distant country opened her eyes to a world full of culture and history. Years later, from the serene surroundings of her tatami, she wrote her own book: ‘Deshima’.

In ‘Deshima’ (Walburg Press, 2025), Sey recounts a lesser-known chapter of Dutch history in Japan.
The story takes place on the island of Deshima, which in the 17th century served as the only official trading post between the Netherlands and Japan.
This Dutch settlement was on an artificial island off the coast of Nagasaki.
Through this unique location, the Dutch were able to offer their goods while also getting to know Japanese culture. It was walled both to protect against raging seas but also to keep the settlement closed off, access was restricted though it varied over decades. There was a sea gate, for ships bringing in&out people and goods as well as a gated bridge with Japanese guards.
Between 1641 and 1858, this was the only place where Westerners were allowed to trade with Japan.

Based on original material – including a large number of previously unpublished archival documents, alongside travel accounts, maps, letters, images, and personal stories – a closed-off world unfolds. What were the residents' days like? What clothing did they wear, what was on the table, how were their rooms arranged? What music could be heard, and how did they spend their free time?

Through detailed and vivid descriptions, you experience the small rituals, challenges, and joys of daily life on Deshima. Personal, often moving stories from the inhabitants reveal the human side of this forgotten world.

Deshima is a window into a world full of contrasts: curiosity and isolation, trade and exchange of knowledge, East and West—a world that seems centuries away, yet through its everyday moments comes surprisingly close, almost tangible, letting you feel what it was like to live there.
The book is incredibly detailed, which is also notable in the impressive index of 'notes' and bibliography.

I was surprised to read that many inhabitants (the number varied a great deal) of Deshima were German, Swedes and others.
I was fascinated by the many references to Philipp Franz Balhasar von Siebold, a German by birth and upbringing but he also lived in Leiden (the house he lived in is now the 'Japan Museum / Siebold House').
I am quite sure I will read more on Siebold, and of Anne Sey too..

AnneSey.nl/project/deshima/ (NL)
www.sieboldhuis.org/en/
en.wikipedia.org:_Philipp_Franz_von_Siebold

Paul de Nooijer (b. Eindhoven, 15Jun1943 – d.Baarsdorp, 12Dec2025) was a Dutch photographer and filmmaker.
De Nooijer operated in the fields of surrealism, magical realism, and fantastic art.
His eclectic approach, absurdist humor, and mockery of conventional perception made him a pioneer and an inspiration for Dutch staged photography of the 1980s.

His interest in photography was sparked when he received a camera at the age of 15.
De Nooijer attended a course in industrial design at the Academy for Industrial Design Eindhoven from 1960 to 1965. An exhibition at the Canon Photo Gallery in Amsterdam followed at a later date.
Until around 1976, De Nooijer primarily created photomontages with confusing perspective distortions. From 1976 onwards, these became direct shots of staged actions, often with his wife and son as models. He also created monumental photo walls for public buildings. In these photo walls, he plays with time, space, and the perception of reality.

From 1978 to 1989 he was a teacher at the Academy of Visual Arts (Tilburg) and subsequently until 1991 a film lecturer at the University of Applied Sciences Wuerzburg-Schweinfurt.
In 2021, Paul de Nooijer, his wife Françoise, and their son Menno de Nooijer evaluated their almost four-decade-long artistic collaboration. This resulted in the publication of Is Heaven Red?, a photography monograph, and the production of four new short films, including Is Heaven Blue?.
Over time, however, it became clear that the trio had to end their collaboration.
Paul de Nooijer was confronted with prostate cancer, and his wife experienced the inevitable effects of aging.
His archive is managed by the Foundation Fund for Visual Arts, Design, and Architecture, now the Mondriaan Fund.
De Nooijer lived in Zeeland and passed away in December 2025 at the age of 82.

nl.wikipedia.org:_Paul_de_Nooijer (NL)

Joe Ely (b.09Feb1947 – 15Dec2025) was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist.
He was "one of the main movers" of Austin, Texas' progressive country scene in the 1970s and '80s.
He had a genre-crossing career, performing with Bruce Springsteen, Uncle Tupelo, Los Super Seven, The Chieftains, James McMurtry, The Clash, Lyle Lovett, John Hiatt, and Guy Clark.

