The HISTORY of DUTCH HISTORY 1939-1969

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E u r o p e a n P h o t o g r a p h y , 1 9 3 9 – 1 9 6 9

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D u t c h P h o t o g r a p h y , 1 9 3 9 – 1 9 6 9

Oscar van Alphen

Emmy Andriesse

Maria Austria (Marie Karoline Oestricher)

Eva Besnyö

Carel Blazer

Kors van Bennekom

Violette Cornelius

Martien Coppens

Bernard F. Eilers

Eduard (Ed) van der Elsken

Paul Guermonprez

Paul Eduard Bram Huf

Cor Jaring

Nico Jesse

Ata Kando

Hans Katan

Joan van der Keuken

Aart Klein

Dolf Kruger

Jaap d’ Oliveira

Cas Oorthuys

Pim van Os

Sem Presser

Eddy Posthuma de Boer

Frits Rotgans

Sanne Sannes

Willy Schurman

Krijn Taconis

Carel J. Tirion

Jan Versnel

Cor van Weele

Eduard (Ed) van Wijk

Ad Windig

Meinard Woldringh

Steef Zoetmulder

Nico Zomer

Photographers

Photographers

Dutch PhotographyMirelle Thijsen

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1 For the history of the emergence of informa-tion and communications technology (ICT) in post-war Netherlands, see Alberts, G. Intro-ductie geschiedenis van de ICT in Nederland (Introductory History of ICT in the Nether-lands), http://www.computer-erfgoed.nl/computergeschiedenis_volg_1.htm, and Ende, van der J., Keerpunten in de geschiedenis van informatieverwerkende technologie (Turning Points in the History of Information Technol-ogy), http://www.cram.nl/ieni/950410.htm. Accessed on 31 May 2012.

2 Anonymous, Vergeten Verleden. Ontwikkelin-gen in Nederland in de jaren Vijftig (Forgotten Past. Developments in the Netherlands in the 1950s), http://www.w8.nl/socecon.htm. Accessed on 31 May 2012.

The histor y of Dutch photography

Overview: Societal and technological transition around World War II

As was occurring globally, the Netherlands experienced a!major economic decline after the stock market crash in 1929, which lasted through World War II. There was much social dissatisfaction with widespread poverty and unemploy-ment, particularly on the eve of the war. Representatives of the Dutch resist-ance, nurses and professional photographers formed part of the International Brigades and went to Spain during the Spanish Civil War (1936 – 1939). Unique for the Netherlands and of importance for resistance activities was the nonvio-lent opposition to German occupation during the war. Inspired by the pre-war peace movement and social democratic, anarchist and Christian ideas, the resistance took on di"erent forms. The role of photographers in the resistance was important in falsi#cation of identity documents and assistance in hiding Jews. The occupation developed a!sense of togetherness among active resist-ance leaders. That feeling was re$ected in the development of a!new profes-sional organisation for photographers, the Vereniging van Beroepsbeoefenaars der Gebonden Kunsten (Association of Practitioners of Applied Arts, GKf ) founded in 1945, which was a!factor in the rapid professionalization of photo-graphers during the subsequent years of reconstruction.1

After World War II, the National Socialist Movement (NSB), a!Dutch political party that collaborated with the Germans during the war, was banned2. The Marshall Plan, which was introduced in the Netherlands in 1947, was one of the modes for transmission of international policy and ideology of the United States.

Order, discipline and concentration were considered important values and were emphasised in photographs re$ecting hygiene and respect for authority. During the years of reconstruction, people were full of hope and expectation. The post-war period was characterised by solidarity and optimism, and photography from this era re$ects such community spirit. Building a!future together was matched by the rise of humanist photography in reportages and photobooks launched during this period of recovery.

There were urgent basic societal needs for the rapidly growing population. In the period 1950 – 1970 the population in the Netherlands increased by three million people. Gradually, families were getting smaller; the #rst vacuum cleaners, refrigerators and washing machines were becoming available. More and more people were connected to the expanding telephone network. In 1967 colour television was o%cially introduced.

In the 1950s the multinational and diversi#ed technology company Philips and the state-owned PTT began experimenting in the Netherlands with produc-tion processes making use of computers. The automation of companies began to take place in the 1960s; computer science and informatics emerged. IBM punch cards for computer input came into widespread use in business, such as at the steel producer Royal Hoogovens. And precisely these multinationals commissioned striking company photobooks, such as Vuur aan zee (Fire Beside

the Sea, 1958) and De Verbinding (The Connection, 1962). Various social processes contri buted to the style of Dutch consultative economy: collaboration between employers and employees, involvement of social groups in public decision-making, and an expanding role of government in society.

After the war, a!Catholic-socialist coalition government was formed with Willem Drees as prime minister. A!national pension plan (AOW) was established, the country became a!member of NATO, and the government promoted a!strong industrialisation and emigration policy. The structure of the social system provided the country’s citizens with a!degree of certainty. Illustrative of such feeling was the Beeldende Kunstenaars Regeling (Visual Artists Scheme, BKR) that was introduced in 1956, a!policy whereby artists were provided an income in exchange for contributing artistic work to the public domain. This system was designed to provide social independence to artists. In 1969 Peter Martens was the #rst professional photographer admitted to the BKR, which was both a!symbol of personal recognition as well as recognition of photography as a!#ne art.

In art, existentialist principles began to appear, for example, in the Fluxus movement re$ected in literary work of W. F. Hermans and in the photobook Paris Mortel (1963) by Joan van der Keuken. The Netherlands gradually transformed into a!welfare state in the 1960s. During this process, the social sectarianism evident in politics, religion, education and broadcasting eroded, partly under the

Joan van der Keuken, Quatorze Juillet, Paris 1958, Paris Mortel, published by C. de Boer in Hilversum, 1963, reproduced by Harold Strak, 28,7 x 22 cm, © Van Zoetendaal / Van der Lely, Amsterdam.

http://www.computer-erfgoed.nl/computergeschiedenis_volg_1.htm

http://www.computer-erfgoed.nl/computergeschiedenis_volg_1.htm

http://www.cram.nl/ieni/950410.htm

http://www.w8.nl/socecon.htm

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3 The integration of text and image, as applied by the New Photographers in the avant-garde corporate publications during the years between the world wars is comparable with the result of team collaboration as depicted in double-page spreads in post-war company photobooks. See: M. Thijsen, Het bedrijfs-fotoboek 1945 – 1965. Professionalisering van fotografen in Nederland (The Company Photobook 1945 – 1965. Professionalization of Photographers in the Netherlands), Rotterdam, 2002, pp. 23-25.

4 The development of The Netherlands Archive and the group De Ondergedoken Camera (The Hidden Camera) is recorded in: F. Bool & V. Hekking, De illegale camera 1940 – 1945. Nederlandse fotografie tijdens de Duitse bezetting (The Illegal Camera 1940 – 1945. Dutch Photography during the German Occupation), Naarden, 1995. This book discusses the organisation, the photographers, and the photos they made during the German occupation; also, the types of cameras used and the conditions and motivations of the indi-vidual photographers are discussed. See also: Hekking, V., “Medium with a mission. Social Commitment and Documentary Photography 1930 – 1980”, in F. Bool, M. Boom et al. (Eds.), Dutch Eyes. A Critical History of Photography in the Netherlands, Zwolle, 2007, pp. 380-423.

in$uence of mass culture, modernisation and increasing mobility. Society demon-strated increased purchasing power. During the 1960s an instrumental wage policy was substituted for a!vibrant social environment. The urge to experiment was substantial: new ideas related to solidarity, empowerment and sexuality now determined the image of a!progressive Netherlands. The year 1966 is regarded as a!turning point with the collapse of the government of Prime Minister Jo Cals during the so-called “Night of Schmelzer”, as well as playful actions (e.g., smoke bombs) by the Provos group during the controversial marriage ceremony of Princess Beatrix with the German citizen Claus von Amsberg. Sexual, social and musical revolutions in the capital were documented in photobooks such as Wat is hap-hap-happening in Amsterdam (1966) and Sex A!Gogo (1969).

Under the in$uence of protest movements in the United States, various anti-establishment movements and youth movements emerged in the Netherlands, including “nozems” (Dutch Citizens for No Morals), which were photographed by Ed van der Elsken among others. Peace demonstrations were held, especially against the Vietnam War. At the height of the $ower power movement, “The Sum-mer of Love” in 1967, hippie culture had arrived in the Netherlands. The student occupation of the administration building of the University of Amsterdam, the Maagdenhuis, on June 12, 1969, was seen as symbolising the reversal of the old authoritarianism for a!more progressive society.

Changing role of photography in society, 1939 – 1945

During the period between the two world wars, self-taught photographers such as Piet Zwart and Paul Schuitema, who were also members of the GKf, contributed to renewal in photography. Multiple changes in the #eld, particularly in the area of interdisciplinary collaboration, initiated during the interbellum, echoed in the post-war years. Important impulses came from international contacts, including those with Bauhaus. Also, there was crossbreeding between art disciplines during this period: this form of collaboration was re$ected in the art journal i10 and continued in Dutch post-war photobooks, especially company photobooks. In this manner, the prolongation after the World War II of socially-inspired ideology of the “new photographers” played a!central role as well as that of promoting the vitality of industrial and mass production of consumer goods.3 In avant-garde publications prepared during the interbellum, portrayal of progressive ideas took on a!larger role than attention to artistic values. The ideas about social innovation were further explored in post-war photography. Concurrently, the making of reportages and of photobooks was greatly in$uenced by the stylistic features of the new photography, employing techniques such as frog and bird’s-eye perspec-tives and frequent use of diagonal lines. Apart from photomontages, bleeding images and visual narratives, genres such as pastoral and urban landscape photography were immensely popular in these publications.

Gradually the general opinion about photography was changing. Motivated and inspired by avant-garde pamphlets addressing theoretical, educational and political topics and de#nitely by activities of the resistance, a!new generation of documentary photographers emerged, largely based in Amsterdam. A!number of young, upcoming photographers became engaged in illegal photography during the German occupation and organised the “Netherlands Archive”. This collabora-tion later resulted in creation of the group known as De Ondergedoken Camera (The Hidden Camera).4

5 M. Thijsen, op. cit., 113.

In this period Charles Breijer documented the armed resistance and Violette Cornelius took part in the revolt by artists. Ed van Wijk recorded the bombard-ment of Rotterdam and “Dolle Dinsdag” (Crazy Tuesday) on 5 September 1944). Cas Oorthuys made passport photographs for identity cards and documented the Hunger Winter of 1944.

The pamphlet er moet veel strijd gestreden zijn (There Needs to Be Much Fight, 1945) is an exceptional publication prepared by the newspaper De Vrije Katheder (The Free Lectern) and includes photographs made by in$uential members of a!collective that after the war became the professional association for photo-graphers, the GKf.5 The publication includes work by Emmy Andriesse, Charles Breijer, Cas Oorthuys, Ad Windig, Krijn Taconis and Carel Corza (Carel Blazer). This pamphlet is a!“plea for an anti-formalistic documentary photography” that GKf members presented after the war in the exhibition Foto’48. This special edi-tion of De Vrije Katheder and the photobook Amsterdam tijdens de Hongerwinter (Amsterdam during the Hunger Winter, 1947) contributed to the stigmatisation of the popular image of the German occupation. GKf photographers contributed to both publications and a!number of these photographers afterwards became internationally recognised. They also happened to be the founders of the profes-sional association GKf established immediately after the liberation in 1945.

