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

CURRENT BLOG

After years of absence (withdrawing of sponsors, Covid/Corona) the Fotofestival Naarden (FFN) returned this year to the charming historic town of Naarden-Vesting, albeit on a modest scale.
Only last Octobre people got together in organizing this and from 21March-13April 2025 an Open Call was made to photographers living in The Netherlands to send in photos for the theme of 'HOME'.
A selection of the winners was made on May 1st.
I do hope we may see another edition of FFN Naarden, perhaps in 2027? This at least was a fine restart!

www.fotofestivalnaarden.nl/
www.flickr.com/photos

In UKRAINE, photojournalist Eddy van Wessel documents a raw account of three years of war in Ukraine through (analogue) photography and firsthand testimonies. With decades of experience covering conflict zones, he focuses on what war means for those living through it – the soldiers on the front lines, civilians sheltering in devastated towns and cities, and those forced to flee.
His images capture the visible destruction and the psychological and emotional toll of prolonged violence, making this book a visual and narrative testimony with a complex and layered depiction that is reflecting on the human cost of the largest war in Europe since World War II.
The photobook UKRAINE explores displacement, survival, and the boundaries of humanity in times of crisis. Where does humanity end and inhumanity begin? How do individuals maintain dignity and resilience under constant threat? What does survival look like when basic needs – and life itself – are no longer guaranteed?
Superlatives are deserving here, ranging from much needed war reporting (at personal risk) to splendid photography.
Fine essay by Mustafa Can too. In the back is an index with captions to the relevant photos.

Eddy van Wessel — Ukraine
Book: 24×28 cm / 240 pages / softcover / english
isbn 978-90-835197-3-9

fw-books.nl/product/eddy-van-wessel-ukraine/
eddyvanwessel.com

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism

Imagine a day in the Middle Ages! I experienced this yesterday, June 14th, in the city center of Doesburg changed to the medieval setting such as traditional crafts, livestock, market stalls, camps, and other medieval scenes. reliving the days of the Hanseatic League.

The Hanseatic League was a medieval commercial and defensive network of merchant guilds and market towns in Central and Northern Europe.
Growing from a few North German towns in the late 12th century, the League expanded between the 13th and 15th centuries and ultimately encompassed nearly 200 settlements across 8 modern-day countries, ranging from Tallinn in Estonia in the east, Bergen (Bjørgvin) in Norway to the North to the Netherlands in the west, and extended inland as far as Cologne, the Prussian regions and Kraków, Poland.
The League began as a collection of loosely associated groups of German traders and towns aiming to expand their commercial interests, including protection against robbery.

Dutch cities including Groningen, Kampen, Zwolle, Deventer, Zutphen - also stretching all the way to Brugge in Belgium and London, England.
From written sources originating from the Hanseatic Days, it appears that other cities from Gelre also temporarily belonged to the Hanseatic League, such as Arnhem, Doesburg, and Hattem.
Many Frisian cities also joined the Hanseatic League. All these cities fell under the Western Quarter of the Hanseatic League, of which Cologne was the main city.
The legacy of the Hansa is reflected in several names: the German airline Lufthansa (lit. 'Air Hansa'); F.C. Hansa Rostock, nickamed the Kogge or Hansa-Kogge; Hansa-Park, one of the biggest theme parks in Germany; Hanze University of Applied Sciences in Groningen, Netherlands and much more.

I enjoyed street theater, music, traditional crafts, live animals, market stalls, and other medieval scenes.
Over 500 volunteers in costume transformed the beautiful historic Doesburg into a magnificent
medieval scene.

en.wikipedia.org:_Hanseatic_League
doesburgsehanzefeesten.nl (NL)
See also my STREETPHOTOGRAPHY PAGES : B&W + COLOUR
More on www.flickr.com/photos

'Nature in Holland' was published in collaboration with the Dutch Natuumonumenten Foundation.
Nature and cultural heritage are intrinsically linked at Natuurmonumenten. Martin Kers explores a great many sites and the caption bij Marijke Kers are a pleasure to read.

Natuumonumenten are the owner and manager of much cultural heritage. This includes hedge boundaries, farms, castles, country houses, estates, burial mounds, and water mills. Committed to the preservation of this cultural heritage.
Natuurmonumenten is committed to a nature-rich Netherlands, a.o. dedicated to restoring biodiversity across the country. This is urgently needed, as natural environment in The Netherlands is impoverishing and disappearing.
The Dutch landscape is unique because it is so diverse. At Natuurmonumenten, they want to keep it that way.
When one gives nature space, plant and animal species return. Togetherness can ensure that the Netherlands becomes richer in nature again: filled with singing birds, buzzing insects, and blooming plants. Brought about together with all nature lovers.

www.natuurmonumenten.nl

The Underground Railroad

The Underground Railroad is a historical fiction novel by American author Colson Whitehead, published by Doubleday in 2016.
The alternate history novel tells the story of Cora, a slave in the Antebellum South during the 19th century, who makes a bid for freedom from her Georgia plantation by following the Underground Railroad, which the novel depicts as an actual rail transport system with safe houses and secret routes.
The book was a critical and commercial success, hitting the bestseller lists and winning several literary awards.
The book alternates between the perspective of the lead character, Cora, and chapters told from a different character's perspective. The featured characters are: Ajarry, Cora's grandmother; Ridgeway, a slave catcher; Stevens, a South Carolina doctor conducting a social experiment; Ethel, the wife of a North Carolina station agent; Caesar, a fellow enslaved person who escapes the plantation with Cora; and Mabel, Cora's mother. The chapter locations are: Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Indiana, and (an undefined) 'North'.

Narrative:
Cora is an enslaved person on a plantation in Georgia and an outcast after her mother, Mabel, ran off without her.
Caesar approaches Cora about a plan to flee. Reluctant at first, she eventually agrees as her situation with her master and fellow slaves worsens.
With the help of an inexperienced abolitionist, Cora and Caesar find the Underground Railroad, depicted as a literal underground train system that runs throughout the south, transporting runaways northwards. They take a train to South Carolina.

The Underground Railroad was an organized network of secret routes and safe houses used by freedom seekers to escape to the abolitionist Northern United States and Eastern Canada.
Enslaved Africans and African Americans escaped from slavery as early as the 16th century and many of their escapes were unaided. However, a network of safe houses generally known as the Underground Railroad began to organize in the 1780s among Abolitionist Societies in the North.
It ran north and grew steadily until the Emancipation Proclamation was signed in 1863 by President Abraham Lincoln.

en.wikipedia.org:_The_Underground_Railroad_(novel)
en.wikipedia.org:_Underground_Railroad

The Japanese print was 'discovered' by European artists in the second half of the 19th century and immediately became a much loved collector's item.
The color woodblock print is perhaps the most well-known and recognizable medium in Japanese art. This book places the development of the Japanese print in the dynamic context of early modern Japan: the city culture that, in all its flourishing, vitality, and diversity, served as both the inspiration and source for print art.

Scenes from the popular Kabuki theater, portraits of adored actors and famous courtesans, erotic fantasies, episodes from history and legend, landscapes and cityscapes showed the townspeople not only who they were, but also who they wanted to be.