Born in Amarillo, Texas, Ely spent his teenage years in Lubbock, Texas. In 1971, with fellow Lubbock musicians Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock, he formed The Flatlanders.
Ely's own first, self-titled album, was released in 1977.
Throughout his career, Ely has issued a steady stream of albums, most on the MCA label, and a live album roughly every ten years.
In October 2022, he was inducted to the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame.
In September 2025, Ely announced he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and Lewy body dementia. Ely died at his Taos, New Mexico, home on December 15, 2025, at the age of 78.

en.wikipedia.org:_Joe_Ely

Johan Tuyaerts travels across America, along Highway 50, 'The Loneliest Road in America,' he travels through the heart of America -and through himself- in search of the idols and ideals of his youth.

February 2014. Johan Tuyaerts is 46 and decides to sell his self-founded, successful production company Sultan Sushi to a German media group. Six months later, he fulfills a boyhood dream: he travels across America.
An ultimate road trip from Ocean City on the East Coast to San Francisco on the West Coast. But the tranquility of the American landscape and the rhythm of the road confront him with his hectic life...

Each chapter starts with part of the roadtripping lyrics relevant to such an endeavour and I liked it very much that he included Chris Whitley: 'Big Sky Country'. Whitley is not commonly known among the general public and I have several CD's by him.
I also liked to 'revisit' many sights in this book I have been to myself, pleasant memories.

We experienced Christmas in Duiven during the atmospheric “Dickens in de Liemers” event for the first time, at Horsterpark in Duiven (Gelderland).
Cozy stalls, musical performances, and many more activities will immerse you in the traditional Dickens Christmas atmosphere.
Free admission!

We stepped back in time. The time of writer Charles Dickens.
And so encountered farmers, townspeople, and country folk who must have truly lived in Dickens' era. Chestnut sellers, chimney sweeps, and shoe shiners walk around, but also dignified notables and office clerks.
Vagrants beg for money, rogues steal, and children sing. Proper ladies and gentlemen with tall hats stroll through the streets and bow deeply as the spectacular Dickens parade passes by.
Fun to enjoy!

https://dickensindeliemers.nl/ (NL)
More on: www.flickr.com/photos plus my 2025 Streetphotos

The Hackfort (historic) Windmill (top). Built in 1851, rebuilt 1943.
It was located on the Hackfortscheweg (later called Het Hoge), which ran roughly parallel to the Hackfortsche Brook.
The Hackfortscheweg (weg=road) was essentially a continuation of the Baakseweg, and the Hackfortsche Brook was actually the part of the Baakse Beek (beek=brook) that flowed through Hackfort.
In Vorden, this brook was also sometimes called the Vordense Brook. Formally, it is called the “Baakse Brook,” named after Baak, the place where the brook flows into the river IJssel.
In earlier centuries, about 6 watermills operated on the Baakse Brook, which were demolished around the mid-19th century.
The only watermill that has been preserved is the Hackfort Watermill.
Around the mid-19th century, there was an economic revival in the agricultural region of Achterhoek. The three mills (De Hoop, the Lindese Mill, and the Hackfortsche Mill) were all built around this time, and many farmhouses also date from that period.

These two windmills are on either end of the Hertog Karel van Gelreweg in Vorden.
The historic windmill 'De Hoop' is a socalled 'Kantige molen', and was used for milling grain, built in 1850.

https://hackfortschewindmolen.nl/
www.molendatabase.nl/molens/Hackfortsche Molen / Op 't Hoge
https://www.molendatabase.nl/molens/De Hoop
www.flickr.com/photos/ - /historic Dutch Windmills

The X-mas Fair at Castle Vorden today was a funplace to browse, take pictures and yes, of course, to buy!

Martin Parr RIP (23 May 1952 – 6 December 2025). Photo by Joost van den Broek.

Somewhat talkative, modest, and often dressed in baggy sweaters; anyone who met Martin Parr would not quickly suspect that this tall Englishman was one of the most influential photographers in the world. Not only was he internationally renowned for his humorous work, he also gave great prestige to the
genre of the photobook.
The versatile Parr, who was called the pope of photography, passed away Saturday at the age of 73.

I visited in 2023 his MARTIN PARR FOUNDATION (MPF) GALLERY

www.volkskrant.nl/cultuur-media/parr-was-de-paus-van-de-fotografie- (NL)
en.wikipedia.org:_Martin_Parr
inews.co.uk/culture/arts/martin-parr-days-coming-end-out-taking-pictures

Zypendaal House is a magnificent 18th century country estate situated in a beautifully laid out park close to the centre of Arnhem.

The splendid home and its annexes are situated in a wooded valley, surrounded by water.
Part of the house’s ornate interior dates back to the 18th century. The rooms on view are decorated as they would have been when the Brantsen family, who lived in Zypendaal for generations, were in residence.