Cas Oorthuys, cover Er moet veel strijd gestreden zijn… / There must have been a lot of #ghting…, special edition of and published by De Vrije Katheder (The Free Cathedral), Amsterdam, 1945, 19 x 27 cm, © Nederlands Fotomuseum, Rotterdam / Cas Oorthuys.

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6 F. Bool & V. Hekking, op.cit., p. 103.

The main photographic themes and subjects, recorded in national archives and albums, re$ect major similarities: war, German occupation, resistance, ration-ing, Crazy Tuesday, persecution of Jews, looting and con#scation, the Hunger Winter and liberation.6 Reportages of these events, in particular the German raids, have been repeatedly published and after the war became the most requested press images. As illustration, the Amsterdam-based press photographer Sem Presser, hiding in Arnhem, captured on #lm the landing of the British airborne on 17 September 1944 and the failed Allied counter-o"ensive in Arnhem known as “Operation Market-Garden”. Illegally taking pictures of prisoners’ camps, arrests and executions was dangerous and virtually impossible. Photographic recordings of these subjects were mostly made by prisoners-of-war and were commissioned by the Germans. Another recurring theme is the construction, manufacture and use of communication equipment during the war.

The technology of photography experienced major development during this period. In 1939, two years after Agfa and Kodak commercially released colour #lm, the German emigrant Ir. H.E.W. Wol" wrote a!reference work for this develop-ment: Kleuren. De ontwikkeling en toepassing der Kleurenfotogra"e. (Colours. The Development and Application of Colour Photography). Often individual amateur photographers working in public space, frequently recording street life, illegally made photographs with colour slide #lm during the German occupation. Pho-tographs were usually taken from a!hidden position in order to register daily life and personal meetings; after the liberation, these pictures were used to inform the public and identify collaborators. For example, doctor/amateur photographer Nico Jesse photographed city life in Utrecht and Frits Rotgans, an amateur photographer as well, made colour slides of marching German soldiers, of posters in the streets and of German raids.

During the period of liberation about 50 photographers were active in the illegal organisation named the Netherlands Archive. A!shared sense of histori-cal mission was great. Illegal photographs were made with 35mm cameras, 6x6 format cameras, and with 16 mm #lm cameras. Light conditions, composition and style were secondary to the message of the medium; the purpose was to collect evidence about the dramatic events in the Netherlands during the war. In this manner Violette Cornelius documented the start of the Persoonsbewijzencentrale (Personal Identity Documents Centre) in 1942.

The group De Ondergedoken Camera achieved a!widely-respected international reputation for its work. Members from the early period included Emmy Andriesse, Charles Breijer, Marius Meyboom, Cas Oorthuys, Hans Sibbelee, Kryn Taconis, and Ad Windig. Some of these photographers had close ties with the armed resistance, which enabled them to document the activities of this group. De Ondergedoken Camera provided primarily an image of an oppressed people in the west of the Netherlands, especially Amsterdam. After the war this body of work contributed, among other things, to identi#cation of collaborators. Some pictures taken during this era have acquired iconic status in the collective memory of the Dutch people.

Along with Carel Blazer, Oorthuys belonged to the Vereeniging van Arbeiders-fotografen (Association of Labourers Photographers, VAF, 1931 – 1934). This group documented the poor working conditions of industrial labourers prior to the war. These images of structural social problems stand in stark contrast to those of the glori#cation of the reconstruction that were subsequently made after the war. Although they were politically leftist and sympathized with communism after 1945, they became the chroniclers of the rhetorical image of workers and entre-preneurs, often on behalf of modern business and the captains of industry.

Other photographers of the labour movement, including Hans Wolf, Kors van Bennekom, Dolf Kruger and Dolf Toussaint, were more principled. These photo-graphers were invited to work on behalf of trade unions and the Communist Party of the Netherlands (CPN); their photographs were published in the party newspaper De Waarheid (The Truth). Press photographers like these communists shared the ideals of the working community and later recorded the dark side of the modern industrial age and questioned the social relevance of labour.

It was during the Spanish Civil War (1936 – 1939) that a!new form of social criti-cism in photography emerged and was practiced. This initiative mainly involved independent photographers. As such, Gerda Taro, John Fernhout and Carel Blazer

Emmy Andriesse, Boy with a Pan, Amsterdam, Winter 1944 – 1945, © Emmy Andriesse / Special Collections Libraries Leiden University, Leiden.

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7 P.W.D. SHAEF is the abbreviation of the Psychological Warfare Division, Supreme Head-quarters Allied Expeditionary Force, which was operational in the Netherlands. This was a war propaganda instrument of the Allies. See: L. Richards, “The Psychological Warfare Division, Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force. An Account of its Operations in the Western European Campaign 1940 – 1945”; see also: www.psywar.org.

became the #rst Dutch war correspondents. Although the #rst examples of new forms of documentary photography were presented in the exhibition Foto’37 held at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the genre came to fruition mainly after the Spanish Civil War.

The photographs of the Spanish Civil War were as horri#c as were those from the Nazi camps, which were recorded in NAZI HEL (1945), an oblong booklet compiled by Allied war photographers. The edition, spiral bound, came to be an instrument of war propaganda in the last year of World War II. Willem van de Poll assembled the war pictures in NAZI HEL. Van de Poll was, similar to other Dutch war photographers, certi#ed by the SHAEF Mission Netherlands.7

Emergence of humanist photography

After 1945 the Dutch people were full of hope and expectation. Business and industry shared a!common feeling of optimism and community. Photographs in

8 For a description of humanism in post-war documentary photography, the themes and motives for imagery, and the broader social orientation, see: Thijsen, op cit., pp. 27-49; W. de Bell, “Country cousin and dirty girl. Dutch identity and documentary photography since 1945”, in F. Bool, M. Boom et al. (Eds.), Dutch Eyes. A Critical History of Photography in the Netherlands, Zwolle, 2007, pp. 345-353.

newspapers, illustrated magazines and the #rst post-war com-pany photobooks re$ected how the Netherlands worked on the construction of a!welfare state with a!rising standard of living. Illustrated publications as such as well as some trend-setting photography exhibitions just after the war mirrored a!growing interest in the human condition. Photographs made during the early 1950s radiate much optimism. Professional photographers supported the general mood among the Dutch population, cel-ebrating the new opportunities to collaborate and join together in order to rebuild the society.

Initially the #rst generation of professional photographers, a%liated in the GKf, began to address and adjust the pre-war anonymous and idealised image of society and to gradually replace it with a!more humanist concept.8 This changing visual language is associated with their aversion to moralistic imagery regarding human adaptability and praise for the work ethic. Early examples of humanism in post-war documentary photog-raphy were achieved mainly by GKf members.

The year 1947 resulted in publication of a!record seven books that can be considered contributions to the canon of Dutch photography and were re$ective of the upcoming humanist photography movement. These books include the acclaimed 50 jaar Bruynzeel 1897 – 1947 (Fifty Years Bruynzeel 1897 – 1947), which was an anniversary book made available from the printer/publisher Meijer that later became a!leader in the #eld of quality book printing, particularly company photobooks. Two remark-able books launched in 1947 were about Amsterdam: a!retro-spective on the bitter cold of winter during the last year of World War II, Amsterdam tijdens de Hongerwinter (Amsterdam during the Hunger Winter); and a!title that examined the independence of Indonesia from Dutch colonialism: Een staat in wording (A State in the Making). Cas Oorthuys was commissioned by publisher Contact and ABC Press to compose this controversial book about life, work and death in the self-proclaimed Republic of Indonesia.

Foto’48 was the #rst manifestation of human-interest photography in the Neth-erlands. What the reportages in Amsterdam tijdens de Hongerwinter and a!political photobook as Een staat in wording – both striking documentary photobooks – have in common with the exhibition catalogue Foto’48 is that all three presented themes related to wartime su"ering, destruction and reconstruction of societies.

Film and photography became the new modern media for communication after the war. The recurrent subjects of the avant-garde (e.g., tourism, ethnology and mass production) were abandoned by a!new generation of photographers and #lmmakers. Other socially relevant themes were introduced, such as “youth are the future”, “hygiene”, “a day in the life of”, and “from cradle to grave”. Photo-graphic reportage of big and small moments in everyday life became respectful themes. The manifesto for this approach was The Decisive Moment (1952) by Henri Cartier-Bresson.

“People at work” was already a!major theme before and during the war in the oeuvres of professional photographers, especially those who founded the GKf. Such photographs were, for example, included in marketing exhibitions on nutri-tional care. Illustrated magazines included portraits of welders, window washers,

Dolf Kruger, De Waarheid with News on CPN-aldermen-Crisis, De Waarheid. Volksdagblad voor Nederland, 25 March 1948, © International Institute for Social History (IISH), Amsterdam.

Unknown Photographer (British soldier)], front cover of De Ramp / The Battle of Floods, 1953, published by Vereeniging ter Bevordering van de Belangen des Boekhandels, Amsterdam / Netherlands Booksellers and Publishers, Amsterdam. Contains a looseleaf text in French, entitled “Désastre de la Mer“, 26 x 19 cm, © Nederlands Fotomuseum, Rotterdam.

http://www.psywar.org

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9 P. de Rooy, “Vetkui!e waarheen? Jongeren in Nederland in de jaren vijftig en zestig” (Whereto greasy ducktail? Youth in the Nether-lands in the Fifties and Sixties), in H.W. van der Dunk e.a. (Red.), Wederopbouw welvaart en onrust. Nederland in de jaren vijftig en zestig (Reconstruction, Welfare and Rebellion. The Netherlands in the Fifties and Sixties), Houten, 1986, pp. 121-146.

road workers and labourers in $our mills; these photo reportages of jovial workers re$ected a!zest for life and found publication in magazines such as Wij, Ons werk, Ons leven (We, Our Work, Our Life) De Katholieke Illustratie, (The Catholic Illustra-tive) and De Wereldkroniek (The World Chronicle). The photobook Verwoesting en Wederopbouw (Destruction and Reconstruction, 1948) portrayed a!range of post-war reconstruction works such as repairing dikes and bridges, building emergency housing and public buildings, and the reconstruction of agriculture.

The rhetorical image of the (working) man in post-war photobooks was widespread due to the exhibition catalogue The Family of Man in 1955. Both the famous touring exhibition and the accompanying catalogue displayed universal aspects of daily life recognisable for everyone. The way they were presented was of major in$uence on a!new generation of books and magazines. From this point on, photographs were integrated into the storyline and, for that time period, an exceptional layout design was incorporated into exhibitions and publications (e.g., enlarged images, use of sequences, and incorporation of colour planes). The most remarkable Dutch photobooks were published once the touring exhibition of Family of Man was presented in the Netherlands in 1956. Also, there was a!wave of striking company photobooks published during the period.