Constantly referring back to that urban culture, Willem van Gulik discusses in this richly illustrated book the technique, the main genres, and the great masters of Japanese print art, from the second half of the 17th century to well into the 20th century.
He provides a fascinating picture of the medium in his time.
Comprehensive lists of terminology, publisher characteristics, censorship seals, and signatures make this book an extremely useful guide for the collector.

Willem Robert van Gulik was born in Chungking, China in 1944.
I found this dedication in an online .pdf document: "Dedicated to the memory of my father whose early demise, at a moment when I hadjust begun to share his scholarly interests in the field of oriental studies, has prevented me to benefit from his knowledge and prevented him to witness the completion of this
book." (¬ IREZUMI THE PATTERN OF DERMATOGRAPHY IN JAPAN BY W. R. VAN GULIK]
Robert Hans van Gulik (b.09Aug1910 – d.24Sep1967) was a Dutch orientalist, diplomat, musician (of
the guqin), and writer, best known for the Judge Dee historical mysteries, the protagonist of which he borrowed from the 18th-century Chinese detective novel Dee Goong An.

en.wikipedia.org:_Hokusai
en.wikipedia.org:_Hiroshige
en.wikipedia.org:_Tsutaya_Jūzaburō
en.wikipedia.org:_Woodblock_printing

Celebrating Venice: Venetian Color ('Venice in Colour'?), a recent addition to my collection of photobooks and those of Venice in particular.
Photography by Fernando Bertuzzi, text (alas, only in Italian) by Nantas Salvalaggio, commentary on the images by Dino Tonon (in the back pages).
Italy's top photographer Fernando Bertuzzi projects a traditional and true image of Venice.
His desire is to present a Venice that is as close to the detailed and precisely proportioned city as portrayed by artists such as Ponti, Naya, and Canaletto. I found this description for his book 'Dreaming Venice' ('Sognare Venezia', 1999), but it also describes the book I have here.

Lavishly illustrated with full- and double page color photographs of Venice. Fine photography in all seasons of my favourite Italian city!

The Bonte Schaap Festival is a collaboration between BIZ-Centrum Rheden, the ORDS, and the Rhedense Sheep Herd. These organizations have joined forces to set up an event for the village with a regional appeal.The motto of the Bonte Schaap Festival is 'For and by the village of Rheden'.

Shepherdess Cynthia comes with her team of volunteers to shed her Veluwe heath sheep of their fleece.
Furthermore, there are children's activities, street theater, live music, a children's circus, a sports
square with local associations, and a large market.

www.bonteschaapfestival.nl
SEE ALSO MY 'STREETS' GALLERIES: BLACK&WHITE + COLOUR

I regretted it very much that there was no English edition of this catalogue, but this seems to be an irritating habit of the French: they are in a world of their own.
The book starts at Stephen Shore's earliest (B&W) work and follows a timeline (in colour) to his most recent (2021) work, each chapter interspersed with a dialogue between Clèmont Chéroux and Stephen Shore. Hence the importance of the text, which is too much for me to go through Google Translate.
Such a pity.

Stephen Shore (b. 08Oct1947- ) is an American photographer known for his images of scenes and objects of the banal, and for his pioneering use of color in art photography.
His books include 'Uncommon Places' (1982) and 'American Surfaces' (1999), photographs that he took on cross-country road trips in the 1970s.

Books by him which I already had include:
¬ Uncommmon Places, the complete works
¬ American Surfaces
¬ Winslow Arizona
¬ Transparencies | Small Camera Works 1971-1979

www.stephenshore.net
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Shore

Fred Stein was born on 03July1909, in Dresden, Germany. His father, Dr. Leopold Stein, was rabbi of the Dresden Conservative community. He died when Fred was six; his mother managed to provide him with a good education and he attended law school at the University of Leipzig, from which he graduated after three years, in 1933.
He was quick to perceive the threat of Adolf Hitler, and became quite active in the anti-Nazi movement.
In August 1933, Stein married Liselotte (Lilo) Salzburg, the daughter of an eminent Jewish physician.
A close friend had written, urging them to come to Paris, and they left the next day under the pretext of a honeymoon trip.
Paris in the 1930s was a vital art scene. Emigres from all over Europe were drawn there.

Fred Stein was a master of the art of street photography. As an early pioneer of the hand-held camera, he captured emotional (sometimes disturbing, other times moving) moments in the street life of two of the world's great cities: Paris and New York where he lived after fleeing from Nazi Germany.
An earliest batch of his photography was left for safeguarding in The Netherlands but was sadly lost during a bombardment.

Varian Fry was an American journalist who was sent to Marseille in 1940 by the Emergency Rescue Committee (presently the IRC) with $3.000 hidden on him and a list of 200 artists and intellectuals in danger of the approaching German armed forces.
Fred Stein and his family had fled by train to nearby Toulouse.
Fry managed in 13 months, after which things became too dangerous for him, to establish a clandestine escape network and succeeded in sending over two thousand refugees on a route to safety.
Among them Marc Chagall, Hannah Arendt, Max Ernst, André Breton plus Fred Stein his wife Lilo Stein and their infant daughter.

This same immediacy with artists and intellectuals infused his penetrating portraits of the great personalities of the era, among them Albert Einstein, Georgia O'Keeffe, Marc Chagall, or the portraits of Gerda Taro and Robert Capa, recovered in the legendary Mexican Suitcase.
Stein's images are a vital document of the 20th century and an important part of photo history.

Among the museums where his photographs can be found are the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington; the International Center of Photography, New York, the National Portrait Gallery, Washington; The Center for Creative Photography,Tucson; the Musee Carnavalet, Paris; the Jewish Museum, New York.
Stein left behind an existensive and splendid oeuvre which this publication presents comprehensively for the first time.

www.kehrerverlag.com/en/fred-stein-paris-new-york
en.wikipedia.org:_Fred_Stein

Today's visit to brocante market and garden trinkets at Castle Aldendriel.
On Saturday, May 31 and Sunday, June 1, Heerenlanden Events was organizing another pleasant and atmospheric fair at the 15th-century Castle Aldendriel.
We enjoyed the summer's day at this beautiful location in Mill, Noord-Brabant and came away with a few very pleasing purchases.

www.flickr.com/photos: Noord-Brabant

Rochester, New York was home to Eastman Kodak for 125 years until its bankruptcy in 2012.
Alex Webb took photographs of the city with his last rolls of Kodachrome, a no-longer-available, vibrant colour film that can now only be processed as black-and-white …

The resulting photographs, taken during what may be the last days of film as we know it, are a meditation on film, memory, time and the city itself; they have a weathered quality akin to a fading memory.
Alex also took some shots in digital colour, which punctuate the black-and-white work with images in his signature style.

Rebecca Norris Webb, who still uses film for all her work, responded to the medium’s uncertain future by creating a melancholy refrain of colour still-lifes and portraits of Rochester women past and present.
RNW writes: "I prefer working with film and contact sheets, even though I've never liked changin rolls in the rain, not to mention Rochester's late spring snows. What I pariculalrly like is that film leaves something tangible behind - a slip of celluloid that occupied the same space and time and perhaps bad weather as the photographer."