Huis Zypendaal was built by the Arnhem regent family Brantsen as a country estate around 1762-1764, designed by city carpenter Hendrik Viervant. This family lived in the house until 1926!
It was built on the same site where the old Zypendaal house had stood. In 1883-1884, the house was remodeled by Pierre Cuypers and provided with a tower. At the front, a vestibule, a balustrade on the roof, and balconies were added.
In 1900, the Red Salon was created in a new extension. After the Battle of Arnhem (WW2), the house was set up as a hospital for wounded German soldiers.

The park surrounding Zypendaal House is a lovely place to have a stroll, walk your dog, or picnic at your leisure. You can find rhododendron-edged lawns, waterfalls, streams and ponds.
The ponds provide a natural habitat for species such as the kingfisher and grey wagtail.
The house can be visited on the 1st and 3rd Sunday of the month with a guided tour or on your own.
Tours start throughout the day at set times. English spoken tours can be arranged by appointment.

In 1975, the Geldersche Kasteelen Foundation acquired the house in a long-term lease from the municipality of Arnhem, on the condition that it would be used for cultural purposes.
The house was restored, and today the upper floors house the headquarters of the Het Geldersch Landschap Foundation and the Friends of Geldersche Kasteelen Foundation, which work together under the name Geldersch Landschap & Kasteelen.

www.glk.nl/ - /zypendaal-house
NL.wikipedia.org:_Huis_Zypendaal

In his lifetime Winogrand published four monographs: 'The Animals' (1969), 'Women are Beautiful' (1975), 'Public Relations' (1977) and 'Stock Photographs: The Fort Worth Fat Stock Show and Rodeo' (1980).
At the time of his death, his late work remained undeveloped, with about 2.500 rolls of undeveloped film, 6.500 rolls of developed but not proofed exposures, and about 3.000 rolls only realized as far as contact sheets being made.

Critic Sean O'Hagan wrote about Winogrand in 2014 that in "the 1960s and 70s, he defined street photography as an attitude as well as a style – and it has laboured in his shadow ever since, so definitive are his photographs of New York"; and in 2010 that though he photographed elsewhere, "Winogrand was essentially a New York photographer: frenetic, in-your-face, arty despite himself."
Phil Coomes, writing for BBC News in 2013, said "For those of us interested in street photography there are a few names that stand out and one of those is Garry Winogrand, whose pictures of New York in the 1960s are a photographic lesson in every frame."

Garry Winogrand (b.14Jan1928 – d.19Mar1984) was an American street photographer, who portrayed U.S. life and its social issues in the mid-20th century.
Photography curator, historian, and critic John Szarkowski called Winogrand the central photographer of his generation.
Winogrand received 3 Guggenheim Fellowships to work on personal projects, a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, and published 4 books during his lifetime.
He was one of three photographers featured in the influential New Documents exhibition at Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1967 and had solo exhibitions there in 1969, 1977, and 1988.
He supported himself by working as a freelance photojournalist and advertising photographer in the 1950s and 1960s, and taught photography in the 1970s.
His photographs were featured in photography magazines including Popular Photography, Eros, Contemporary Photographer, and Photography Annual.

www.wolf-books.com/ - /garry-winogrand-stock-photographs
en.wikipedia.org:_Garry_Winogrand
k

Jan Brokken explores the history of his mother in 'The Gardens of Buitenzorg', who moved to the Dutch East Indies in 1935 and returned to a devastated Netherlands in 1947. He has two brothers born in 'Dutch Indies' but he himself was born after WW2 in The Netherlands (a.k.a. Holland).

When 23-year-old Olga and two-year-older Han moved to the Dutch East Indies in 1935, it was as if one world after another was opening up for them, at an almost dizzying pace.
They spent the first few months on Java, later they lived in Makassar, where Han conducted research as a theologian. The outbreak of the Second World War destroyed the world in which Olga and Han had completely immersed themselves.
In 1947, they had to return to the Netherlands.

Olga is the mother of Jan Brokken before she became his mother.
After the death of his parents, Aunt Nora handed him the letters and photos that her sister Olga had written to her from Buitenzorg and Makassar.
Tenderly, sensitively, and cautiously, Brokken searches in those letters for the woman who had always remained a stranger to him throughout her life.
Brokken ingeniously weaves Olga’s story together with reflections on music, literature, culture, and history, such as on composer Leopold Godowsky, who became captivated by the gamelan, and the mother of Hella S. Haasse, who was the most famous concert pianist of the Indies.

From Java Han & Olga soon moved to Makassar on Celebes (now Sulawesi). Han had to travel for his 'mission work' but used much of his time to research local culture. Olga studied local languages.
Makassar is the capital of the Indonesian province of South Sulawesi. It is the largest city in the region of Eastern Indonesia and the country's fifth-largest urban center after Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan, and Bandung.
The city is located on the southwest coast of the island of Sulawesi, facing the Makassar Strait.

