Photography: several
Text: Arjan de Nooy, Flip Bool, Marianne Theunissen, Paul Bogaers
Design: Charlotte van der Heijden
2009
Book of the month April 2023
The cover of the book bears the full title: ‘De Facto. A history of Dutch photography’. It reads: 'Collected and delivered by Arjan de Nooy'. The photo on the cover is by Egbert van Zwan.
On the back we read, among other things: 'The Dutch chemist and photo collector Arjan de Nooy sheds new light on the history of photography in this book. A personally tinted history of photography, which is largely based on De Nooy's own photo collection. More than two centuries of Dutch photography come to life in this book in an amalgam of scientific research, personal memories and observations.'
In an introduction, Flip Bool writes how the history of photography is constantly being rewritten, or rather told in a more nuanced way, after discoveries and the research that is linked to them. 'Thanks to trackers like Arjan de Nooy, research into the history of Dutch photography will remain an adventure.'
Arjan successively spotlights six photographers: the scientist Adriaan Paauw who already experimented with salt printing at the end of the 18th century, the 19th century painter Théophile de Bock who used photography (albumen prints) as a tool for his compositions, Eline Portman who made portraits in the early 20th century, the 'thought photographer' Eddy Zuidhoek (with a text in collage form by Paul Bogaers), the computer scientist Egbert van Zwan, who sees photography as a scientific experiment, and Onno Meerdink, who records the messy, built-up environment between town and countryside.
It all sounds very plausible, until you come across a self-portrait by Onno Meerdink on page 106. Want to read more about Arjan de Nooy? In 2021 he was one of the exhibitors of the overview exhibition of Salvo at Pennings Foundation. See blog 41. See also his website about Dutch photography from the 18th century to the present: Over de collectie | De Nooy Collection
The book 'De Facto' is in the library of Pennings Foundation.
An English text is included at the back of the book.
On Thursday, April 20, 2023, Arjan de Nooy will be our guest at yet another episode of Fotokafeine: FOTOKAFEINE met Arjan de Nooy | Pennings Foundation