AW writes: "In 2009 Kodak discontinue the production of Kodachrone, the color film that I used almost exclusively for more than 30 years."
These photographs were taken during five trips from April 2012 to April 2013.
Fine photography over 172 pages.

moom.cat/ - /memory-city-the-fading-days-of-film

I enjoyed Palliser's novel The Quincunx immensely, though this was decades ago and maybe I was better suited to comprehend Mr Palliser's style of writing for The Unburied took me down a rabbit hole and I liked it less and less...

Palliser’s busy & complex tale, set around a cathedral in the south of England during the Victorian era (the reign of Queen Victoria, 1837-1901), about an old recluse murdered for his money, and an old friendship that has seen better days. But there are many sideways in the narrative...

The book starts with Editor's Foreword, and he closes in his Afterword on the socalled Courtine Account, written many years after the protagonist Dr Courtine has passed on and as a result of a researcher, Mrs Napier, having written a book on The Thurchester Mystery but has the identity of the murderer wrong. This Editor was a schoolboy during the days of Dr Courtine in Thurchester.
I underestimated the importance of the contents of the Editor's Foreword and had missed the reference to an index of the main characters at the last pages of the book.

The 'I' in the narrative is Dr Edward Courtine, different from the 'I' in the Foreword and Afterword.

Unassuming scholar Courtine, a historian at Oxford, has come to spend a few days before Christmas, 1882, in the ancient town of Thurcester, invited by a friend from his youth, Austin, whom he hasn"t seen in more than 20 years and allowing him to do further research on his studies of King Alfred the Great (King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899).
He hopes to locate a manuscript in the cathedral library that would refute a rival historian on an obscure point in Anglo-Saxon history.
The narrative goes back to the days of King Alfred and a mysterious 'wise man', Wulflac, but the narative also goes back to the history of Thurchester and the days of disputes between the Ritualists and Evangelists which effected the cathedral in Thurchester. Very confusing I thought.

But a hostile greeting and strange behavior from Austin, coupled with introduction to a curious murder in the cathedral several centuries earlier, adds to a confusing narrative... Also because the reader witnesses the thoughts and theories of Dr Courtine, going to and fro.

So Dr Courtine finds himself caught up in present day intrigues as well as ancient. He also grows doubts about his career as a historian living a isolated life seperated from his wife whom he refuses to divorce.
Along with Austin he gets involved as witnesses to the murder mystery of old Mr. Stonex, Thurcester’s reclusive banker.
Then, as if that weren’t enough, a body is found in a wall of the cathedral, the remains of the man believed to have been murdered those several centuries before. This is the mystery Austin refrerred to earlier.
The narrative switches from one timeline to another in history and the present.

Courtine unravels the old mystery but, in an inquest, fails to persuade anyone with his theory about who killed Stonex, leaving the wrong man to be charged. Also his theory, as we find in the Afterword, is not full proof.
The assault on his integrity as a historian and the belief that Austin was involved in the murder, prompts him to leave town sadder but much wiser, content to record his experiences privately for posterity in a sealed Account to be opened when all involved hav passed on.
The Editor, finding the researcher, Mrs Napier's conclusive book not entirely according his memories and travels to Europe and confirms the last survivors have passed on and the sealed Account is opened and read to him, upon which he writes his Afterword and all is revealed...

I have to conclude it was too complex for me!

www.kirkusreviews.com/ /charles-palliser/the-unburied

'How Three Women Rewrote the Story of War'
(2021, Public Affairs www.publicaffairsbooks.com)

I grew up with the Vietnam War, the B-52 bombardments and fighters taking off from aircraft carriers, on the telly. As a child I had no idea of the devastation, simply keen on feeding my interest for military aviation at the time.
During my adult life I kept my interest for the war in South East Asia, read 'the truth' behind the war and the despicable machinations of (American) politics in what the Vietnamese call the American War...
Elizabeth Becker has written with 'You don't Belong Here' (subtitled 'How Three Women Rewrote the Story of War') a remarkably clear and acute history of the Vietnam War via the groundbreaking accomplishments of three remarkable women journalists.

Elizabeth Becker, who has covered war and foreign policy for the Washington Post, NPR, and the New York Times, focuses on the careers of Frances FitzGerald, Kate Webb, and Catherine Leroy, interweaving their stories as they traveled to Vietnam in the mid-1960s.
They led a life of poverty while fighting a heady battle against misogyny and biased opinions for women journalists / war photographers could not be taken seriously in the war zone.. But the quality of their work (and the risks they took) brought them to the surface.

As U.S. involvement was escalating and news organizations continued to send men to chronicle the war, these women paid their own ways and sought out freelance reporting opportunities.
French photojournalist Catherine 'Cathy' Leroy was already a licensed parachutist when she arrived in Saigon in 1966. A year later, she became the first journalist to join in a combat parachute jump, and she gained widespread recognition for her up-close images of soldiers in battle, many published in Life.
Kate Webb was an Australian freelance correspondent who eventually became the United Press International bureau chief in Phnom Penh. After being captured by North Vietnamese troops operating in Cambodia in 1971, Webb made international headlines when premature reports of her death led to a New York Times obituary—before she emerged from captivity several days later...
Francis FitzGerald’s arrival coincided with the Buddhist uprising in South Vietnam in 1966. Realizing the events could serve as “a window into an unsettling truth about Vietnam,” she sought to understand and write about the Vietnamese on their own terms. Her debut book, Fire in the Lake (1972), won the National Book Award and the Pulitzer and Bancroft prizes.
“Leroy, FitzGerald, and Webb were the three pioneers who changed how the story of war was told,” writes Becker. “They were outsiders—excluded by nature from the confines of male journalism, with all its presumptions and easy jingoism—who saw war differently and wrote about it in wholly new ways.”
The author was also present as a journalist in the final years when the war shifted to Cambodia, which adds depth and a riveting personal dimension to the book.
This is one of those rare 5-star graded books I stumbled upon, with a captivating and illuminating perspective on the Vietnam War.
Great read and a keeper for my bookcase!

www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/elizabeth-becker/you-dont-belong-here/
www.foreignaffairs.com/reviews/capsule-review/you-dont-belong-here
en.wikipedia.org:_Catherine_Leroy
en.wikipedia.org:_Kate_Webb
en.wikipedia.org:_Frances_FitzGerald_(journalist)
en.wikipedia.org:_Elizabeth_Becker_(journalist)

In the sizeable photobook 'Holland Winter Wonderland' by Frans Lemmens, the Dutch winter is beautifully depicted in 150 photos of landscapes, nature, skaters, and wildlife.
The Netherlands under a layer of ice, snow, and cold produces impressive images that are timeless.

Due to climate change, the quintessential Dutch winters will eventually belong to the past, or at least become increasingly rare. There is already an atmosphere of nostalgia surrounding the fun of snow and ice.
Photographer Frans Lemmens, who has made his mark in landscape photography in the Netherlands and Africa alongside his partner Marjolijn van Steeden, has captured this in a beautifully published, large-format book.
The more than 150 stunning, colorful (although sometimes almost black-and-white due to the snow) photographs are thematically arranged with chapter titles Winter Fever, The Elfstedentocht, Ice Details, and Animals Surviving in the Wild.
Although it was not strictly necessary (it's all about the depicted atmosphere), the photos come with a short caption in Dutch and English, mentioning the location of the shot, but unfortunately not the date. A contemplative book with tranquil photos, overviews and details; photos that sometimes resemble paintings (like those of a decayed pier at Hindeloopen and of a church on a terp in Hijum).
Browse and appreciate these images of a nearly bygone era.

