Portrait in black and white
Wedding day in Rietveldpaviljoen
The Rietveldpaviljoen (designed by the famous Dutch architect Gerrit Rietveld) in Amersfoort is a centre to see, celebrate and create art. Next Saturday a new exhibition will be opened on street photography, entitled Paradijsvogels (Birds of paradise). There is an extensive exhibition of the Dutch street photographer Willem Wernsen. Photographers have been invited to celebrate his 70th birthday, and create a personal piece of art inspired by him. For this exhibition I made the photo Wedding day, that I mentioned previously in this blog. I am honoured to have it shown to the public in the Rietveld Paviljoen.
Kusje
Een gedeeltelijke maansverduistering, vanochtend 18-09-2024 met het hoogtepunt om 04:41. Hoe zullen we dat nu eens beschrijven?
“De Maan kust Saturnus,” had ik al gelezen in een overzicht van hemelse fenomenen. Op dit moment staat Saturnus vanaf ons bezien recht tegenover de zon. De volle Maan staat natuurlijk ook recht tegenover de zon, anders is hij niet vol. Ze stonden dus vannacht dicht blij elkaar, zó dicht dat je van een kusje kon spreken. Helaas heb ik het kusje niet gezien, want de volle Maan was zo helder dat Saturnus volledig werd overstraald.
Hoe zullen we die gedeeltelijke maansverduistering dan noemen? De schaduw van de Aarde raakte de Maan maar nét, slechts een klein hapje werd er uit de bol genomen. Een kusje van de schaduw van de Aarde, dat lijkt me wel aardig.
Portrait of a man with frikadel
On the street in Bergen, Noord-Holland
Memories
“I’m just browsing through some old stuff,” he said. “Do you see this map? It’s from the airport. I stole it from the Germans.”
Not true. It’s a copy of a map made by a modern copyer, probably fifteen or twenty years ago. But who cares? I know that during the war, as a child, he did break into German offices in the village, and that he did steal maps from them. But now, at the age of 96, all these memories are fading into a thick fog. Sometimes elements from different memories come together into a new story that is almost true. Almost. And that’s more than enough now, for him as well as for me.
Wedding day
They were sitting on a bench in my father’s idyllic village. I asked if I could take a picture of them. Of course I first had to explain what my intention was.
“In honor of the birthday of a famous Dutch street photographer, we were invited to take a picture in his style as a tribute. So we try to take a picture the way he would take a picture.”
“You look like a serious photographer,” She said. “So go ahead. But first you have to take a picture of us with my cell phone.” It was their wedding day; they enjoyed the sun, the beautiful surroundings and especially each other.
What a wonderful day it was
Portrait in splashy colours
Florida – last day
Miami, Wynwood Walls Art District. Oh yes, there is an official museum where well-known official artists show their art – and sell it for astronomical prices. But the real art is in the streets. The complete industrial site has become one large piece of living art by graffiti and other artists. Forget Banksy. This is street art in its purest form
Florida – Day 9
On day 9 the destination was Miami. Oh yes, I took a lot of pictures in the city. But only these ones are worth showing. The picture with hands (very kind man and woman begged me to take their picture).
Many houses in Miami. But well, I think the pictures of the houses are rather boring.
Miami beach which is… well, a beach with a lot of people and of course water where you can stand in
The famous strip where walking goes faster than driving – even if you have a fancy car
The Rosa Parks seats in the buses (if you don’t know who Rosa Parks is, you’re living in youre white bubble and definitely have to look her up). By the way, those bus drivers were really the most friendly bus drivers I have ever seen! Proud of their job, waiting for people, helping people, giving directions and even at the end of a shift telling the next driver where certain passengers need to get out
Florida – day 7 and 8
Merritt Island. Too many bird, so I’ll skip a lot of them. Also some other creatures, such as manatees, turtles, tortoises, spiders…
De Portrettenmaker 