Jan Andries Blokker Sr. (b.27May1927 – d.06July2010) was a Dutch journalist, columnist, publicist, writer, and amateur historian.
In The Netherlands, Blokker was best known for his columns in the Dutch daily 'De Volkskrant', which he wrote between 1968 and 2006.

en.wikipedia.org:_Jan_Blokker
en.wikipedia.org:_Sulawesi

Whether Milan or Turin, Naples or Como – nowhere can you soak up the flair and culture of Italy better than in one of the typical coffee bars!
They are places of longing and retreat, of contemplation and activity. No other photographer has captured this special atmosphere as artfully and authentically as Walter Vogel.
His perspective is unmistakable and shows an infallible sense of the right moment. Sometimes it is the silence, sometimes the lively atmosphere that Vogel captures brilliantly and with great sensitivity.
This lavish photobook takes the viewer on an epic, magnificent, and incomparable journey through Italian life and culture.

This book has also been published (smaller?) titled 'Espresso'.

Vogel has been photographing since 1950. In 1952, he began an apprenticeship as a machinist. After completing an engineering education until 1957 and working for seven years as a designer and technical manager in a chemical company, he studied photography from 1963 to 1968 with Otto Steinert at the Folkwang School in Essen.
Since 1954, he published in magazines and was awarded as a winner in the World Press Photo competition in 1964. Since 1968, Vogel has worked as a freelance photojournalist, including for Zeit Magazine, and as an advertising photographer. Between 1977 and 2002, he lived in Frankfurt am Main.

He became known for portraits of Düsseldorf artists and other cultural figures, including Joseph Beuys and Pina Bausch, as well as for photo reports on the Ruhr area.
Travel reports took him to Italy, Africa, and Asia.
From 1993, he published a series of essay-like photo books, for example on the theme of coffee – café.

Awards:
¤ - 1964: World Press Photo Award
¤ - 2012: Kunstpreis der Großen Kunstausstellung NRW Düsseldorf
¤ - 2019: Leica Hall of Fame Award

DE.wikipedia.org:_Walter_Vogel_(Fotograf)

My father (b.1925 - d. 2008) was issued a pocket book for the Tropics when serving with the Dutch Marines. Was this because he had grown up in Indonesia? He returned to Holland after internment upon WW2 ending, where he finished schooling (HBS).
He did his service time but was never deployed back to Indonesia.
On the cover is written:
Marinier III J. Leeuw
Stbn. 36743
Bak 66 Div I (?)
std Mariniers
Volkel (N.Br.) (This is Volkel AB, probably did guarding duties)
Quite a dictionary in (old) Malaysian (NL: Maleis) in here!

Wikipedia:
Malay [endonym: Bahasa Melayu] is an Austronesian language spoken primarily by Malays in several islands of Maritime Southeast Asia and the Malay Peninsula on mainland Asia.
The language is an official language of Brunei, Malaysia, and Singapore.
Indonesian, a standardized variety of Malay, is the official language of Indonesia and one of the working languages of Timor-Leste.
Malay is also spoken as a regional language of ethnic Malays in Indonesia, southeast Philippines and the southern part of Thailand.
Altogether, it is spoken by 60 million people across Maritime Southeast Asia.

A photo book about city and countryside through the years. A colorful anthology from 350.000 press photos!

The photographers of the Twentsche Courant Tubantia captured all the major news events in Twente after the war.
From the first Twente soapbox derby (cover) to the fireworks disaster in Enschede. From the slowly advancing E8 (highway) to the opening of the Netherlands' first mosque in Almelo.
From the Peasants' Uprising in Tubbergen to the current coronavirus protests.
The book *It Was in the Newspaper* is a colorful anthology from the recently opened archive containing 350.000 newspaper photos.
Important news events are covered. There is also attention given to social changes, rituals, and entertainment over the years.

Journalist and historian Marco Krijnsen places the 125 selected photos in their historical context.
This photo book tells the story of post-war Twente in a truly unique way.

wbooks.com

A concert hall from 1891 with sublime acoustics, a fully functional theater with modern facilities, an atmospheric foyer, plus numerous smaller rooms. That is Theater Hanzehof & Buitensociëteit.
Today we visited the yearly event of secondhand books, not for the first time.
I always come away with something nice!