Frans Lemmens and Marjolijn van Steeden met in Bolivia in 1989. Since then, they have lived and worked together.
For many years they traveled the world making travel reports for many magazines including National Geographic Traveler. They undertook a number of unique expeditions: visiting Antarctica with the Chilean Navy, flying around the world with a Catalina PBY-5A flying boat and crossing the Sahara by camel and on foot with a traditional Tuareg salt caravan...
From 1993 The Netherlands became an important theme in their work. This led to the publication of their successful book ‘Visions of the Netherlands’ (1997).
In 2000, Marjolijn and Frans started a Sahara project which was published as ‘Sahara, Land Beyond Imagination’ (2004).
In 2010 they focussed again on the Netherlands, which has resulted in the books, in collaboration with National Geographic:
• Icons of the Netherlands (2012)
• The Netherlands from the Air (2013)
• The Netherlands at its best (2014)
• Still Holland (2017)

www.franslemmens.com

Jos van Leeuwen provides in this book a typical overview of 30 years of current press photos featuring the relevance of important and sometimes less important events.
The photos might give the impression that The Hague is a 'disaster city.' However, these are always incidents with news value at the moment.
Jos’s photos are taken at night and at odd hours. Day and night, he is ready with his camera to capture (sometimes) shocking events. Many pages feature fires, police in riots and hostage situations, traffic collisions, protests, beached animals, even street killings. Other photos show 'life in the big city'.

The significant news value of his photos is evident from the regular publications in, among others, the Haagsche Courant. People and animals are central to his photos; all pictures reflect his involvement.
Jos collaborates with his wife, Marianne van Leeuwen. Marianne was responsible for the compilation and texts of this photo book.

The copy I have acquired recently includes a letter, dated 14Nov2000, by the Commander of The Hague's Fire Brigade thanking all employees for their coöperation in recent extensive reorganisation while wishing them a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year accompanying this book as present.

A nice document for me to have showing life as we knew it 30+ years ago.

Jos van Leeuwen (b. 22Feb1948 - ) is a Dutch press photographer. He has been active in the region of The Hague since 1964.
On 12Sep1962, Van Leeuwen's first photo was published in the Haagsche Courant. It depicted a traffic accident at Rijswijkseplein.
Van Leeuwen and his wife Marianne grew up at this square, which was then the busiest traffic square in the city. Together, they also had a small supermarket here while Jos worked as a press photographer. When a move was necessary, the press agency Jos van Leeuwen was established, located on Stationsweg. Marianne also worked there by sending photos to international press agencies.
At the age of 75, Van Leeuwen is still active, and the couple has set up their home as an alarm center with a light display and broadcasting system.

nl.wikipedia.org:_Jos_van_Leeuwen (NL)

This travelogue by Thea van Alphen, created based on notes with pen and brush in the author's diary,
attempts to provide a picture of the journey made along the ancient Silk Road.
Not only are the historical cities, cultures and places described, providing an educational read of the 30.000 km long journey that traveled through mountains, deserts, and steppe-like landscapes.
In addition, the reader learns about the incredible events that befell the participants when it turned out in Beijing that the travel agency was in bankruptcy...
They were left to their own devices and had to organize the long journey back themselves.

With the help of some friends in the Netherlands, who did everything they could to make the return trip possible for them, they eventually made it home safely.
An amazing read, what an adventure, not in the least due to the acrimonious relations dividing the group in camps.
I also enjoyed Van Alphens fine illustrations, distinctive and a unique feature in this book.
The book was a project by the Lions Group Lemmer, who helped Thea and her group after splitting up at that time with their problems in China and Mongolia, pulling them home as it were.

'Cowboys Don’t Do Lunch: The Photographs of Herb Cohen' is a superbly produced modest-sized photobook, hardcover with 160 pages by publisher Oro Editions (2018).
This book features impressive photography of the last of the real cowboys of Cave Creek, Arizona from when the area was in transition from a full-time cattle ranching community to an incorporated town.
The indigenous people are not forgotten here, not just white Americans I must add.

More than 500 slides and 400-500 prints and negatives comprise the archive of this amateur photographer who came from New York to live in the Desert Foothills in the early 1970s. Enamored of this community, Cohen’s lens captured the town’s eccentric inhabitants of the time.
Without knowing it, this avid cameraman, who once attended a class with photography icon Ansel Adams, had seized upon the true west.

Despite the rapid modernization of life in the 20th Century, through the 1970s the inhabitants of this community remained relatively unchanged in their mannerisms and way of life.
Herb Cohen was invited by the people he photographed to be a participant in their lives. In addition, he also was equally welcomed into families on the Navajo Reservation.
Based on these connections Cohen captured images few had access to at the time.
His photos reveal the historical and cultural significance of the people that settled these regions.
There are shots of people and places no longer here.
Cohen became fully involved with his subjects – the cowboys and residents of the Foothills and the Navajo natives. All were his friends.

Brilliant photography and impressive document of a disappearing way of life!

goffbooks.com/ /cowboys-dont-do-lunch
monovisions.com/cowboys-dont-do-lunch
sonorannews.com/2017/10/10/images-capture-true-west

A particular nice, hardback edition (2011)

Venice,Italy could well be my favourite city abroad and I love Donna Leon's books for it, perhaps more for walking the city with Commissario Guido Brunetti rather than the meandering style of his investigation.
Though there are some signs of a struggle, the medical examiner rules that a widow died of a heart attack. Brunetti can't shake the feeling that something or someone may have triggered her heart attack. With the help of Inspector Vianello and the ever-resourceful Signorina Elettra, perhaps Brunetti can get to the truth and find some measure of justice.

Donna Leon (born September 29, 1942, in Montclair, New Jersey) is an American author of a series of crime novels set in Venice and featuring the fictional hero Commissario Guido Brunetti.

www.goodreads.com/ -drawing-conclusions
en.wikipedia.org:_Donna_Leon
en.wikipedia.org:_Guido_Brunetti_novels

On May 9, 10, and 11, 2025, the Historical Festival Almelo took place again in the Schelfhorstpark in Almelo.
Visited this unique event, enjoyed a varied program for young and old.
The highlight of the festival is the Battle of Ruigenrode, where re-enactors recreate a battlefield in Napoleonic style with the necessary cannon fire. During the festival, you can visit o.a. the tent camp.
In addition, a special Children's Square was set up with various activities, plus several music performances and workshops.
All activities, of course, have a historical touch. Really enjoyed myself!

More pix @www.flickr.com/photos/

I didn't like J.K. Rowling's 'The Casual Vacancy', hated it and didn't get past the first 200 pages before I binned it. But I do like her Cormoran Strike writing!
I watched a series of C.B. Strike a few years ago, but unfortunately the follow ups did not make onto the telly in my country. 'Career of Evil' (2015) is the first book I read on the Strike series, out of sequence, will try to get my hands on the first two: 'The Cuckoo's Calling' (2013) and 'The Silkworm' (2014).

Cormoran Strike is a series of crime fiction novels written by British author J. K. Rowling, under the pen name Robert Galbraith.
The story chronicles the cases of the fictional British private detective Cormoran Strike and his partner Robin Ellacott. Seven novels have so far been published in a planned series of ten!