Work and life came to be seen as interaction between people, government, social institutions and companies, and required something of a!team spirit. That mentality, in which the viability of the new society was emphasised and which was typical of the reconstruction period, became widely reported in words and pictures. A!moralistic, uplifting tone toward youth matched the restoration of pre-war values and a!striving to get Dutch culture back on track. Order, discipline and concentration were important values; also, attention to hygiene and respect for authority were emphatically represented in photographs.9 This visualisation of a!constructed, socially-balanced humanness rested heavily on stereotypes in Rus-sian propaganda art and #lm. The stylistic features of the new photography were still excellent vehicles for this approach. The photographers Eva Besnyö, Martien Coppens, Paul Huf, Nico Jesse and Cor van Weele initially opted for such an optimistic portrayal of people, while post-war advertising campaigns used it to appeal to youth.

From the late 1950s onwards a!social change came about with repercussions on contemporary documentary photography. From that period photographers began rebelling against tradition, uniformity, aloofness and biased communica-tion. Gradually a!shift in the approach to photography came about: from the visualisation of pious people who exuded professional pride to representation of the importance of service, community involvement and cultural diversity for soci-ety, and for the socio-cultural development of people within society. In addition to previously mentioned topics, focus was shifting in documentary photography to travel, mass recreation, jazz and everyday life.

The feeling of a!society-in-motion is expressed in powerful and dynamic images in photobooks such as Rotterdam dynamische stad (Dynamic City of Rot-terdam) and Jazz, both published in 1959. Around 1960, when reconstruction was at its peak, social dramatization in photography was most evident. Through use of photographic strips, high contrast, grainy and suggestive images, social life and labour relations were vividly depicted. Penetrating, full bleeding images, often reproduced without explanatory text, were used to re$ect all kinds of highlights from modern social life.

The in$uence of jazz music on the work of GKf photographers was substantial. The improvising, rebellious character of this musical style found its way into

10 A clear distinction is made between artistic disciplines in VANK’s annual reports; see: F. Bool and K. Broos, Fotografie in Nederland 1920 – 1940 (Photography in the Netherlands 1920 – 1940), The Hague, 1979, p. 127; J. van Bennekom, “Vijftig jaar GKf” (Fifty Years of GKf ), T. Anema e.a., 50 jaar fotografie GKf 1945 – 1995, Amsterdam, 1995, p. 189.

11 The “f” in GKf refers to the federative character of the association. GKf was launched on 6 July 1946. A year earlier, on 3 August 1945, some 50 artists had become members of the group “Gebonden Kunsten” (Applied Arts), including Piet Zwart, Carel Blazer, Emmy Andriesse, Martien Coppens, Otto Treumann and W.H. Gispen. Cas Oorthuys was one of principal members of this group; see the GKf archive at the International Institute for Social History (IISH) in Amsterdam: “Archief van de Neder-landse Federatie van Beroepsverenigingen van Kunstenaars, GKf-archief” (Inv. No. 320).

12 For a short history of the GKf, the character and identity of the professional photographers section and that of the professional associa-tion NFK, see: E. Barents (Ed.), Fotografie in Nederland 1940 – 1975, Photography in the Netherlands 1940 – 1975, The Hague, 1978, 91-100; Thijsen, op. cit., pp. 111- 128.

documentary photography. Pictures were taken in natural settings, sometimes with dim light, and image cropping became almost nonchalant. These were grainy photographs with a!high level of blackness and became a!commonplace signature of GKf photographers from those years. The presence of controversial material regarding the Cold War, nuclear weapons, riots and mass demonstrations, and student protests easily meshed into the notions of dynamic progress and city life. In this manner, global issues occasionally became themes for photographers. Perhaps this transformation was also an expression of appreciation for youth culture, attention to which would later increase.

More and more in the 1960s, both photobooks and photographs in illustrated weekly magazines (e.g., De Linie, Vrij Nederland, and De Groene Amsterdammer) re$ected images showing a!joy of life and wanderlust, seen as extensions of life in the Netherlands as a!welfare state; this was a!substantially broader view than re$ected earlier in the Family of Man style.

Professionalization of Photography: Character and Identity of the GKf and NFK

GKfDuring the reconstruction period various professional groups emerged from the all-round applied artist. Before the war, artists were organised in de Neder-landsche Vereniging voor Ambachts- en Nijverheidskunst (the Dutch Society for Craftsmanship and Applied Art, VANK), founded in 1904. Photographers also became members of this society during its last years, from 1939 to the dissolution of the society in 1941. Photographers had within the VANK their own division to which Carel Blazer, Emmy Andriesse, Eva Besnyö, Wim Brusse, Jan Kamman, Cas Oorthuys, Claar Pronk and Lex Metz belonged.10

On 1 September 1945, immediately after national liberation from the German occupation, the Vereniging van Beoefenaars der Gebonden Kunsten (Association of Practitioners of Applied Arts, GKf ) was established and was chaired by graphic designer W.J.H.B. Sandberg who had been appointed director of the Stedelijk Museum (City Museum in Amsterdam) in the same year.11 The GKf was to become a!contemporary extension of VANK and an inspiration for a!new generation of art-ists. It was intended to be a!professional organisation for artists, and the principal members of the association were located in Amsterdam. The new organisation strived for a!democratic structure, placed professional practice in the centre of its activities, and from the very beginning sought to collaborate with other groups of artists.12

The strong feeling of “association awareness” and solidarity among leading #gures within the GKf can be explained by the fact that they already knew each other before the war and that the pioneers of the federation, including Willem Sandberg, shared a!common history during the resistance. In 1948 the GKf had 222 members, of which 14 were photographers. Among the #rst members of the section for photography were Lood van Bennekom, Eva Besnyö, Emmy Andriesse, Maria Austria, Charles Breijer, Jan Kamman, Jaap d’ Oliveira, Cas Oorthuys, Paul Huf, Ad Windig, and Krijn Taconis. Carel Blazer, who replaced Maria Austria in 1950, represented this group in the GKf board. Members of the GKf re$ected diverse political orientations. Several prominent members were active in the Communis-tische Partij Nederland (Netherlands Communist Party, CPN) and the anti-fascist

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Bond van Kunstenaars ter Verdediging van Kulturele Rechten (Union of Artists in Defence of Cultural Rights, BKVK), and some were involved in socialist-oriented groups of artists.

Through the intervention of Willem Sandberg the group made its #rst public presentation in the exhibition Foto’48 held in the Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam City Museum) in 1948. A!special edition of the journal Kroniek van Kunst en Cultuur (Chronicle of Arts and Culture) accompanied the exhibition and included an introduction by Jurriaan Schrofer. The text on the cover is considered an important manifesto in which the objectives of the GKf photographers were formulated: “Photography is to play a!utilitarian function in society and is directly related to commissioned work”. Sandberg also initiated the exhibition Photo-graphie at the Stedelijk Museum in 1952 with works by the four protagonists of the post-war documentary humanism: Emmy Andriesse, Eva Besnyö, Carel Blazer and Cas Oorthuys. This #rst “solo” exhibition of engaged photographers, showing applied work as well, paid tribute to the place of GKf photography in a!museum environment. Abroad, critics were especially appreciative of the fact that such a!professional organisation for photographers was possible. International exhibi-tions, such as Post-War European Photography (1953) and The Family of Man (1955) contributed to the group’s international recognition. In the Netherlands journals and illustrative magazines such as Forum, Visie (Vision) and Goed Wonen (Quality Living) made important contributions to the reputation of GKf photographers.

A!relatively small number of documentary photographers who were members of GKf made a!fundamental contribution to the post-war visual culture. They were in$uential and regarded as the conscience of the profession. Moreover, they exercised some degree of control over the visual communication at the level of museums, businesses and the illustrated press. Cas Oorthuys and Carel Blazer were central in this period. As a!whole, the group attempted to measure up to

Jan Bons / Eddy Posthuma de Boer / Violette Cornelius, spread of the company photobook De Verbinding / The Connection, published in The Hague, 1962, 24 x 20 cm, Nederlands Fotomuseum, Rotterdam / NAGO, Amsterdam / © Eddy Posthuma de Boer.

13 The transition of the section into five profes-sional associations developed in 1968; thereaf-ter GKf had the o"cial status of a professional association. See: Barents, op. cit., pp. 39-40.

their international colleagues who worked for Life magazine and were members of the Magnum Photos agency. At the same time, they reacted contemptuously towards the advertising-oriented photographers associated with the Vereniging van Reclameontwerpers en Illustratoren (Association for Advertising Designers and Illustrators, VRI) and towards members of the Beroeps Fotografen Nederland (Netherlands Professional Photographers Association, BFN).

Visions of the profession and ideas about theory came relatively late; there was in the early years little concern for theorising among photographers. In contrast, the historical awareness of GKf members was strong. They were aware of the fact that they were recording a!changing reality and that their attitude was decisive for their own professional history. Only on the basis of personal invitation and balloting could a!candidate photographer become a!member. Promoting direct contact between art and society, the improvement of education in the #eld of the applied arts and encouraging cooperation between GKf members and business were the main objectives of the GKf. At an early stage Cas Oorthuys called for establishment of a!Netherlands Archive that would represent the work of photo-graphers and mediate between interests. Further, a!large number of GKf members felt a!need for creating accessibility to visual culture for a!wide audience.

In the early 1960s a!new generation of GKf photographers proposed changes in admission policies, expulsion of members, a!disciplinary code, and restricting the authority of the GKf board of directors. These photographers advocated a!more democratic structure for the professional association and demanded a!more open and an active role of the photography section. Social and profes-sional developments supported such wider changes in the structure of the association. In this period the GKf and the VRI acted towards the outside world as if the associations were united but the cultural di"erence between the two organisations was large. The fusion in 1968 between the GKf and VRI was riddled with tension. Jurriaan Schrofer played a!mediating role in the merger of GKf and VRI, later known as GVN.

In 1966 Oscar van Alphen called for a!greater degree of consultation with other professional groups, such as #lmmakers and journalists, for higher fees for photojournalists, and for the commissioning of professional photographers. By the end of the 1960s the GKf photographers’ section had 40 members. In order not to isolate itself in a!climate expressed by the growth of the profession, the GKf gradually began to open its doors to professional photographers and the exclusivity of the section declined. Young photographers who had proven their professionalism (e.g., Ad van Denderen, Cor Jaring) presented themselves for membership; the areas of interest of photographers widened and the admission procedures gradually became less strict. In 1968 the Vereniging van Beroeps-beoefenaars der Gebonden Kunsten (Association of Professional Practitioners of Applied Arts, GKf ) was reorganised, some years later only a!small minority of photographers continued to claim the su%x GKf.13 Establishment of the Be roepsvereniging van Gra#sch Vormgevers Nederland (Netherlands Professional Association of Graphic Designers, GVN) on 1 January 1969, marked the end of the Association of Professional Practitioners.