Sinterklaas (Dutch: Sint-Nicolaas) is a legendary figure based on Saint Nicholas, patron saint of children.
Other Dutch names for the figure include De Sint ('The Saint'), De Goede Sint ('The Good Saint') and De Goedheiligman (derived from goed hylickman meaning "good marriage man", alluding to his historical reputation as a Saint who can help you find a good life partner.
Many descendants and cognates of 'Sinterklaas' or Saint Nicholas in other languages are also used in the Low Countries, nearby regions, and former Dutch colonies.

The feast of Sinterklaas celebrates the name day of Saint Nicholas on December 6th.
The Sinterklaas feast is celebrated annually with the giving of gifts on St. Nicholas' Eve (December 5th) in the Netherlands and on the morning of Saint Nicholas Day (December 6th) in Belgium, Luxembourg, western Germany, and northern France (French Flanders, Lorraine, Alsace and Artois).
The tradition is also celebrated in some territories of the former Dutch Empire, including Aruba.

Sinterklaas is one of the sources of the popular Christmas icon of Santa Claus.

See also my 2025 Colour Streetphotos
For more see www.flickr.com/photos/dutchsimba
en.wikipedia.org:_Sinterklaas

Nudes, portraits, still lives, narratives: loyal to his Leica, Ralph Gibson ranges between genres and creates new categories of vision.
The most comprehensive collection of this highly acclaimed and prolific American photographer, this book 'Photographs 1960-2024', offers the fruit of more than 6 decades of image-making.

His distinctive style, characterized by high-contrast abstract compositions, often transforms everyday objects into evocative narratives. Gibson's love for books and book-making is evident, with over 40 monographs published to date, including seminal works like 'The Somnambulist' (1970) through his own Lustrum Press.
His photographs are celebrated in over 200 museum collections globally, with over 250 solo exhibitions.

Ralph Gibson (b. 06Jan1939- ) is an American art photographer best known for his photographic books. His images often incorporate fragments with erotic and mysterious undertones, building narrative meaning through contextualization and surreal juxtaposition.
Gibson enlisted in the United States Navy in 1956 and became a Photographers Mate studying photography until 1960. He then continued his photography studies at the San Francisco Art Institute between 1960 and 1962.
He began his professional career as an assistant to Dorothea Lange from 1961 to 1962 and went on to work with Robert Frank on two films between 1967 and 1968.

www.ralphgibson.com/about
en.wikipedia.org:_Ralph_Gibson
www.taschen.com/en/ - - - /ralph-gibson-photographs-1960-2024/

Foam presents Atlanta Made Us Famous, the first solo museum exhibition by Foam Talent alumna Hajar Benjida. The exhibition centers on Magic City, an influential strip club in Atlanta that serves as a cultural epicenter where hip-hop culture and entertainment converge.
Atlanta Made Us Famous pays tribute to the women behind Atlanta's influential hip-hop industry, a city Benjida considers defining the genre's global sound. They serve as the unofficial cultural gatekeepers of their community.

Benjida's intimate portraits showcase successful women who have built their economic independence by investing in real estate and starting their own businesses.
Her long-standing community involvement has led to a series that transcends stereotypes and highlights strong intergenerational social networks.
From backstage moments to domestic scenes, the exhibition celebrates the diversity of these women who are forging their own paths within Atlanta's hip-hop culture on their own terms.

hajarbenjida.com
www.foam.org/nl/events/hajar-benjida

Foam presents Witnessing Life, a solo exhibition by Co Rentmeester (b.1936-), one of the most influential photographers of the 20th century.
As a pioneer in both photojournalism and commercial photography, Rentmeester has shaped our collective visual memory with iconic images, including the famous Jumpman photo of Michael Jordan, which was selected by TIME Magazine as one of the 100 most influential images of all time.

Witnessing Life highlights Rentmeester’s versatility and his unique ability to move between genres,
with a lasting impact on journalistic, commercial, and artistic photography alike.
From gripping images of the Vietnam War (e.g. The Gunner: World Press Photo of the Year 1967!), the Watts riots, to impressive wildlife photography and the groundbreaking Marlboro Man campaigns that redefined America's visual identity.

This exhibition not only pays tribute to his work but also marks Rentmeester's symbolic return to his hometown of Amsterdam, where his career began.