Robin Ellacott first showed up at hard-living private eye Cormoran Strike’s office as a temp, but by the end of their second big case ('The Silkworm', 2014), she’d become indispensable as a fellow investigator. As this 3rd book opens, she’s arriving at work off Charing Cross Road and accepts a package from a deliveryman, thinking it’s a shipment of favors for her upcoming wedding to Matthew, the jealous fiance who disapproves of her job.
When she opens it, though, she’s horrified to find a woman’s leg...
Someone seems to be using Robin to get to her boss, who's missing a leg himself, having lost it in an explosion in Afghanistan.
Strike can think of 4 men, right off the top of his head, who would be capable of such a horrific thing: the stepfather he thinks killed his mother with a heroin overdose; a famous mobster; and two sick bastards he tangled with when he was an Army investigator.

When I read about Robin I have a/ the actress Holliday Grainger on my mind's eye and b/ she is for me
a more pleasing, friendly (albeit headstrong) character to read about than Cormoran Strike...

www.kirkusreviews.com/ /robert-galbraith/career-of-evil/
en.wikipedia.org:_J._K._Rowling

Rob and Petra Poliste live in the east of The Netherlands, so no doubt not far fromAlmelo.
Rob is a licensed falconer recognized by the ministry and holds a falconry license. This means, among other things, that Rob is allowed to hunt with a hawk and a peregrine falcon.
Since 2005, they have started keeping (and training of possible) birds of prey and owls. They care for
their birds with a lot of love and consider it a privilege to be able to work with these birds.
It was great fun to see some of the birds land on some of the spectators (and to take in the educational commentary).

www.valkenvlucht.nl
More https://www.flickr.com/photos/

The work of Issei Suda (b.24Apr1940 – d.07Mar2019) is distinct in contemporary avant-garde Japanese photography for its celebration of the beauty of the everyday.
His black and white pictures reflect on apparent banality of urban life, capturing ‘the little surprises usually ignored in our world’: the shadow of a figure, the shapes of the street, the expressions on stranger's faces.
Issei Suda shows the tensions between old and new Japan, visual traditions of Japanese culture versus emerging western fashion, advertising and leisure.

Suda dropped out of Toyo University in 1961 and entered Tokyo College of Photography, from which he graduated in 1962.[4]
From 1967 to 1971, Suda worked as the cameraman of the theatrical group Tenjō Sajiki, under Shūji Terayama. He worked as a freelance photographer from 1971.
His first photobook, Fūshi kaden, was named after a treatise by Zeami Motokiyo; it won a Photographic Society of Japan newcomer's award in 1976.
His fourth, Ningen no kioku, won the Domon Ken Award in 2014.
Suda was a professor at Osaka University of Arts.

thamesandhudson.com/Issei_Suda
en.wikipedia.org:_Issei_Suda

American Photography is a captivating journey through the rich and multifaceted history of photography in the United States. Since its inception in 1839, photography has been deeply woven into the fabric of American society, shaping how people see themselves and the world.

This book offers a sweeping portrait of the nation through the critical lenses of iconic photographers such as Diane Arbus, Robert Frank, Nan Goldin, Andres Serrano, Andy Warhol and Carleton Watkins, capturing America in all its complexity – its dreams, landscapes, and people.
From the early daguerreotypes of frost flowers on a windowpane to the evocative works of Paul Strand, Charles Sheeler, Sally Mann, Dawoud Bey and Sarah Sense, American Photography traces the evolution of the medium as an art form.

It also illuminates photography’s presence in everyday life: family portraits, advertisements, postcards and even record covers reflect how the medium has become an intrinsic part of American culture. Exploring themes like the American Dream and the shifting social landscape, this book reveals how photographers have chronicled, questioned and celebrated the nation’s identity across generations.

www.rijksmuseumshop.nl/nl/american-photography

Icelandic crime fiction

'Ik Zie Je' (Lok, lok og læs, 2021) is the first book in the Karólína & Týr series. At this time it doesn't seem to have an English translation.
The Dutch translation is by Willemien Werkman (Cargo Amsterdam, 2024).

The possible English translation would be 'I see you'.
The narrative starts in suitable fashion when a friendly neighbour of the converted farm in question knocks on the door somewhere on a remote fjord in Iceland. What he finds there is so horrible and sickening that he literally vomits...
This is the beginning of a search for one or more perpetrators of gruesome murders. Policeman Týr and pathologist Idunn lead the investigation, but the young police officer Karólina also discovers that the investigation is not as simple as it seems.
For Týr, the investigation also gets a personal touch when he hears the truth about his past.

In addition, there is the storyline seen from the au pair of the murdered family. With her the reader travels back to the time before the murder and how her outlook on the family here grows and changes.
All kinds of inexplicable things happen such as things that disappear and reappear, while stormy winter weather and a hateful relationship with another farming neighbour add to the atmosphere.
And what should the reader think of a basement that smells strange? Why did the two previous au pairs ended their jobs here after only a brief stay?
Yrsa Sigurdardottir presents more than enough possible suspects, but whether the perpetrator is among them is the question.

Vilborg Yrsa Sigurðardóttir (b.1963) is an Icelandic writer of both crime novels and children's fiction. She has been writing since 1998. H
er début crime novel was translated into English by Bernard Scudder. The central character in her crime novels was Thóra Gudmundsdóttir (Þóra Guðmundsdóttir), a lawyer. She since seems to have moved on to Karólína & Týr series.
Yrsa has also written for children, and won the 2003 Icelandic Children's Book Prize with Biobörn.
She is married with two children, and she has a career as a civil engineer.

en.wikipedia.org:_Yrsa_Sigurdardottir

The annual World Press Photo Contest recognizes and celebrates the best photojournalism and documentary photography produced over the last year.
Selected from 59.320 entries, exciting to see the winners of the 68th annual World Press Photo Contest!

Amid 2024’s fast-changing political and media landscape, the award-winning images invite viewers to look beyond the news cycle and engage with both prominent and overlooked stories from across the world.
They showcase struggle and defiance, but also human warmth and courage—visually stunning works
that draw the spectator deeper into the narratives behind the headlines.
Selected by an independent international jury for their visual quality, storytelling, and commitment to diverse representation, this enriching collection highlights the power of photojournalism and documentary photography, offering space for reflection in times of urgency.

The 42 winners were selected by an independent jury out of 59.320 entries by 3.778 photographers from 141 countries.
Sad to see list of 'the fallen' reporting on war, repression and dishonesty growing longer and longer...

www.worldpressphoto.org/contest/2025
More images on /www.flickr.com/photos

Terra, 2019 (5th edition, 2024 ). Design: Akihiro Nakayama
| Illustrations: Taku Bannai | Photography: Shohki Eno |

'This is Japan' is the ultimate introduction to Japan (i.m.o.). The original title is: 'The Little Book of Japanese Living', my Dutch edition was translated by Marian Lameris.

Yutaka Yazawa inspires with short stories about the best his country has to offer - from design and food to philosophy and family life.
Japan is a multifaceted country full of old-fashioned customs and rituals, as well as modern architecture and gigantic cities full of technology.
In this book, Yutaka Yazawa talks about the different aspects of Japan. What is there to see, what can you eat and what is life like as a Japanese? This book discusses it all in a pleasing concise style.