NFKDe Nederlandse Fotografen Kunstkring (Association of Dutch Art Photographers, NFK), the oldest professional organisation of photographers in the Netherlands, had the objective of “promoting creative photography”. In order to become

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a!member of the NFK candidates had to demonstrate and document professional ability. NFK members were incorrectly assumed as not having documented the e"ects of the German occupation or having contributed to the resistance. Especially the fact that the Vakgroep Fotogra#e (Photography Section), estab-lished under pressure from the Germans in 1942, was administered by members of Nederlandsche Fotografen Patroons Vereniging (Netherlands Photographers Patrons Association, NFPV), Willy Schurman and Nico Zomer, it was considered unacceptable by leftist GKf-members. These persons later became leading NFK members, which GKf members found inappropriate. After World War II, Schur-man remained chairman of the NFK for 20 years. The work of NFK members was appreciated within the Hague circles and these photographers had an extensive clientele within that region. After the war, this group evolved into an organisation of professional photographers and demonstrated great skill in making artistic photographs and in working e%ciently; the group was basically pragmatic and conservative in its approach to photography.

The professional photographers of the NFK approached photography in a!traditional manner; their ideas were not innovative. The NFK was composed of a!heterogeneous group of photographers who specialised in various genres of advertising, publicity and corporate photography, as well as reportage and portrait photography. Meinard Woldringh was the spear point of the association, which was considered as diverse and conventional by observers outside the association. In contrast, Woldringh defended the position of the NFK and emphasised its impor-tance for the professionalization of photography. He made a!case for the collective interests of the NFK members; he underlined the importance of documentary photography within the art photographers association and through exhibitions.

The NFK represented photographers on a!broad basis with di"ering views on photography. Most members pro#led themselves as solid technicians and crafts-men in photography. They contributed to the development of colour photogra-phy in the Netherlands and experimented with it in the visualisation of contempo-rary business and industry. Versatile knowledge in the #eld of camera use, printing techniques and craftsmanship was disseminated through publications in profes-sional journals. Expertise in educational practice was demonstrated over the years through the teaching of new generations of professional photographers. Principal members of the NFK contributed their managerial qualities to reorganising the association and establishing new polytechnics in photography.

Pim van Os, Meinard Woldringh and Steef Zoetmulder advocated the ideas of Otto Steinert who was a!proponent of subjective photography in the 1950s. The a%nity with this movement was great. NFK members achieved a!degree of international recognition based on their participation in exhibitions and publica-tions related to subjective photography and to contacts with the Arbeitsge-meinschaft Europäischer Berufsfotografen (Community of European Professional Photographers).

The association pushed for copyright regulation, and principal members were involved in the creation of the Burafo (currently Photographers Federation) in 1956. Principal members regularly organised exhibitions with the aim of promot-ing professional and amateur photography in the Netherlands. The magazine FOTO became the o%cial organ of the NFK in the period 1947-1958. In the early 1960s it became evident that the NFK required rejuvenation and the early, elderly members resigned. Requirements for membership became performance ori-ented and were determined on an individual basis. Religious and political beliefs played a!role in this procedure. After reorganisation of the NKF in 1948 amateur photographers were allowed to become members, even though this was strongly debated. In 1958, based on a!proposal by Martien Coppens, a!general member-ship was introduced, the criteria for membership were broadened, and manage-ment functions speci#ed.

Although the objectives of the NFK were noble, the conceptualisation of pho-tography by its members was unclear and not theoretically grounded. Illustrative of the many years of e"ort to increase cooperation with the GKf was the exhibi-tion Fotoschouw ’52 (Photo Watch ’52), held in the Hague Municipal Museum on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the NFK. In the mid-1960s, under the in$uence of the growing interest in photography in the visual arts, a!visible separation developed between independent photographers and those profes-sional photographers oriented towards assignments and applied arts. A!situation developed in which membership in a!professional association of photographers no longer seemed related to representation of the interests of its members.

Seminal photobooks in post-war Holland

In the history of photography the photobook merits a!prominent place.14 The evolving knowledge of the production and cultural histories of Dutch photo-books has been made available since 2000 for an international audience through publication of an increasing number of reference works.15 Due to various circum-stances, the photobook has acquired a!prominent place in the post-war visual culture. Close collaborations between photographers and graphic designers,

14 See the following publications on the history of the photobook: H. Fernández, Fotografia Publica. Photography in Print 1919 – 1939, Madrid, 1999; A. Roth (Ed.), The Book of 101 Books. Seminal Photographic Books of the Twentieth Century, New York, 2001; D. Wye & M. Rowell, The Russian Avant-Garde Book, New York, 2001; M. Parr & G. Badger, The Photobook: A History, Volume I, New York, 2004; The Photobook: A History, Volume II, New York, 2007, The Photobook: A History, Volume III, New York, 2014.

15 See publications on the history of the Dutch photobook: Boom & Suermondt, op. cit.; R. Suermondt & M. Thijsen, “The Photobook After the Second World War”, in F. Bool, M. Boom et al (Ed.), Dutch Eyes. A Critical History of Photography in The Netherlands, Zwolle, 2007, pp. 425-470; F. Gierstberg & R. Suermondt (Ed.) The Dutch Photobook, Rotterdam, 2012.

Willem van de Poll, NAZI HEL, published by Van Holkema & Warendorf N.V. in Amsterdam, 1945, Collection Van de Poll / National Archive, The Hague.

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development of a!high-quality graphics industry, and evolution of photography from reportage to artist’s book and author/photographer books have contributed to its acknowledgement.

It is possible to distinguish di"erent genres of photobooks in this history. Within about two decades six genres became prominent: the topographical book, documentary photobook, books on urban living, the company photobook, the cult book, travelogues, and the photo novel.16 Within these genres several themes are pre-eminent: the changing landscape, global socio-political issues, youth culture, and industrialisation. With the rise of television, and also possibly due to the breakdown in 1968 of the GKf into separate professional associations, the production of photobooks declined.

What is striking for this genre of photobooks is that Dutch identity, the self-image of the Dutch people, became a!topic in historical writing on photography as related to post-war photobooks – be they self-published, commercial or com-missioned editions. Therein a!shift was evident from a!traditional self-image, as in De schoonheid van ons land (The Beauty of Our Country) to a!more progressive and modern self-image as in wij zijn 17 (We Are 17, 1955) and company photobooks, to eventually a!rocky emancipatory self-image as in Sex a!Gogo.17

Unique to post-war Netherlands is the book as a!team product. In the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s a!remarkable number of books were published about Dutch industries, the countryside and the modernising cities under the supervision of a!graphic designer, and in close collaboration with writers/poets and publishers. In the same period Cas Oorthuys, Joan van der Keuken, Nico Jesse and Martien Coppens in most cases designed their own books.

In the second half of the 1950s, there was a!boom in photobooks. The #rst original post-war books appeared: Wij zijn 17 (We Are 17) by Joan van der Keuken and the photo novel Een liefdesgeschiedenis in Saint Germain de Prés (Love on the Left Bank, 1956) by Ed van der Elsken. Both were expressions of an existentialist spirit.18 In Wij zijn 17 not only were taboos broken about the oppressive 1950s, but the book deviated from conventional book features as well. Various sizes and framing of photographs were integrated into an overall book concept. The book contains portraits of friends and classmates from the photographer. All together, these features resulted in dismissal of the book in reviews. Heavy, existentialist-style portraits of smoking and drinking youth in pubs were inconsistent with the image of optimism during the post-war years of reconstruction. The intimate, melancholic pictures evoked associations with the French "lm noir genre. In this manner Van der Keuken created a!timely collective portrait of a!new generation. As reaction from the Dutch Catholic community, another photobook appeared in 1956 with the title Wij zijn ook zeventien (We Are Also 17) that portrayed 17 conventional students.

Paris Mortel is a!photobook about urban life that came about more or less accidentally during the technical training that Joan van der Keuken followed at the Institut des Hautes Etudes Cinematographiques (IDHEC) in Paris. In the book Van der Keuken avoided conventional tourist locations. Inspired by the experi-mental jazz of Miles Davis and John Coltrane, and the photobook Life is Good & Good for You in New York (1956) by William Klein, Van der Keuken photographed bleak and harsh street scenes near the railroad station Gare de l’Est, at metro stations and in the suburbs. He photographed people on the streets and children playing, culminating into a!series of photographs of an extreme right political demonstration. The storyline in the book is sketched with six episodes, ending at the cemetery Père Lachaise.

16 Suermondt, op.cit., pp. 12-48; Suermondt & Thijsen, op.cit.

17 For a description of the relation between Dutch identity, the self-image of the Dutch in relation to post-war documentary photogra-phy, see: De Bell, op.cit. noot 9, pp. 345-347.

18 Both post-war photobooks are mentioned in international reference works: Gierstberg & Suermondt, op.cit., pp. 46-47, 48-49; Roth, op.cit., pp. 146-147; Parr & Badger, op. cit. (2004), p. 244, 245; T. Berghmans, “Ik kom in Saint Germain des Pres” T. Berghmans, “Ik kom in Saint Germain des Pres”. Een eerste aanzet in het onderzoek naar het ontstaans- en publicatieproces van Een liefdesgeschiedenis in Saint Germain des Prés van Ed van der Elsken”, unpublished thesis Leiden University, Leiden, 2006.

With this publication, Van der Keuken extended the boundaries of the author/photographer book. Yet, the Dutch publishing world was not ready for such a!whimsical, Dadaist layout. Internationally, however, the radical photobook received much acclaim. Eventually Paris Mortel appeared in 1963 as a!promotional gift from the publisher C. De Boer, albeit in a!modi#ed format. The in$uence of the French nouvelle vague in the book is unmistakable. During the same period, Van der Keuken completed his #rst 11#lm, Paris à!l’Aube (1957 – 1960), the content of which overlaps that of the photobook Paris Mortel.

Similarly, several books by Ed van der Elsken gained international acclaim in the history of photobooks: Een liefdesgeschiedenis in Saint Germain de Prés, Jazz

Ed van der Elsken, cover photograph on the dust jacket of Een liefdesgeschiedenis in Saint Germain de Prés (Love on the Left Bank), published by De Bezige Bij, Amsterdam, 1956, 27 x 20 cm, Nederlands Fotomuseum, Rotterdam / © Ed van der Elsken.

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(1959) and Sweet Life (1966).19 The #rst book of Van der Elsken’s, Een liefdesge-schiedenis, became noted for the $ashback technique used therein and a!lively variety of close-up, medium and wide shots to portray the bleak tale of nomadic youth in Paris. This pivotal photo novel appeared in Dutch, German and English editions. The American edition was cancelled because Van der Elsken refused to revise the content to accommodate the publisher. Several translations have been published, including a!Japanese edition in 1998. Based on the personal diary of Van der Elsken following a!stay in Paris in 1951, three dummy versions of the book were developed. On the recommendation of Edward Steichen and based on the contact prints, the photographer prepared the resulting photobook. The photo novel revolve11s around the unrequited love of the Mexican Manuel for Ann (Vali Meijers).

