Protesters in Istanbul, photo courtesy Guardian
While their peers in Istanbul and Cairo are mastering the ABC of political protests, the young boys of Amsterdam indulge in arts-y pursuits lounging languorously in hip hotel suites: playing the cello, reading sheet music, sketching and contemplating.
The interminably long winter seems to be receding. The sun is out and the morale is on the rise. Oh so we hope. At least, there is no shortage of good news.
At the backdrop of the Dutch government’s announcement of postponement of austerity measures and the orange wave of enthusiasm washing over the country in the countdown to the investiture of the new King, the Rijksmuseum, the national pride of the Netherlands, opened to public after more than ten years of restoration works.
Befitting the grandeur of the occasion it is Queen Beatrix (her last official engagement before stepping down) that turned the golden key to symbolically re-open the museum to the sound of fanfare and explosion of orange fireworks.
‘There is too much of Dutch fashion shown everywhere, but, alas, very little sold,’ says Laura van Erkelens, founder of Fashion NL, an independent online and offline platform for promoting Dutch fashion.
A passionate champion of local talent van Erkelens is as committed to the Dutch fashion cause as they come. It all started during her student days at the Utrecht School of Visual Arts and Design when she worked on her graduation paper researching Dutch fashion identity and its perception internationally. Well, the conclusion of that research was not encouraging—the overall awareness of Dutch fashion was quite low. Ironically not only abroad but also in the Netherlands.
I find that black and white photography is much more powerful. And expressive. And honest.
And done by a master like Anton Corbijn it becomes art.
His new exhibition of portraits currently at Foam in Amsterdam is nothing but that. Portraits of artists series was born out of Corbijn’s fascination with the creative process and the accompanying pain and struggle.
Very graphic, stripped of the superfluous these portraits capture the very essence of the subject —
all big names from the field of arts, music, sports, public life.
Corbijn is no voyeur, neither is he a dazzled admirer. Undoubtedly a great reader of character he achieves total fusion with his subject, to the point that you forget that there’s a photographer between you two.