In the land of the rising sun, tradition and innovation go hand in hand. Modern architecture and trendy fashion in megacities like Tokyo and Yokohama coexist with centuries-old ceremonies that glorify the natural and spiritual world.
Yazawa tells about their background and significance in 8 chapters: regions of Japan + Why the Japanese are the way they are + Culture, Art & Style + At the table + Countrylife + Home Life + Family Life and Milestones + Holidays & Celebrations.

This handy book, illustrated with beautiful photos and drawings, takes you to the land of kimonos, cherry blossoms and kintsugi, but also shows where groundbreaking manga, new whiskeys and revolutionary robots are produced.

I'm learning more and more about Japan, but I've picked up new things here often enough through this book. On the other hand, one could say some small things are missing in the content...
For example, kawaii (cuteness) is mentioned in one sentence, while that is such a large aspect of the country! The more geeky side is less highlighted, but that can be explained because Yutaka himself is
not a big fan of geeky things (in the introduction the author explains he isn't always 100% objective and follows his look on things).

I seldom rate a book with 5 stars *****, but here it is well deserved!

www.goodreads.com/ - -the-little-book-of-japanese-living

FoMu.be/en/exhibitions/lee-miller-in-print
en.wikipedia.org:_Lee_Miller
More on my Travelogue 'Belgium april 2025'

Tempelman presents here a book about this fear of missing out in life, about FOMO. And yes, and a book about bucketlists. Because that's something people like too, planning ahead for their ambitions to find fulfillment.
The bucket list. When did it arise? The things you absolutely must have done before you die.
Seeing Rome (Naples?) and then dying, how old is that, what should be on your bucket list, why there are things that have to be done before you die, shouldn't you just live before you die..?

Perhaps you would like to finish the U.S.A cycle by John Dos Passos, or you would like to discuss everyday things with your daughter one more time on a sultry starry night in the backyard, but a bucket list that can be checked off in its entirety on any day of the week has no tension, no excitement, and without tension it is not possible.
Because a bucket list should not be commonplace, nor is it the intention to be completely unfeasible.

In The Art of Missing Out, Tempelman focuses on the FOMO type that we know as the traveler. He calls them 'fellow travellers'. The traveler wants to be everywhere he is not, the traveler always thinks that the grass will be just a little greener across the hills far away.
There is something good about the fact that Tempelman has limited himself to travelers. This is less about people who limited their travels to 'vacation', although many modern young people also strive for 'nirvana' or something 'sublime' off their bucketlist in their few weeks off work and away from homely routine.

The more prosperous people are and the more opportunities they have, the more they can become aware of lack in their lives. Whereas in the past people resigned themselves to the routine of a life cycle, now many want to get 'what's in it' out of life, experience 'what really matters', become part of what Norman Mailer called 'the sweet of life'.
Terms such as 'bucket list' and 'fomo' can now also be found in Dutch dictionaries.

One of the guises of modern man who is looking for fulfillment is The Traveler.
Based on the behavior of travelers, Volkskrant journalist Olaf Tempelman maps out what privileged people miss in their lives, and where modern societies fall short. All over the world he sees travelers searching for love, enlightenment, enthusiasm, security and more.
He also sees that a lot passes by people who don't want to miss anything...
In a book in which he mixes travel impressions (he was stationed abroad in various countries during his career as a 'foreign correspondent') with contemplations, he argues for the art of missing.
His style of writing here is rather eclectic, meandering, which took me a while to get accustomed to as my brain has a different 'default setting' (very data driven).
And yes indeed, Tempelman has a good point to make, paradises don't exist and fulfillment can also be found closer to home and one doesn't necessarily need to travel to exotic cultures on the other side of the globe. A pleasant and useful read.

Olaf Tempelman (b.1971) studied journalism, political science and Romanian. From 2000 to 2008 he was a correspondent for daily newspaper De Volkskrant in Eastern Europe, based in Bucharest.

volkskrant.nl/ - /de-kunst-van-het-missen
www.volkskrant.nl/columns/Olaf-Tempelman (NL)

Aaron Falk #2: Force of Nature

Jane Harper (b.1980) is a British Australian author known for her crime novels, including The Dry, Force of Nature and The Lost Man, all set in rural Australia.
Harper's second thriller is set in the thickly forested mountains north-east of Melbourne, again featuring Federal Agent Aaron Falk.

Five women reluctantly pick up their backpacks and start walking along a muddy track. Only four come out on the other side.
The hike through the rugged Giralang Ranges is meant to take the office colleagues out of their air-conditioned comfort zone and encourage teamwork and resilience. At least, that's what the corporate retreat website advertises.
Federal Police investigator Aaron Falk and his colleague Carmen have a keen interest in the whereabouts of the missing hiker, Alice Russell. Because Alice knew secrets, about the company she worked for and the people she worked with. The four returning women tell Falk a tale of fear, violence and fractured trust during their days in the remote Australian bushland.
And as Falk delves into the disappearance of Alice, he begins to suspect some dangers ran far deeper than anyone knew.

www.goodreads.com/ ---force-of-nature
en.wikipedia.org:_Jane_Harper

This year it is 80 years ago that the Netherlands was liberated; after five years, the Second World War came to an end. This is celebrated throughout the country as a National Holiday on May 5th.
In Velp, the Allies entered the village on Monday 16 April, in its drive east this region was subsequently liberated, hence the Liberation Drive this weekend, on April 19th.
I stood in De Steeg and also shot a few closing images in Rheden a bit later.

On 16 April 1945, the seven villages of the municipality of Rheden were liberated from the German occupiers from the direction of Arnhem and Brummen.
For almost five years, the followers of Adolf Hitler ruled our country. This liberation is commemorated every five years with a so-called Liberation Ride.
A procession of original army vehicles from the Second World War drives through the villages, where all kinds of festivities are organized around the commemoration of the liberation in 1945.
In the context of 80 years of liberation, the liberation ride will therefore be held this year, on Saturday, April 19, 2025.
On that day, more than 60 original war vehicles will drive a route from Doesburg (start 9.30 am) to end point Rheden (16:00).
Riding with the caravan are the Seaforth Highlanders, the Starlight Sisters and the Band of 4 Brothers, who perform in the villages during stops.
The local Orange associations take care of the reception in each village. The route follows the route of the liberators from 1945, starting out in Doesburg.
Local theater associations have been asked to ride on the vehicles during the parades as 'liberated residents of 1945'.

bevrijdingsrit.nl
www.flickr.com/photos for more images
Also more on my 2025 Streetphotos

The Arnhem War Museum first opened its doors to the general public on 27 May 1994. What once started as a hobby has now taken shape in a unique museum, both on a local and regional level. War museums are located in various places around the world that house collections focused on certain periods or specific events from that time.

In addition to a general overview, the Arnhem War Museum mainly gives the most accurate possible picture of what happened in Arnhem and the surrounding area during the war years. The purpose of this private museum is to keep the memory of this important episode in history alive and to preserve a unique collection for posterity.