Both Jurriaan Schrofer and Van der Elsken were responsible for the cin-ematographic layout in the book, with alternating sequences of different formats and points of view building up to full-page close-ups of Manuel’s dream about Ann. The book consists of eight chapters and a!prologue, all serving as a!harbinger of the controversial ending of the story. Fiction is processed in Een Liefdesgeschiedenis in Saint Germain des Prés with the aid of documentary photographs and autobiographical texts. The photo novel, a!minor genre in popular literature, suddenly experienced a!new life as a!result of this photobook.

That same year, Jurriaan Schrofer also designed as well the [Untitled] travelogue, commonly known as the “Hungarian refugees”.20 The photo editing was completed by Schrofer as well. The small book, with a!bright red cover and

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T h e H i s t o r y o f E u r o p e a n P h o t o g r a p h y , 1 9 3 9 – 1 9 6 9

19 Roth, op.cit., pp. 156-157, 184-185; A. Roth (Ed.), The Open Book. A History of the Photographic Book from 1878 to the present, Göteborg, 2004, pp. 196-197; Parr & Badger, op.cit. (2004), p. 246, 248, 254-5.

20 See discussion of this book in the category travelogues in: Gierstberg & Suermondt, op.cit., p. 117.

21 Gierstberg & Suermondt, op.cit., pp. 120-121.

22 Gierstberg & Suermondt, op.cit., p. 55; C. van der Harten & G. van Westerloo, Sanne Sannes [1937 – 1967] (Monografieën van Nederlandse fotografen/ Monographs on Dutch Photo-graphers), Amsterdam, 1993, pp. 52-53.

23 For a definition and the cultural history of the genre, the iconography of seminal company photobooks in post-war Holland, as well as the interdisciplinary collaboration in producing the genre, see respectively: Thijsen, op.cit.; Gierstberg & Suermondt, op.cit., pp. 80-81, 84, 85, 86-87, 88-89, 90-91, 95. See also: M Thijsen, “Photographers and corporate photobooks in post-war Holland: A dilemma between cultural responsibility and economic need”, in M. Sparreboom (Ed.), Foto en Document/ Photo and Document (Erasmus Prize 2002, Bernd and Hilla Becher), Amsterdam, 2002, pp. 9-23; Suermondt & Thijsen, op.cit., pp. 449-456.

as text just one verse from a!Hungarian folk song, was meant as outcry – and plea for fundraising – and historical evidence of the appalling living conditions of refugees in Hungary, especially children, during the uprising against the Russians in 1956. Ata Kando and Violette Cornelius made a!series of portraits in refugee camps on the border of Hungary with Austria. A!dynamic layout and radical cropping of photographs marks this documentary booklet on Hungarian refugees.

Sweet Life was published ten years later.21 This photobook by Van der Elsken is in the same travelogue category and originally had the working title “Crazy World”. The book concept was developed during a!world tour with his second wife Gerda van Veen. Sweet Life eventually became a!large-scale international co-production, eventually appearing in seven countries. Initially the book pro-ject went through di"erent mockups, was critically acclaimed but for years had di%culty in #nding a!niche in the market. The #nal book is outstanding: large in size, containing a!multitude of dense and contrast-rich gravure images, images with both extreme cropping and full-bled, and re$ects panoply of layouts with lyrical commentary on the pictures by the photographer. Further, what made the book extraordinary is that the photographer beforehand recruited Dutch corporations (including the Nederlandse Scheepsvaartmaatschappij (Dutch Mari-time Company) to #nance his travel reportages. The travelogue re$ects trips to Sierra Leone, South Africa, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Mexico, the United States and Japan. The central themes of these travel reportages in Sweet Life were societal injustices and poverty, such as Apartheid in South Africa and human su"ering. The photobook contains also the photographer’s renowned cinematographic sequences juxtaposed with vertical or horizontal bars, a!trademark of Jurriaan Schrofer.

Sex A!Gogo is a!cult book by Sanne Sannes, subtitled for amusement only, and is full of comic drawings, text balloons and photo collages. The small oblong quarto was posthumously published in 1969 based on a!photo/#lm earlier com-missioned by the broadcaster VPRO that eventually was censored because of its erotic nature.22 Sex A!Gogo re$ected the sexual revolution of the 1960s with a!pop art format and represented a!new type of interdisciplinary or hybrid photobook crossing the borders of photography, #lm and television. The parody-style story, inspired by Cowboy Kate and Other Stories (1964) by Sam Haskins, depicts a!young woman who takes revenge on the men in her life.

The same year the entertaining pocket HE; Visual Information about a!Human Being by Louis-Paul Vroom was launched. This artist’s book is a!reaction to theories by the Canadian scholar Marshall McLuhan. It contains photographs by Wim Davids of body parts from Louis-Paul Vroom. HE is, in fact, a!countercultural reac-tion to the experimental collage style bestseller that McLuhan co-created with the graphic designer Quentin Fiore, The Medium is the Massage (1967).

Interdisciplinary collaboration, storyline and layout: the company photobook

Collaboration between art disciplines and the intertwining of independent and applied art can be considered the underlining conditions for the genesis of the company photobook after World War II.23 This fusion aimed at the integration of art and society and was re$ected in the work of the internationally-renowned

Sanne Sannes, cover photograph of Sex A Gogo. For amusement only, published by De Bezige Bij, Amsterdam/ Europäischen Bücherei Hieronimi, Bonn, 1969, 17 x 29 cm, © Nederlands Fotomuseum, Rotterdam / © Sanne Sannes..

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cooperatives IRi10 and Opbouw (Building). Meanwhile, the social and cultural relevance of collaboration between applied artists and captains of industry increased. For example, left-wing oriented industrial patrons worked with like-minded applied artists. Vice versa, professional photographers established a!sub-cultural infrastructure of photography by networking with like-minded industrial patrons. Concomitantly, industrial patronage ran parallel with high economic growth.

Due to this cultural-economic climate, the company photobook came to occupy a!prominent position in the history of post-war Dutch photography. Examples of this genre are seen as one-o" publications – usually in the form of commemorative volumes for restricted circulation – whereby a!Dutch company commissioned a!team of professionals to document and depict di"erent aspects of the factory or corporation. In the most outstanding examples, the team consisted of an experimental writer-poet, one or more well-known photographers and a!prominent graphic designer. Further, because company photobooks came to represent lucrative and prestigious assignments for photographers in the post-war years, these book projects contributed to the status of the photographers and the works became trend setting.

The collaboration between photographers, graphic designers and authors on the one hand, and industrial patrons on the other, constitutes a!distinctive

feature of this genre. Grounded in a!deeply-rooted sense of solidarity felt by both leftist industrial patrons and applied artists, the production of photobooks was envisioned as a!social act. The genre is unique for the Netherlands because most of these books were the result of teamwork between photographers and graphic designers who were members of the new professional association for practition-ers of the applied arts, the Amsterdam based GKf. Collaboration between photo-graphers and designers in the realisation of these books became a!consistent hallmark of the genre.

The commemorative book 50 jaar Bruynzeel 1897-1947 (50 Years Bruynzeel 1897 – 1947) is the #rst example of teamwork between photographers and a!designer, and thereby is a!forerunner of corporate photobooks such as those produced by the printing company Meijer in Wormerveer. The innovative aspect of 50 jaar Bruyn-zeel was that the conventional photographs of a!plant, machinery, directors and labourers were replaced by images of the production process, of the man-machine interface, of human relations on the shop $oor and even of after-work leisure time. Furthermore, the overall design of the book by Jan Bons, utilising full-bled images taken by Carel Blazer and Eve Besnyö, was new. The company photobook served as a!link between the dynamic photomontages of the new photography and the #rst post-war photobooks of companies prepared as picture stories.

One of the #rst post-war photobooks in which the daily lives of workers was presented as a!visual narrative is Oranje Nassau Mijnen (Oranje Nassau Mines, 1953). Parallel to the company pro#le is a!story line of images about everyday life of a!miner in Limburg. No longer class struggle, but rather the heroism of work-ers became central to company photobooks such as Oranje Nassau Mijnen. Nico Jesse was responsible for both the photography and the layout of this anniversary book. From 1960 onwards, many other company photobooks appeared with visual narratives, following the theme “from the cradle to the grave”. An example of this approach is De draad van het verhaal (The Leitmotif, 1960).

vuur aan zee (1958) was considered pioneering and exceptional within the genre, not only because of the involvement of #ve photographers who made portraits of labourers and reportages at the company Hoogovens in IJmuiden: Violette Cornelius, Ed van der Elsken, Paul Huf, Ata Kando and Cas Oorthuys. Company photobooks designed through use of cinematographic techniques – sequences of photographs as arranged through the ‘narrativisation’ of images as in a!#lm – were illustrative of the heyday of the genre.

The most signi#cant publications were realised under the direction of graphic designer Jurriaan Schrofer, and often based on a!written scenario. In vuur aan zee Schrofer was not attempting to create a!linear storyline – as in the photo novel Een liefdesgeschiedenis in Saint Germain des Prés. Instead, Schrofer was seeking to accentuate tempo, rhythm, dynamics and movement as principle features of the book. The collective reportage represents not so much the process of steel production but rather the theatrical aspects and the dramatics of steel produc-tion. The Dutch poet/writer Paul Rodenko described the industrial process in his contribution to the book as an “infernal procedure”. This was attempted through use of a!cinematic editing process of dynamic full-bled image spreads. According to an internal design logic consisting of vertical and horizontal bars, Schrofer was able to visualise the production process. This approach of two layout axes is also re$ected in the design of Bagara (1958). Whether the book was about steel production in Hoogovens (vuur aan zee) or the portrayal of indigenous people in Equatorial Africa (Bagara), Schrofer was able to merge two distinct story lines within a!single functional book layout.

Carel Blazer / Jan Bons, Exhaust installation and boilerhouse, 50 jaar Bruynzeel 1987 – 1947 / 50 years Bruynzeel 1897 – 1947, published by C. Bruynzeel & Zonen, Zaandam, 1947, 33 x 26 cm, © Carel Blazer / Maria Austria Instituut (MAI) / © Jan Bons / NAGO, Amsterdam.

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As vuur aan zee shows, progressive industrial patrons engaged with experi-mental writers and poets from the “Fiftiers” (Those of the ’50s) literary movement in order to commission written texts for corporate publications. The Fiftiers mainly became involved in the production of company photobooks via GKf members a%liated with the sections of graphic designers and photographers. The genre reached its peak in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and saw the publication of such seminal company photobooks as PLEM (1958), 100 jaar Grasso (100 Years Grasso 1958), De draad van het verhaal (1960) and De Verbinding (1962) – all of which were avant-garde for the time.

Rhetorical images appealing to a!large public and #t into the tradition of humanist photography and contemporary visual culture de#ned the genre. Post-war photography in company photobooks expressed engagement but not criticism. In that respect photo reportages of trade and industry in this genre of books are not neutral and objective registrations. Instead, the industrial report-ages are interpretations of a!constructed reality, coloured by individual observa-tions, artistic aims, political ideas, economic perspective and corporate ideology. The visual imagery had become more direct. At the same time, the increasing use of bleed printing was indicative of a!growing respect for the medium of photogra-phy and established the image of the corporation as a!modern communicator.