From Wikipedia:
Rentmeester was born in 1936 in Amsterdam.
He competed with Peter Bakker in double scull and won bronze at the 1959 European Rowing Championships in Mâcon, France. Bakker and Rentmeester reached the finals in double scull for the Netherlands at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome where they came fifth.
In early 1961, Rentmeester moved to the United States and studied photography at the Art Center College in Los Angeles.
Rentmeester initially started his career as a freelance photographer in 1965 for Life Magazine. A short time later, he joined the LIFE Staff from April 1966 thru 1972 when LIFE Magazine folded.
He first covered the Watts Riots in Los Angeles, documenting many of the dramatic events, which earned him his first accolades as a photographer.
Between late 1965 and 1969 Rentmeester was in Asia, where he particularly covered the Vietnam war. One of his pictures showed an M48 tank gunner looking through a gunsight. It was selected as World Press Photo of the Year and notably it was the first color photograph to win the award.
After Rentmeester was wounded by a Vietcong sniper near Saigon, he returned to the U.S. in 1972.

His pictures from a trip through Indonesia were shown in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, and Asia House in New York.
In the following years, Rentmeester worked for numerous major publications as a photojournalist and as an advertising photographer.

www.foam.org:_Co Rentmeester
en.wikipedia.org:_Co_Rentmeester

www.bastiaanwoudt.com
www.leicastoreamsterdam.nl

What does daily life in the Red Light District of Amsterdam look like? Who lives and works in this oldest neighborhood of Amsterdam?
The exhibition and publication De Wallen by photographer Dana Lixenberg present a compelling portrait and depiction of this unique area in the old city center.

This series, created between 2021 and 2025, consists of intimate black-and-white portraits of neighborhood residents, visitors, artists, sex workers, the homeless, and entrepreneurs.
These are shown alongside detailed historical interiors in color, revealing what lies behind the façades of the Wallen.
The catalogue also includes stills from a video installation that is part of the exhibition 'De Wallen' by Dana Lixenberg at the City Archives of Amsterdam.

Dana Lixenberg (b.1964-) is a Dutch photographer and filmmaker. She lives and works in New York and Amsterdam.
Lixenberg pursues long-term projects on individuals and communities on the margins of society.
Her books include Jeffersonville, Indiana (2005), The Last Days of Shishmaref (2008), Set Amsterdam (2011), De Burgemeester/The Mayor (2011), and Imperial Courts (2015).
In 2017 Lixenberg won the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize for her publication Imperial Courts (Roma, 2015).
In 2021 she was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society.

www.amsterdam.nl/- - -/exhibitions/dana-lixenberg/
en.wikipedia.org:_Dana_Lixenberg

David Pratt is a Scottish journalist, documentary filmmaker, photographer, and author who has won Scottish Press awards as Scottish Journalist of the Year, Reporter of the Year, and Feature Writer of the Year.
As well as being a war reporter his photography has featured in his 2020 documentary Pictures from Afghanistan and 2022 documentary Pictures from Iraq. He is the author of Intifada – The Long Day of Rage (2006).

Pratt grew up in a working-class family in the Hillhouse scheme near Hamilton alongside his brother Ken. As a teenager he was a keen mountaineer.
He has an honours arts degree from the Glasgow School of Art. After graduation, Pratt briefly taught art and design history before moving to journalism.

Pratt has reported on wars in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Cambodia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Haiti; he has reported on the Iranian revolution, Iraq, Libya, the Nicaraguan revolution, and events in Gaza, Russia, Somalia, Sudan, and Syria.
He was a staff reporter for The Herald, but has also contributed to Agence France Presse, Al-Jazeera,
the BBC, Channel 4 News, The National, The New York Times, Reuters, Svenska Dagbladet, The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, Sunday National, and The Sunday Times.

In 2019, his war photography appeared in an exhibition 'Only With the Heart'.

en.wikipedia.org:_David_Pratt_(Scottish_journalist)
www.davidpratt.co.uk

Donna Leon does what Georges Simenon can no longer do: her commissioner is not called Maigret but Brunetti, and the setting is not Paris but Venice.

Marrative: On an early spring morning, a violent confrontation takes place on a square in Venice between two teenage gangs. One of the boys who is arrested is the son of Dario Monforte, whom Guido Brunetti is 'interested' in at the time.
Brunetti discovers that Monforte was publicly celebrated 20 years earlier for his heroic actions at an Italian military facility in Iraq. Yet Monforte never received a medal, neither from the carabinieri nor from the Italian government. This apparent contradiction and the brutal attack on one of Brunetti’s colleagues by a possible gang member raise questions.
It gradually becomes clear that Monforte is trying everything to divert the police’s attention from his son, and indirectly from himself.

Donna Leon seems to move even slower in this novel; it starts with youth gangs going at each other in Venice. Commissario Griffoni escorts a youth home who isn't claimed by his parent(s) during the night.