The collection is made possible by private individuals who are in possession of unique materials. The museum regularly receives donations of such materials and objects from people who would like their donation to be exhibited with love and care to a wide audience.
These donations contribute to the survival of the museum and to the increase of knowledge about the war years among young and old. We therefore ensure that the memory of the World War Two is secured and cherished forever for the future and future generations.
It regularly happens that people come to the museum or send an e-mail with photos of various materials from this period. Not only from the Netherlands, Germany or England, but also from other countries that were involved in the Second World War.

www.arnhemsoorlogsmuseum.com/het-museum
More images on www.flickr.com

On Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th , the Arnhem War Museum was organising a militaria fair.
A visit to the museum does cost the normal entrance fee, minus €2 per person for this market.
The Arnhem War Museum is located at Kemperbergerweg 780 (Arnhem), with plenty of parking space.

www.arnhemsoorlogsmuseum.com
More images on www.flickr.com

Otto Snoek has been photographing in his hometown of Rotterdam for more than ten years but for his book 'Ukrainian Crossroads' he visited the Ukrainian cities and the countryside various times during 1989-1992, the last years of communism.
He photographed the Ukrainians not only in their malaise, but also as a proud people, courageously resigned to their fate.

Otto Snoek first visited eastern Ukraine in 1989. By 1992 he had visited the country 6 times.
Snoek documented a poor and desperate country and presented the resulting work as his graduation project.
During that period of travel and work, he laid the foundations for his continuing career as a photographer. Snoek became especially fascinated by public spaces that function as junctions.
The images in 'Ukrainian Crossroads' reveals a proud but poor nation, with people trying to make something of their lifes.
With an epilogue by Sana Valiulina.

www.ideabooks.nl/ -otto-snoek-ukrainian-crossroads
huismarseille.nl/en/exhibitions/otto-snoek
www.ottosnoek.com

Over the years I have read many books on China. It fascinates me and I have visited that humongous country during the past decades a few times.
Annette Nijs’s China met andere ogen [EN: China through different eyes] is about customs, doing business and killing a few obstinate views that describe China as an imminent danger and in fact a source of opportunities.
Although already published in 2009, I still recommend this book to many who have an interest in China.
The contents has an appealing perspective: China as a role model for success and happiness! Also, the pictures in the book, made by ‘streetologist’ Reineke Otte, are real pieces of art that provide insights into daily Chinese life and illustrate the views of the author in a clear & candid way.

In her book, Annette Nijs completely sets aside the more common discussions on human rights, corruption, freedom of speech, labour safety and environmental damage. In her work as executive director of the China Europe International Business School in China, as Vice-Minister for Education and her work for Shell, which have enabled her to travel to China frequently, she learnt a lot and she has read extensively about China, its people and its culture. In doing so, she has seen the downsides of China, but was more intrigued by the country’s many positive aspects.
She does not shut her eyes to the negative issues, but it is not the main focus of her work.
Instead, China met andere ogen sets out to demonstrate the positive aspects of Chinese culture, highlighting certain values and styles of government policy, conducting business and general life philosophy. She provides facts (plenty statistics!) as well as details on systems and models of Chinese society, adding to our theoretical knowledge of China.

The book is divided into three parts.
In the first part, the author discusses Chinese state government. She explains the benefits of bottom-up consultative democratic process, which is common practice in China.
In the second part, the author discusses how Chinese business is conducted. She asserts that, in general, Chinese business follows the Chinese economy model based on the idea of “think nationwide, act local”. She argues that Chinese managers are holistic thinkers, so they take a wide and complex range of factors into account.
Business in China is based on mutual trust, which truly stimulates successful cooperation.

The third and final part of the book focuses on the art of living.
Annette Nijs starts by explaining how the sense of wanting to enjoy luxury really provides chances for Chinese markets. If people enjoy having and using luxury products and want to buy them, then the result is much higher demand, for which the companies, then, in turn need to provide. She goes on to describe the deep respect the Chinese have for their culture and that they are very proud of their legacy, one which is deeply rooted in the way people live and lead their lives. In particular, she points out the Chinese traditions of loyalty and social responsibility, old Confucian virtues.

This excellent informative book provides a more balanced perspective on China. We all know about the challenges China is facing, but it is worthwhile to learn more about these valuable assets Chinese culture can offer.
The full review by Lianne Baaij can be read on below link.

www.globalchinainsights.nl/articles/china-through-different-eyes
en.wikipedia.org:_Annette_Nijs

Fine photo book about modern Arnhem.
Photographer Cees Tettero was commissioned by the municipality of Arnhem to portray the capital of Gelderland. He sampled the city for six months, observed the people of Arnhem and composed this fascinating picture book about the city while shifting and searching.

From the east coast to the west coast, national parks, spectacular landscapes, blues and jazz, road trips by car, train and bicycle and special encounters...
Inspiring and adventurous!
Travel journalist Bas van Oort has been coming to America for almost fifteen years. For this book, he wrote stories about blues in Memphis and Mississippi, about Wyoming in winter, the bayou in Louisiana and much more. He takes the night train through Texas, walks along the coast of Oregon and stays at a ranch in South Dakota.

Bas van Oort is a travel journalist, writer and photographer and he writes for De Standaard and National Geographic Traveler, among others. Van Oort's reports on Flanders have been awarded the Press Prize for Tourism Flanders & Brussels several times in recent years.
Previous books of his are (a.o.) Expedition Backyard (ANWB), This is Flanders (Lannoo) and Kingfishers (Das Mag).

Behind the Mountains is his first book for FJORD and it is part one of a series of travel stories. Part two is To the North and is about Scandinavia, the book contains stories about Denmark, Sweden and Norway. In part three, he takes you to the United States: in America in all states, he shows how diverse and beautiful the country is, from the Oregon Coast Trail to Lousiana.
More books by Bas are expected to be published with Fjord in the coming years. Very nice publications!

uitgeverijfjord.com/ - /bas-van-oort
bas-van-oort-amerika-in-alle-staten (NL)

Theme 2025: 750 Years of Amsterdam
In 2025, The Sculpture Garden's sand sculpture exhibition will be entirely dedicated to the celebration of 750 years of Amsterdam.
With this theme, we see the rich history come to life, as well as culture and iconic moments of Holland's capital city in more than 150 spectacular sand sculptures.
From the Golden Age to contemporary highlights, each sculpture tells a unique story that will surprise young and old alike.
A journey of discovery through time for all ages.
Recommended visit in Garderen on the Veluwe (Gelderland) and take a time travel through 750 years of Amsterdam's splendor, bringing art and history together!

zandsculpturen.nl/en/
Series of 48 images on Flickr.com

The history of life on earth and human brought to life on a 28-metre-long embroidered tapestry 'Het Kleedje' from Wilp, painstakingly made between 15Oct1953-01Mar1959.
Children and grandchildren of the makers, Albert Daan & Tiets Daan-Stiemens, together with the Walburgis Church, exhibit the 65-year-old family heirloom in the tradition of Tapis de Bayeux: the cloth showing a history lesson of the 1066 invasion of Britain by William the Conqueror.

"28 meters long, 45 cm wide, hanging on a rail against the wallpaper between the windows and the ceiling, designed and drawn by Albert, embroidered by Tietske with dmc thread on gray linen between 15 October '53 and 1 March '59, – these are the sober and exact data.
How many sentiments would have to be put into words, in order to make clear something of all the joy and creative urge, inspiring activity, expectation – and quiet happiness, that accompanied the execution of this work!" – from Tiets' logbook. The cloth shows the history from the origin of the earth to contemporary history in the 60s.