In its heyday, the genre of company photobooks contained typical grainy photographs of dramatic light and contrasting compositions: blurring pictures and text that is sometimes di%cult to read. Photographs by Eddy Posthuma de Boer and Violette Cornelius in De Verbinding/The Connection (1962) are illustra-tive of this style. Certain information was added to the pictures in the phase of picture editing or was deliberately left out of the images. Progressive industrial patrons – in particular from major national corporations like PTT and Hoo-govens that commissioned GKf-members – were not particularly interested in historical pictures from the corporate archive, but in new social-documentaries: striking reportages of dynamic life and activity in modern industrial sites. Their aim was to make loosely-edited visual narratives of human interaction in the industrial process, from raw material to #nished product. In general, these photobooks re$ect national character-traits in relation to post-war corporate cultures.

Policies for Photography Collections and Photography Commissions During the early years of the advance of the photobook the #rst steps were taken towards development of an infrastructure for photography. The most important public photography collections in the Netherlands emerged during this period. Meanwhile, changes in attitudes about photography emerged along with the artistic aspirations of photographers coming to the fore.24 In a!period of 15 years departments of photography were established within renowned museums and the #rst curators were appointed.

With the acquisition in 1952 of the collection Grégoire, the basis for the #rst pub-lic photo collection was established in the Netherlands, initiated by Henri Van de Waal, professor of art history and director of the Print Room of the Leiden University. Van de Waal was committed to promoting the recognition of photography as an artistic medium and to creation of a!study collection of mostly documentary pho-tography. The Leiden Print Room became primarily a!platform for NFK members.

Within art historical circles and the world of museums in the Netherlands interest in photography expanded through the late 1950s. Photography had become a!component in museum collections policies. Historical photography,

24 For the influence of the professional group on policies related to collecting and commission-ing photography, see: Thijsen, op.cit., pp. 132-133; H. Visser & R. Suermondt, Fotografie in het Stedelijk. De geschiedenis van een collectie, (Photography in the Stedelijk. The History of a Collection), Amsterdam/Rotterdam, 2009, pp. 105-109.

Dutch photography and photographs documenting the cultural history of the city of Amsterdam were areas of special interest.

On 1 February 1958 the Stedelijk Museum (City Museum) in Amsterdam announced its intention to develop a!photo collection containing contemporary photography since 1950. From that time the museum developed a!structural policy for acquisition of photography. Art historian Louis Kloet, head of the library and an amateur photographer himself, was appointed manager of the photo col-lection in progress. For acquisitions, he was advised by a!committee of exclusively GKf members (Eva Besnyö, Carel Blazer, Ed Van der Elsken and Cas Oorthuys), which was designed to have decision-making power and assure development of a!quality collection. The composition of this advisory body eliminated considera-tion of the work of NFK members for inclusion in the collection, given the fun-damental di"erence in approach between these two organisations. This division explains the large amount of work purchased by Dutch photographers from GKf members during the #rst years of the museum photo collection.25

After two years, Kloet proposed dismantling the advisory board, largely because of its one-dimensional vision of photography, its professional culture and the approach that was used for selection criteria. A!con$ict ensued between the director and the committee and resulted in stagnation of museum acquisitions for years thereafter.

The way photographs were originally collected – from the museum library with #xed sizes, bought at #xed prices, and adhered to aluminium plates – was illustra-tive of the bureaucratic conservation policy. It also re$ected much about the status of the medium of photography at that point in time. The #rst acquired photographs

Cas Oorthuys / Jurriaan Schrofer, a spread from the company photobook De draad van het verhaal / The Leitmotif, published by Koninklijke Textielfabrieken Nijveldal-Ten Cate, Almelo, 1960, pp. 50-51, 31,5 x 25 cm, © Nederlands Fotomuseum, Rotterdam / NAGO Amsterdam / © Cas Oorthuys.

25 For this collection of the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam some 300 photos were collected in 1958 and about 200 in 1959, primarily from GKf members. Only a few works were collected from the NFK members Steef Zoetmulder, Ed van Wijk, and Victor Meeussen. See: Romein, ibid. p- 111.

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26 Visser, op.cit., p. 9.

27 For the history of documentary photography commissions in Amsterdam and develop-ment of a new policy for such work, see: T. Hendriks & J. van Bennekom, “De beperkingen van vrijheid. Ervaringen van fotografen met documentaire opdrachten” (The Limitations of Freedom. Experiences of Photographers with Documentary Photography Assignments), Perspektief 7 (1987) pp. 28/29, 18-23; A. van Veen, “Amsterdam voordat het voorbij is. De foto-opdrachten van het Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst ten behoeve van het gemeentearchief” (Amsterdam Before It Is Over. Photography Commissions by the Amsterdam Fund for the Arts for the Benefit of the Municipal Archive), Perspektief 7 (1987) 28/29, pp. 52-77. The practice of documen-taries commissioned by the Fund for Visual Art (Fonds voor de Kunst) and the National Museum (Rijksmuseum) are presented from the perspective of photography in De Bell, op.cit., pp. 353.

were not collected nor exhibited as works of art, but as documentaries.26 This was due to the fact that representatives of the profession felt that photography was primarily meant for distribution through print publications – newspapers, maga-zines and books. For years, photography was considered by GKf members as a!form of applied art and not primarily intended for exhibition in a!museum environment.

In 1965 the GKf proposed that the city of Amsterdam establish a!prize to encour-age photographers, largely because its members felt applied photography sti$ed development of the #eld. Two years later the archive division of the city (Amster-dams Gemeentearchief) adopted a!modi#ed form of the proposal in collaboration with members of the GKf who were in search of new sources of income and plat-forms for photography.27 A!new photography commissioning policy was developed in order to lift documentary photography to a!higher level and strengthen the genre, as well as to support the role of photography as an independent medium. The #rst initiatives for the documentary missions of the Fonds voor de Kunst (Fund for the Visual Arts) were undertaken by Wim Vroom (from 1966 curator of Histori-cal and Topographical Atlas of the City of Amsterdam and since 1972 head of the Department of Dutch History of the Rijksmuseum), Oscar van Alphen and Jan Versnel. From his position as a!commissioner of photography assignments at the Municipal Archive, Vroom attempted to revive the visualisation of Amsterdam by way of the medium of photography. The exhibition Dag Amsterdam (Hello Amster-dam, 1961) was illustrative of his approach. The role of the Rijksmuseum (Royal Museum) with regard to photography commissioning policy gradually increased. From 1975 the Rijksmuseum initiated an annual photographic commission.

Summary

The period 1939 – 1969 was characterised by professionalization of photo-graphers in the Netherlands, emergence of the photobook, and vocational education evolving from purely technical training. Collaboration between photographers, designers, and the graphics industry in the realisation of Dutch photobooks became a!consistent hallmark. GKf was the breeding ground for this form of collaboration. The core #gures involved were protagonists of the human-ist tradition in documentary photography and often held leading positions in the professional organisations of photographers after World War II.

New methods of organisation and the cultural management of artists working in applied arts were two important factors that contributed to the development of this #eld. Professional attitudes were changing, the prestige of applied art-ists was growing, and the profession of photographer was gradually becoming emancipated. Photographers became modern-day entrepreneurs, establishing independent practices, mainly as freelancers. Active members of post-war professional photographers’ organisations GKf and NFK contributed to advancing the skills of professional photographers as well as to programming education in photography and establishing a!policy for photo commissions. The essence of professionalization was based on standards in the quality and maintenance of a!professional culture, and not technical and organisational aspects of the discipline. These features were more important for the GKf than ensuring uniform fees for photographers.

Transformation towards societal harmony after World War II and re$ection of the informal side of social life are themes in Dutch photobooks, periodicals and

28 Based on: M. Thijsen, “Humanistische Foto-grafie en het geluk van de alledaagsheid. Het Nederlandse bedrijfsfotoboek 1945 – 1965”, Humanist Photography and the Happiness of Mundanity. The Dutch Company Photobook 1945 – 1965, dissertation Utrecht University, Utrecht, 2000 in: Thijsen, op.cit., pp. 236-238.

museum exhibitions during this period. Because company photobooks repre-sented the most lucrative and prestigious assignments for photographers in the post-war years, and because of the underlying unique collaborations, these book projects became trendsetting. In addition, visual imagery had become more direct during the period. The increasing use of full-bled photographs was indicative of a!growing respect for the medium of photography as a!modern way of communication in the Netherlands.28

Part of this chapter is based on the commercial edition of my dissertation: Thijsen, M., Het bedrijfsfotoboek 1945 – 1965. Professionalisering van fotografen in Nederland (The Company Photobook 1945 – 1965. Professionalization of Photo-graphers in the Netherlands), Rotterdam 2002.

Translated from Dutch into English and edited by Nicholas W. Jankowski.

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Oscar van Alphen (Alphen aan de Rijn, 1923 – 2010), pseudonym for Cees Simoné Corneille Nieuwenhuizen, is renowned for his critical documentary photography. His work was political, abstract and theoretical in nature. He made photobooks about the Rote Armee Fraktion and Berufsverbote in Germany. In De slak op het grasveld (The Snail on the Lawn, 1992) a search for the underlying meaning of photography was undertaken. His #rst photobook Kinderen in de grote stad (Children in the Big City, 1958) #tted within the post-war tradition of humanist photography. Van Alphen completed training for a maritime profession and followed for some years, after brie$y working at sea, a study of social geography at the University of Amsterdam. In the mid-1950s while working at the Nederlandse Handelsmaatschappij (Dutch Trading Company), Van Alphen began to photograph in his spare time. In the 1960s, he became a member of the GKf and committed himself to supporting commissioned documentary photography. De Oorlogen (The Wars, 1985) is an audio-visual installation based on works by Georges Bataille.

Maria Austria (Marie Karoline Oestricher) (Karlsbad, 1915 – 1975) followed a technical training programme at Höhere Graphische Bundes Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt and founded, together with Aart Klein, Henk Jonker and Wim Zilver Rupe, the collective agency Particam Pictures. In 1945, the year of its creation, Austria

Biographical Notes:

became a board member of the GKf. In the 1960s she contributed to the rise of photography as a form of art and advocated for government recognition. She supported innovations in the #eld of theatre photography.

Kors van Bennekom (Amsterdam, 1933) was a press photographer who specialized in the #elds of journalistic, theatre and family photography. He was a member of the youth organization CPN and is a self-taught photographer. His career as a press photographer at the daily newspaper De Waarheid (The Truth) began in 1956; he assisted and later replaced Dolf Kruger. Van Bennekom was already a member of the Nederlandse Vereniging van Fotojournalisten (Netherlands Association of Photojournalists, NVF) when he acquired membership in the GKf in 1962. Since 1973 he has been a member of the Fotografen Federatie (Photographers Federation). He resigned from De Waarheid in 1965 and established himself as an independent photographer. Van Bennekom was sta" photographer for the Uitkrant voor Amsterdammers (Cultural Information Newspaper for Amsterdam Citizens) and the Philharmonic Orchestra and photographed the labour movement, including construction workers rioting in 1966. He was chair of the #rst Commission for Photography of the Amsterdam Arts Council, founded in 1972, and of the Stichting Fotogra#sch Centrum (Foundation

Photographic Centre), established in 1975. His #rst book, De familie Van Bennekom (The Family Van Bennekom, 1990), tells the story of a close and growing family.