On Wikipedia I found no Italian involvement of Nasiriyah (also spelled Nassiriya or Nasiriya), is a city in Iraq, the capital of the Dhi Qar Governorate. It lies on the lower Euphrates, about 360 km (225 miles) south-southeast of Baghdad, near the ruins of the ancient city of Ur.
It is where Dario Monforte received his injuries during a terrorist attack.

The narrative has a focus on youth culture, their communication, their own 'language' and identity, their violence. Dottor Bocchese, of the forensic team, is a victim of such a crime. Their is a much lesser role voor Brunetti's family (for Paolo only what she serves him as food), Vianello is elsewhere. The main investigative team is Brunetti with Griffoni, and in a different role Bócchese, Elettra Zorzi (referred to as "signorina Elettra" as allways) in a lesser role.
It was fun to find mention of 'Caltanissetta', a city we briefly visited a few weeks ago, as a Maffia base..

en.wikipedia.org: Guido_Brunetti_novels
www.uitgeverijcargo.nl/boek/de-vuurproef/ (NL)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasiriyah

Love New York? Of course you do. Now, celebrate all of the city’s charisma, glamour, and grit in our blockbuster collection of New York photography, charting the history and many wonders of the Greatest City in the World.
The Big Apple is featured by the works of photographers of Margaret Bourke-White, Berenice Abbott, Ruth Orkin, and many, many more.

The city’s fluctuating fortunes are all represented, from the wild nights of the Jazz Age to the hedonistic disco era, from to the grim days of the Depression to the devastation of 9/11 and its aftermath, as its brokenhearted but unbowed citizens picked up the pieces.

New York’s remarkable rise, reinvention, and growth are not just the tale of a city, but the story of a nation, From the building of the Brooklyn Bridge to the immigrants arriving at Ellis Island; from the slums of the Lower East Side to the magnificent art deco skyscrapers. The urban beach of Coney Island and the sleaze of Times Square; the vistas of Central Park and the crowds on Fifth Avenue. The streets, the sidewalks, the chaos, the energy, the ethnic diversity, the culture, the fashion, the architecture, the anger, and the complexity of the city are all laid out in this kaleidoscopic book.

While I bought this book for the photos, I very much appreciated the text about this fascinating city!

www.taschen.com/en

Mattie Boom, curator of photography at the Rijksdienst Beeldende Kunst (RBK), describes here the development of techniques and visual forms, using 134 examples from the Rijksdienst collection, which largely consists of the Hartkamp collection, one of the largest privately assembled photograph collections in the world.
This collection was acquired by the State in 1984 and included more than 60.000 photographs and 6.000 books and magazines.
The RBK manages this collection together with other already acquired photo collections.
Photography, it is evident, is a medium with unlimited visual potential.

Letizia Battaglia (b.05Mar1935 – d.13Apr2022) was an Italian photographer and photojournalist.
Although her photos document a wide spectrum of Sicilian life, she is best known for her work on the Mafia.
A documentary film based on her life, Shooting the Mafia, was released in 2019.

Battaglia was born in Palermo, Sicily.
At the age of 14, her father became irate when she took interest in a boy, and sent her away to boarding school. Letizia wanted to escape and had ambitions to write. So at 16, she married Franco Stagnitta, who owned his own coffee business and came from a good family.
She believed he would allow her to continue her studies, but he wanted her to be a conventional stay-at-home wife, so her writing ambition was somewhat thwarted.
Unhappy in her marriage, she eventually took another lover, though her husband shot at her when he found out. She took their daughters and moved to Milan.

Battaglia took up photojournalism after her divorce in 1971, while raising three daughters.
She picked up a camera when she found that she could better sell her articles if they were accompanied by photographs and slowly discovered a passion for photography.
In 1974, after a period in Milan during which she met her long-time partner Franco Zecchin, she returned to Sicily to work for the left-wing L'Ora newspaper in Palermo until it was forced to close in 1992.

She took some 600.000 images as she covered the territory for the paper.
She documented the ferocious internal war of the Mafia and its assault on civil society. She sometimes found herself at the scene of four or five different murders in a single day...
Battaglia and Zecchin produced many of the iconic images that have come to represent Sicily and the Mafia beyond Italy.

en.wikipedia.org:_Letizia_Battaglia

Franco Zecchin (b. Milan, 1953 - ) moved to Palermo in 1975 and began his career as a photojournalist at the daily newspaper L’Ora, with special attention to the influential mafia organization Cosa Nostra.

The committed photographer focused his lens on attacks, funerals, protests, and the everyday reality of people trying to live in the shadow of this threat.
Zecchin's photos reflect an island in crisis and the resilience of its inhabitants.
The photographer is regarded as one of the most important visual chroniclers of the bloody mafia era in Sicily.

https://francozecchin.com/

'I have read quite a lot. That's nothing to boast about, because I only read for my own pleasure. You should try that too. Here's how it goes: you open a book, read a few pages, and if you don't like it, you close the book again.'