The Walburgiskerk, locally known as Walburgkerk or Walburgskerk, which is a church at the 's-Gravenhof in Zutphen, the oldest part of which dates from around 1100.
In 2018, the eastwork of this Romanesque church was mapped during archaeological research.
The current church dates for the most part from the first half of the 13th century, with extensions from all subsequent centuries; since the last extension, the Librije from 1564, the exterior has changed little. This fine location is for rent for festivities and events.

link

Brassaï pseudonym of Gyula Halász; b.09Sep1899 – d.08July1984) was a Hungarian–French photographer, sculptor, medalist, writer, and filmmaker who rose to international fame in France in the 20th century.
He was one of the numerous Hungarian artists who flourished in Paris beginning between the world wars. I visited his grave on CIMETIÈRE MONTPERNASSE.

Celebrating the work of one of the great photographers of the century, this image-packed monograph includes classic portraits of Picasso, Matisse, and the Surrealists, as well as other notable personalities from Paris in the 1930s. 15,000 first printing!

Superb monograph on the work of Hungarian-French photographer Brassaï (1899-1984).
Edited by Alain Sayag and Annick Lionel-Marie, with contributions by Jean-Jacques Aillagon, Brassaï, Gilberte Brassaï, Roger Grenier, Henry Miller, Jacques Prévert, and Werner Spies.

Contents includes Preface (foreword) + 1-page essay by Werner Spies (Director of the Musée National d'Art Moderne @Paris) + essay by Alain Sayag ('The Expression of Authenticity') + photos in chapter 'Paris After dark (1932) + 'Minotaure, 1933-1939' + 'Drawings and sculptures, 1946' + 'Camera in Paris, 1949' + 'Graffiti, 1960'.
Also an interview with Gilberte Brassaï, biography & bibliography. Plus a list of illustrations.

"The meaning of art is not authenticity but the expression of authenticity," wrote the Hungarian-born photographer Gyula Halász, better known as Brassaï, whose unflinching portraits of the seamier side of Paris nightlife during the 1930s and 1940s summon up an era when decadence and desperation ran side by side.
Brassaï's curiosity about his subjects and the originality of his approach highlight the depth of his identification with Paris, his adopted city.
The son of a professor of French literature, Brassaï had first visited the city at the age of 5; later, in the early 1920s, he returned to make it his home after completion of studies in fine art in Budapest and Berlin.
Settling in the bohemian arrondissement of Montparnasse, mixing with artists and writers, Brassaï took up photography "in order to capture the beauty of streets and gardens in the rain and fog, and to capture Paris by night."
He did want to become a news photographer, he made sure he stayed clear of that kind of photography.

He leads us into the smoky, highly charged world of clubs and cafés, where nicotine-stained lovers in cheap clothes become impossibly desirable through the camera's lens.
Streets, stairways, and canals are moodily lit; even a man rummaging for food in a rubbish bin takes on a cinematic aura. Yet Brassaï's photographs contain a strange mixture of seediness and resilience that ultimately triumphs over any false notions of glamour.
He depicts scenes of poverty and its trappings--alcoholism, prostitution, violence, hunger.
The chaotic social whirl of 1930s Paris dies down to the quiet suffering of a city under occupation,
with its two great literary lights, Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, sitting out the war, stony-faced in the Café de Flore. Accompanied by extracts from Brassaï's own writings, contemporaries such
as Henry Miller, and essays from other contributors, and containing 308 images, Brassaï is a fine testament to an artist whose images of one city have proved so enduring.

www.abebooks.com/ - /Brassai-Monograph-(Catherine Taylor)
en.wikipedia.org:_Brassaï

Translated from the Icelandic by Vistoria Cribb
(Penguin Books, 2024)

Iceland, 1956. Fourteen-year-old Lára decides to spend the summer working for a couple on the small island of Videy, just off the coast of Reykjavík. In early August, the girl disappears without a trace.
Time passes, and the mystery becomes Iceland‘s most infamous unsolved case.
What happened to the young girl? Is she still alive? Did she leave the island, or did something happen to her there?
Thirty years later, as the city of Reykjavík celebrates its 200th anniversary, journalist Valur Robertsson begins his own investigation into Lára's case. But as he draws closer to discovering the secret, and with the eyes of Reykjavík upon him, it soon becomes clear that Lára's disappearance is a mystery that someone will stop at nothing to keep unsolved.

Chapters first jump by 10 years: 1966, 1976, 1986 to detail failed attempts to discover Lara's fate.
By then the narrative goes by dates in 1986, as the investigation progresses. Actual events in Iceland form a backdrop to the story.
The authors were 10 years old during that time, 1986.
The idea for this crimestory, which as I understand it is loosely based on an actual disappearance, developed in january 2022. Then the Covid pandemic happened and during this period it was therapeutic for both authors to focus on writing this gripping thriller, Reykjavík.
Pleasant reading indeed, with a surprising plot!

Ragnar Jónasson (born 1976) is an Icelandic author of crime fiction. He is the author of the bestselling Dark Iceland series, set in and around Siglufjörður, and featuring Detective Ari Thor. Though this novel is a stand alone edition.
My first book by his hand, am sure more will follow!

Katrín Jakobsdóttir (b. 01Feb1976-) is an Icelandic politician who served as the prime minister of Iceland from December 2017 to April 2024 and was a member of the Althing for the Reykjavík North constituency from 2007 to 2024.
Katrín is known as one of the most popular politicians in Icelandic history, with 59% of people naming her as the most trustworthy politician in a 2015 poll. During her time as prime minister, she had the highest approval ratings for a prime minister in Iceland!
She completed a Master of Arts degree in Icelandic literature at the University of Iceland in 2004, for a thesis on the work of popular Icelandic crime writer Arnaldur Indriðason!

www.goodreads.com/ - reykjavík
en.wikipedia.org:_Ragnar_Jónasson
en.wikipedia.org:_Katrín_Jakobsdóttir

George Hendrik Breitner (b.12Sep1857 – d.05Jun1923) was a Dutch painter and photographer.
An important figure in Amsterdam Impressionism, he is noted especially for his paintings of street scenes and harbours in a realistic style.
He painted en plein air, and became interested in photography as a means of documenting street life and atmospheric effects – rainy weather in particular – as reference materials for his paintings.

Breitner used various cameras e.g. a small box camera for 9x12cm glass plates, one Kodak camera for 10x10cm negatives and a larger one for 13x18 glass plates. The Kodak camera, of 1888, probably produced the negatives for the photos in this book.
Breitner did not bother with a filing system and does not seem to have put his photos on show.
It was only in 1995 that his photos were found (!) in the loft of Amsterdam's Archief (Archives). A basket used for washing linnens was used to keep a large selection of the negatives; without any form of selection or sorting, it had been used in 1961 to donate them by a local artdealer, J.H. Siedenburg, the Kunsthistorische Documentatie in The Hague.
The selection used in this book focusses on the busy streetlife with people, horses, passers by and various building sites. Nice!

Streetlife by G.H. Breitner, 70+ images
Hardcover, De Verbeelding ISBN 9789074159654 (ISBN10: 9074159656)
ASIN  9074159656
Language  Dutch; Flemish

en.wikipedia.org:_George_Hendrik_Breitner