Violette Cornelius (Singapore, 1919 – 1998) acquired brief professional training at the Koninklijke Academie voor Beeldende Kunsten (Royal Academy of Fine Arts, KABK) in The Hague, followed by classes at the Nieuwe Kunstschool (New Art School) in Amsterdam (1938). She worked as an assistant of Paul Guermonprez at his advertising consulting agency Co-op 2. She was active during the World War II in the Resistance, contributing to the Persoonsbewijzen Centrale (Personal Identi#cation Card Centre). She produced, together with female photographer Ata Kando, the untitled photo booklet known as Hungarian Refugees, 1956. She was a member of the GKf photographers union since 1957 and collaborated with graphic designer Jurriaan Schrofer on multiple book productions, including the promotional gift De letter op straat (The Letter on the Street, 1957) and the company photobooks vuur aan zee (Fire Beside the Sea, 1958) and De Verbinding (The Connection, 1962). During the last 20 years of her life she lived in France.

Eduard van der Elsken (Amsterdam, 1925 – 1990) was a self-taught photographer who joined the GKf photographers union in 1949. During his stay in Paris (1950-1954) he married Hungarian photographer

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Ata Kando and photographed the daily life of young Bohemians in Paris, resulting in the seminal photobook Een liefdesgeschiedenis in Saint Germain der Prés (Love on the Left Bank, 1956). In 1955 he made several reportages about ‘nozems’ for the weekly illustrated Vrij Nederland (Liberated Netherlands) together with journalist-#lmmaker Jan Vrijman. The photobook Bagara (1957) was based on a trip to Equatorial Africa and the Belgian Congo, and in terms of layout was similar to the company photobook vuur aan zee (Fire Beside the Sea, 1958). Supported by two commissions from illustrated magazines and a stipend from the Netherlands public broadcasting, it was the Nederlandse Redersvereniging (Dutch Shipping Association) that enabled Van der Elsken to make a world trip in 1959-1960 to South Africa, Asia and America. In addition to a company #lm, he made travel reportages, published afterwards in the photobook, Sweet Life (1966). He produced a large number of seminal photobooks and most of his #lms were auto-biographical.

Dolf Kruger (Chêxbres, 1923) had practical training at Photo Agency Particam and was an intern of professional photographer Carel Blazer (1947-1948), both in Amsterdam. He established himself as an independent photojournalist (1948-1951). In the period 1951-1960 he was employed at the daily newspaper De Waarheid. Kruger photographed the miners’ strike in the Borinage (1959) and received in 1961 the Zilveren

Camera (Silver Camera) award for a photograph from this series. Kruger acquired membership in the GKf in 1959. In the 1960s, he focused on commissioned work for the government and corporations (anniversary books, calendars, annual reports and photobooks), working for the city of Zaandam, Nederlandse Spoorwegen (Dutch Railways), Rijkswaterstaat (Department of Public Works) and the PTT.

Paul Eduard Bram Huf (Amsterdam, 1924 – 2002) was a self-taught photographer who acquired GKf membership in 1947 and pro#led himself as the #rst successful Dutch portrait and advertising photographer and created his own business. After World War II Huf photographed the protagonists of cultural life in the Netherlands. He contributed to several company photobooks including vuur aan zee (Fire Beside the Sea, 1958) and De Verbinding (The Connection, 1962). In addition, Huf illustrated advertising campaigns, annual reports and calendars. Later he produced commercial #lms and in 1966 founded for this purpose Paul Huf Associates NV. He worked on assignment for a large number of Dutch companies, including KLM, Philips, and PTT.

Cor Jaring (Amsterdam, 1936 – ) grew up in a communist, working-class family and during military service was accidentally introduced to photography. Initially, he worked as

a labourer in the Amsterdam harbour and made portraits of fellow dock workers and documented canteens, shipyards and ports of the era. From 1966 onwards he established himself as an independent photographer, gaining fame with reportages of counterculture events occurring in the turbulent 1960s such as the Provo movement in Amsterdam, of which he was co-founder, numerous happenings, and the squatters’ riots during the coronation of Princess Beatrix. In What hap-hap happens in Amsterdam (1966) and Amsterdam +- (1969) is the recording of those years from an insiders perspective. Until the mid-1980s he documented the upheaval between anarchist movements and the established order and in 1975 he won the World Press Photo.

Nico Jesse (Rotterdam, 1911 – 1976) studied medicine in Utrecht (1930-1937) and was a self-taught photographer. The company photobook Oranje Nassau Mijnen (Oranje Nassau Mines, 1953) that he personally designed and composed was selected as one of the 50 Best Dutch Book Designs. From 1955 he devoted himself entirely to photography and took part in the exhibition The Family of Man. From 1956, he was a member of the Nederlandse Fotografen Patroons Vereniging (Dutch Photographers Patrons Association, NFPV). Due to the success of a number of photobooks about everyday life, people, landscape and urban areas

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in Europe – of which the Bruna-pocket edition of Vrouwen van Parijs (Women of Paris, 1954) is the best known – industrialists commissioned him to compose annual reports and company photobooks in a similar way. From 1961 he combined practice as a company doctor later with the métier of photographer in Switzerland.

Ata Kando (Budapest, 1913) studied at the Bortnyk Academy in Budapest and there met the painter Gyula Kando who later became her #rst husband. Before the outbreak of World War II she worked as a portrait photographer of children. In 1947 Kando established herself in Paris and there met Ed van der Elsken in 1950. They married and settled from 1954 in the Netherlands; a year later they separated. Subsequently, Kando photographed for fashion houses in Paris and composed in 1956 with Viollette Cornelius the book Untitled about Hungarian refugees. In 1988 she received the Imre Nagy-Medal for this booklet. Two years later both were involved in the creation of vuur aan zee (Fire Beside the Sea, 1958) commissioned by Koninklijke Hoogovens. In 1957 Droom in het woud (Dream in the Forest) was published, which told a romantic picture story in which her children are the protagonists. From 1961 to 1976 she taught at the School voor Gra#sche Vakken (School for Graphic Design & Typography) in Utrecht and the Akademie voor Kunst en Industrie (Academy for Art and Industry, AKI) in Enschedé.

Hans Katan (Rotterdam, 1924 – 2006) was trained as a painter at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rotterdam (1944-1948) and was a self-taught photographer. In 1956 he established himself independently. Katan was a GKf member who took part in the group exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam Dag Amsterdam (Hello Amsterdam) in 1961. From 1963 he was a lecturer in photography at the Academy of Fine Arts St. Joost in Breda. In 1972 he was appointed professor in photography at the Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam. His projects included publicity photography commissioned by Philips Phonographic Industries.

Joan van der Keuken (Amsterdam, 1938 – 2001) was a photographer and #lmmaker who in the period 1956-1958 received training at the Paris #lm school, Institut des Hautes Études Cinématographiques (IdHEC). Three photobooks are features of the beginning of his career: Wij zijn 17 (We Are 17, 1955), Achter Glas (Behind Glass, 1957) and Paris Mortel (1963). The books are imbued with melancholy, daydreaming and gloomy commitment. He subsequently gained fame as a #lmmaker with over 40 #lms, such as Bewogen koper (Moved Copper) about four brass bands in Suriname and Nepal. His #lms often have a documentary basis, stringing together images according to a principle of association and rhythmic repetition. From 1977 he wrote a column for the #lm

magazine Skrien and later returned to photography. The monograph Nabeelden/Afterimage appeared in 1989. His texts, which are considered inseparable from his photography and #lm oeuvre, have been published in Aventures d’un regard (1998).

Aart Klein (Amsterdam, 1909 – 2001) worked in the period 1930-1939 as an administrative assistant to the photography department at Polygon and later achieved the status of photographer. With Maria Austria, Henk Jonker and Silver Rupe, he established Particam (Partisans Camera) in Amsterdam. Referred to as the “domestic armed forces photo group” the collaboration evolved to a photo agency specialized in theatre photography, later Particam Pictures. He was a founding member of the Nederlandse Vereniging van Fotojournalisten (Dutch Association of Photo journalists, NVF) and worked for the advocacy of press photographers. His idea to create an international competition of photo journalists, laid the foundations for World Press Photo. In 1956 he established himself as an independent photographer and focused on commissioned and corporate photography. That same year, he became a member of the GKf. He photographed the reconstruction years in the Netherlands and was the chronicler of the Delta works in photobooks, such as Delta, stromenland in beweging (Delta, Water Flow Country in Motion, 1967).

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Jaap d’ Oliveira (Amsterdam, 1908 – 1978) was the assistant to Albert Renger-Patzsch in Essen in 1930 and then followed a training in the studio of Hugo Schmolz in Cologne. In the early 1930s he started a business partnership with Hans Spies, both specialized in the #eld of interior design. On recommendation of Willem Sandberg, d’Oliveira was appointed in 1945 as professor in photography at the Instituut voor Kunstnijverheidsonderwijs (Institute for Applied Arts Education, IvKnO), later the Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam. He continued teaching until 1971. His photography has been published in journals for architecture and applied art.

Pim van Os (Arnhem, 1910 – 1954), born as Simon van Os, is mainly known as a portrait and reportage photographer. He also dedicated himself to experimental abstract photography and his work re$ects a search for pioneering opportunities of the medium. Of Jewish origin, he was forced into hiding during World War II. Van Os was a member of the Nederlandse Fotografen Kunstkring (Dutch Art Photographers Circle, NFK) in 1949 and acquired the status of principal member in 1951. That year he participated in the international exhibition of professional photography in Milan and entered full-time employment at the pharmaceutical #rm Organon as an advertising photographer. Van Os worked on a freelance basis for the daily newspaper Het Vaderland (The

Homeland) until his death in 1954 as a result of a tra%c accident.

Sem Presser (Amsterdam, 1917 – 1986) was trained at the Vaz Diaz press photography agency (1935-1937) and later established himself as an independent photojournalist. He collaborated with Ben van Meerendonk in 1938 at the Algemeen Nederlands Fotopersbureau (General Dutch Photo Press Agency). In 1941, during the German occupation – he was a Jewish press photographer – he went into hiding and working for the resistance. From late 1944 onwards he served as war photographer, employed by the Allies and was a member of both the NVF and GKf. After the war he worked worldwide on journalistic assignments; as such he reported on the Vietnam War for the daily newspaper De Telegraaf. He was chair of the NVF in the period 1948-1951 and 1968-1981. He was committed to advocacy for professional photographers as a board member of the foundation Burafo, World Press Photo, and as a jury member of the Zilveren Camera (Silver Camera) award. In 1985, as a pioneer of photography, Presser received the Joop Alblas Prize.

