Rein Jelle Terpstra – Dark Dunes

Imagine an enthusiastic amateur photographer, active during the German occupation of the Netherlands. Meticulous in his handling of the medium, he writes down shutter times and aperture stops in the margins of his negatives, and also records the time of day, the weather, and the year. Almost all of his pictures are dated between 1940 and 1945. He photographs landscapes, tulips, farms, windmills, country roads, and more, immersing us in everyday life in the Netherlands during wartime. Yet there is no sign of the war at all. Rein Jelle Terpstra gathered a series of negatives that show how photography can conceal reality, instead of revealing it – escapist rather than engaging.

48 pages, 17 x 22 cm, softcover, Van Zoetendaal (Amsterdam).