For ten years, Sylvia Witteman wrote about books in the Dutch daily newspaper De Volkskrant. Childhood nostalgia (Save Yourself. A handbook for those who are young and want to stay so), curiosities (USSR. 100 questions and answers from 1983), old gold like Emants and Couperus, the evergreens like Reve and – always – Carmiggelt, 'because I am intertwined with that man like ivy with an oak.'

Due to her omnivorous appetite for reading and steady browsing in bookstores, online, and in street libraries, over the years she subjected an improbably wide range of old loves, discoveries, and chance finds to her candid judgment. Make use of it!
I always enjoy her wit in writing, and so was this book again a great joy for me to read.

NL.wikipedia.org::Sylvia_Witteman

Sicilian thriller, by Cristina Cassar Scalia

After the thrilling 'Zwart Zand' (EN:Black Sand), Cristina Cassar Scalia takes the reader back to the island of Sicily in 'De Nachtvissers' (EN:The Night Fishermen), for a second thriller featuring Commissioner Vanina Guarrasi as the protagonist.

It is half past three in the night. Pediatrician Manfredi Monterreale and journalist Sante Tammaro see from their fishing boat, high above the rocks, the vague outline of a man. He drags a heavy suitcase behind him and throws it among the rocks into the sea.
A few hours later, Commissioner Vanina Guarrasi receives an anonymous phone call: a woman's voice confesses to being involved in the murder of a young girl in a villa by the sea.
Both events turn out to be connected, and Vanina uncovers a treacherous plot that surpasses her worst imagination.

Cristina Cassar Scalia graduated in Medicine and Surgery at the University of Catania; she lives in Aci Castello where she practices as an ophthalmologist.
She made her debut in 2014 with the novel La seconda estate (translated in France and awarded the Capalbio Opera Prima Prize, which was followed the following year by Le stanze dello scirocco, set in Sicily.
In her novels (De Nachtvissers is the 2nd novel by her recently -2025- translated into Dutch), especially in those with Vanina Guarrasi as the protagonist, Sicily is central, even if described in a neutral way, so much so that it becomes not a simple background of the events, but a real character, capable of exerting an attractive force towards readers.
I like it too that a list of the main characters is published in front; I read this book while travelling through Sciliy which added a nice touch.
Translated into Dutch by Rianne Aarts & Annemart Pilon.

Wikipedia.org:_Cristina_Cassar_Scalia (EN)

With love from the Morisaki Bookshop / Satoshi Yagisawa - translated by Eric Ozawa
Manilla Press, 2024 (336 pages)

This beautiful, collectable hardback immediately caught my attention in the bookshop I visit regularly. The Japanese frame of mind was immediately recognizable.

A young woman, Takako, lost and heartbroken. Her eccentric, optimist uncle Saturu,His wife Momoko, with a mysterious secret.
Here, in this ramshackle bookshop in the Jimbocho area of Tokyo, these three people will heal their hearts, find connection and overcome loneliness.
Hidden away, the Morisaki Bookshop is a booklover's paradise. On a quiet corner in an old wooden building, the shop is filled with hundreds of second-hand books.
Here is where Takako comes to nurse a broken heart, finding within its crowded shelves books to soothe and uplift her flagging spirits.

Over the course of two novels, 'Days at the Morisaki Bookshop' and 'More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop', Takako and her uncle Satoru discover their similarities and differences, and learn all about life, love and the healing power of books.

Satoshi Yagisawa was born in Chiba, Japan, in 1977. Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, his debut novel, was originally published in 2009 and won the Chiyoda Literature Prize.

en.wikipedia.org:_Days_at_the_Morisaki_Bookshop

Here are a few photos of mine (2018) taken in this book district of Tokyo where it takes place:

The center of Jinbōchō is at the crossing of Yasukuni-dōri and Hakusan-dōri, above Jimbōchō Station
on the Tokyo Metro Hanzōmon Line, Toei Mita Line and Toei Shinjuku Line.

Jinbōchō is officially known (in addresses, etc.) as Kanda-Jinbōchō (神田神保町), and is part of the
former ward of Kanda. In 2025 Time Out named it the coolest neighborhood in the world!

Jimbōchō Book Town is known as Tokyo's center of used-book stores and publishing houses, and
as a popular antique and curio shopping area.

See my JAPAN 2018 REPORTS
en.wikipedia.org:_Kanda-Jinbōchō