Eddy Posthuma de Boer (Amsterdam, 1931 – ) studied at the Nederlandse Fotovakschool (Dutch Professional Photography School) in The Hague but was primarily self-taught. Since 1954 he established himself as an

independent press photographer. In 1957 he gained membership in the GKf for a period of about #ve years. He compiled a number of books, including Voor het oog van de wereld (At the Eye of the World, 1996), containing an overview of his travel reportages. He also contributed to the company photobook of the state-owned company PTT, De Verbinding (The Connection, 1962).

Frits Rotgans (Amsterdam, 1919 – 1978) was trained in advertising at the Instituut voor Kunstnijverheidsonderwijs (Institute for Applied Arts Education, IvKnO) in Amsterdam and is considered in the Netherlands a pioneer in the development of panoramic photography. Just after World War II he was an o%cer in the Dutch Rhine Transport Mission. He later achieved the status of industrial photographer and camera builder and his documentation of the Rhine and inland waterways as well as the Dutch ports was of social-historical signi#cance. With Amsterdam breed gezien (Amsterdam Seen Wide, 1959) his focus shifted towards the capital city. Less well known is that Rotgans photographed street life in Amsterdam in colour during the German occupation. In the 1970s he recorded construction of the underground metro system in Amsterdam.

Sanne Sannes (Groningen, 1937 –1967) died abruptly at the age of 30. He was characterised as “crotchety”,

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“critical” and an “angry young man” of his generation who broke taboos. He enjoyed an international breakthrough due to his unorthodox photographic work for which he received the Prix de Nièpce in 1964. He also made poetic, mysterious nude portraits of young women. He experimented with techniques such as double exposure and photomontage in order to suggest the capriciousness and variety in moods and feelings of women. His work poised on the edge of eroticism. He worked in series and sequences that he called “cine-novels” and determined their best exposure was in a photobook or photo/movie. The #lm Santa Lucia (1964) was initially censored and only four years later shown on television under the title Dirty Girl (1968). The photographic material included in this movie was converted into the cult book Sex a Gogo (1969).

Willy Schurman (Den Haag, 1904 – 1986) was a self-taught photographer and a founding member of the Nederlandse Fotovakschool (Dutch Professional Photography School) and the School voor Fotogra#e en Fototechniek (School for Photography and Photo Technique), both in The Hague. From 1937 he was a member of the NFK, until the fusion of this professional photographers association with the Nederlandse Beroeps Fotografen (Dutch Professional Photographers, BFN) in 1970. In 1942, he became chairman of the board. Under pressure from the German occupiers, he established

the short-lived Vakgroep Fotogra#e (Department of Photography). After World War II he was chairman of the NFK over a period of 20 years and was also involved in the reorganisation of this photographers’ union. In the period 1937 – 1972 he was a member of the Nederlandse Fotografen Patroons Vereniging (Dutch Photographers Patrons Association, NFPV). He collaborated with his colleague Jan Schiet on advertising assignments and in addition was involved in the creation of the Burafo in 1956.

Krijn Taconis (Rotterdam, 1918 – 1979) was the #rst Dutch photographer to become a member of the Magnum photo agency in 1950. With that status he introduced other Dutch photographers, including Ed van der Elsken. During World War II he joined the Hidden Camera, but during the arrest of an espionage group he was detained along with Ad Windig and Carel Blazer. He emigrated to Canada in 1959 and changed his #rst name to Kryn. There he became a leading Canadian photojournalist in the 1960s and 1970s. He reported from Europe, the Middle East, and Australia and his reportages and photo-essays appeared in the main illustrated magazines of the time, Life and Paris-Match.

Carel J. Tirion (Magelan, 1905 – 1993) studied at the KABK in The Hague with his mentor, Paul Guermonprez. He was knowledgeable in the area of scienti#c photography and

specialized in forensic photography and was both founder and director of the Nederlandse Fotovakschool (Dutch School of Professional Photography) and director of the School voor Fotogra#e en Fototechniek (School for Photography and Photo Technique), both in The Hague. He was also a member of the commission for the establishment of the Nederlandse Vereniging voor Kleurenstudie (Dutch Association for Colour Study), advising the Leidsche Onderwijsinstellingen (Leiden Educational Institutions) in 1957 to pursue a distant education course for colour photography. For several years he taught evening courses for applied photography and photographic trade and was a member of the Nederlandse Fotografen Patroons Vereniging (Dutch Photographers Patrons Association, NFPV) in the period 1935 – 1970.

Jan Versnel (Amsterdam,1924 –2007) followed a course at the advertising department of the Instituut voor Kunstnijverheidsonderwijs (Institute for Applied Arts Education, IvKnO) in Amsterdam from 1941, after studying at the Amsterdamse Gra#sche School (Amsterdam School for Graphical Design, AGS), where Bernard Eilers was his mentor. In 1947 he established himself as an independent photographer after holding an assistantship with Nico Jesse. From 1950, he was a member of the GKf. He made interior photographs of model homes of the Stichting Goed Wonen (Foundation

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for Quality Living) and specialized in architecture, advertising and product photography. From 1971-1983 he was professor of photography at the Rietveld Academy. His work was widely published in the magazines Goed Wonen and Forum. Among his many clients were architects and designers (e.g., Bodon, Aldo van Eyck, Kho Liang Ie and Benno Premsela), furniture manufacturers (Gispen Furniture, Ahrend) and other Dutch companies (de Bijenkorf, Sikkens).

Cor van Weele (Doetichem, 1918 – 1989) was an autodidact who in the #rst years after World War II was an assistant of Willy Schuurman and later served as editor of the professional magazine Fotogra"e. His training and professional work focused on craftsmanship and technical mastery and he found like-minded colleagues both in the GKf and the NFK. Eventually he became a member of the GKf. He established himself in the social register of visual artists, which also included Jan Schoonhoven and André Volten. Commissioned by Albert Heijn, Van Weele created a company photobook Ze liegen over je (They Lie About You, 1957) and Dag nieuwe dag (Hello New Day, 1960) for a bed manufacturer. The poetic photobook En alles daartussen (And Everything in Between, 1957), designed by his wife Els van Santen, is included in the reference book The Dutch Photobook (2012).

Eduard (Ed) van Wijk (Groningen, 1917 – 1992) was self-taught and an active member of various professional

organizations. From 1951 to 1969 he was a member of the NFK and from 1953 was appointed a central member. He was also a member of the Nederlandse Fotografen Patroons Vereniging (Dutch Photographers Patrons Association, NFPV) and held various board positions. For several years Van Wijk was also a member of the GKf (1961-1968). He worked as a professor of photography at the Vrije Academie (Independent Academy, 1957-1969), at the School voor Fotogra#e en Fototechniek (the School of Photography and Photo Technique) in The Hague (1959-1982) and from the mid-1960s at the Academy of Fine Arts in Arnhem. He composed a variety of photobooks and his book Nederland. Wonder uit water (Netherlands. Wonder from Water, 1954), was selected as one of the Best Dutch Book Designs, contributing to his national prominence.

Ad Windig (Heemstede, 1912 – 1996) studied theory courses with Carel Blazer in the #rst year of World War II and gained practical experience at Emmy Andriesse. He was one of the founders of the GKf in 1945. Around 1948 Carel Blazer entered into a partnership with him with the aim of recruiting commissioned work from industries and manufacturers. Philip Mechanicus and Ed van der Elsken were occasionally his assistants. In the 1950s he was the sta" photographer for the corporate publication Proost Prikkels (Proost Incentives) prepared for the paper

wholesaler Proost & Brand. He was chair of the GKf board from 1958 to 1966. His name is associated with more than 20 photobooks including the corporate photobooks In het land van de Levenden (In the Land of the Living, 1966) and Ik drink de aarde (I Drink the Earth, 1968).

Meinard Woldringh (Groningen, 1918 – 1968) was a self-taught photographer and had an internship at the studio of advertising photographers Nico Zomer and Marius Meijboom. He studied at the Agricultural University in Wageningen and expressed much interest in nature and landscape photography. As a professional photographer and specialist in the #eld of colour photography, he served for 20 years in the Nederlandse Rotogravure Maatschappij (Dutch Rotogravure Society, NRM) in Leiden. From 1947, as secretary, he contributed to reorganization of the NFK. Some 18 years later, in 1965, for a period of three years, he was chair of this association for photographers. From 1956-1968 he held a seat on the board of the School voor Fotogra#e en Fototechniek (School of Photography and Photo Technique) in The Hague. From 1960 he was editor of the magazine Camera Europhot, and a member of the European Association of Professional Photographers.

Steef Zoetmulder (Schiedam, 1911

– 2004) began as an amateur photographer and from 1936 worked as a professional photographer after

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having trained in the advertising department of the Academy of Fine Arts and Technical Sciences in Rotterdam. In 1937, after working as a photographer-designer for an international advertising agency in The Hague, he opened a studio in Rotterdam for industrial, advertising, fashion and architectural photography, Studio Stezo. He was a member of several amateur and professional associations: Bond voor Nederlandse Amateur Fotografen Vereniging (Union of Dutch Amateur Photographers Association, BNAFV), Beroeps Fotografen Nederland (Dutch Professional Photographers, BFN), and a principal member of the NFK. Zoetmulder had special technical skills, which is re$ected in his surrealistically-oriented independent work. International recognition for his work was signi#cant, as demonstrated by his participation in the exhibition Subjektive Fotogra"e I (1951) at the invitation of Otto Steinert.

Nico Zomer (Arnhem, 1910 – 1988) graduated from the School voor Gra#sche Vakken (School of Graphic Design & Typography) in Utrecht and attained the diploma Master printer. He followed with photographic training at the Reimann Schule in Berlin. In 1940 he founded, together with Carel Tirion and Willy Schuurman, the Nederlandse Fotovakschool in The Hague (Dutch School of Professional Photography), under the auspices of the NFPV. He was a board member and later a member of the board of examiners as well as a member of the

board of the Vakgroep Fotogra#e (Department of Photography) which continued until 1948. In 1953, he was involved in the creation of the School voor Fotogra#e en Fototechniek (Polytechnic School for Photography and Photo Technique) in The Hague. In the period 1949-1953 Zomer was treasurer and member of the board of the NFK. In 1951 he became a principal member. From 1946 to 1958 Zomer was on the editorial board of the professional magazine FOTO. Because of his contributions to the development of colour photography and reproduction techniques, Zomer was appointed head of the photography department at Royal Joh. Enschedé and worked on a contract basis for this printer on industrial assignments in Haarlem from 1956 to 1966.

Paul Huf and Ed van der Elsken, vuur aan zee (Fire beside the sea), published by Hoogovens, IJmuiden, 1958, pp. 70-71, 31 x 25 cm, Maria Austria Instituut (MAI), Amsterdam / © Paul Huf and Nederlands Fotomuseum, Rotterdam / © Ed van der Elsken.

The HISTORY of DUTCH HISTORY 1939-1969

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