Freek Aal (1923-2004)

Freek Aal worked between 1947 and 1963 as photographer for De Waarheid, the daily newspaper of the Dutch Communist Party. At the beginning, he alternated his work as a photographer with his job as a car mechanic and chauffeur for the editorial staff. Moreover, Freek Aal took photos for the Algemeen Hollandsch Fotopersbureau (General Dutch Photo Press Agency), Uilenspiegel, a satirical weekly with a communist outlook, and pamphlets of both the labor union and the peace movement. In 1963, he resumed his former occupation of car mechanic.

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Bert Buurman (1915-1998)

At the time of the German invasion in 1940, Bert Buurman worked for weeklies like the protestant family magazine De Spiegel and the illustrated weekly De week in beeld. Additionally, Bert Buurman had a studio for portrait photos in Amsterdam’s P.C. Hooftstraat. During the first postwar years he worked together with Ton Koot for the left-leaning weekly Vrij Nederland and publications like the illustrated magazine De Prins, the daily protestant newspaper Trouw and Strijdkreet, the Salvation Army’s biweekly. In those years he had a studio at home with eleven employees. Starting in 1949, he had a permanent appointment at the right-wing daily De Telegraaf.

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Martien Coppens (1908-1986)

In 1932, Martien Coppens opened a studio for portrait photos and a photography shop in Eindhoven, in the province of North Brabant. He also took many ‘free-form’ photos: these photos appeared in more than 60 publications starting in 1937. By the end of the 1930s, he switched his focus from portraits to sacred architecture and sculpture and to the North Brabant countryside. Martien Coppens played a major part in the emancipation of Dutch photography thanks to his publications, participation in associations, (international) contacts, and contributions to and the organization of a number of influential photography exhibitions.

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Bob van Dam (Combipress) (1928-2002)

In 1955, Bob van Dam founded Combi Press Service in Amsterdam, a news agency specializing in international entertainment. He made photo reports and wrote texts for illustrated magazines such as the Daily Sketch, Quick, Sie und Er, Schweizer Illustrierte, France Dimanche, the Dutch De Spiegel, De Post and various music magazines. Of chief importance in his archives are the unique images that illustrate the early development of show business in the Netherlands.

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Nico Jesse (1911-1976)

For many years, Nico Jesse combined his work as a doctor with his passion for photography. In 1956, he decided to end his practice and devote himself exclusively to photography. Six years later, he resumed his former profession, but went on taking photos in his free time. Nico Jesse worked for various enterprises, took photos for annual reports and/or company books and, year after year, he documented the Boekenbal, the annual literary ball. Moreover, he published many photo books in quick succession featuring a number of European cities and countries.

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Aart Klein (1909-2001)

The career of Aart Klein as a photographer started in 1930 when he went to work for the Polygoon photo press agency. After the liberation in 1945, he founded the photographers collective Particam, which specialized in theatre photography, together with Maria Austria, Henk Jonker and Wim Zilver Rupe. Then, in 1956, Aart Klein set up shop as a freelance photographer. From that time on, he worked regularly for the quality daily paper Algemeen Handelsblad and received commissions for a great many photo books. He generally took photos of typical Dutch subjects and landscapes, such as harbors, industrial plants, water features and the Delta Works.

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Dolf Kruger (1923)

Between 1948 and 1951 Dolf Kruger worked as freelance photographer and subsequently, between 1951 and 1959, he was on the payroll of De Waarheid, the daily newspaper of the Dutch Communist Party. The paper commissioned him to take photos of street scenes, laborers at work, strikes, demonstrations, conflicts about back rent, evictions and social abuse in general. After leaving De Waarheid Dolf Kruger again became a freelance photographer and worked for government agencies, publishing houses and environmental organizations. Since 1983, his chief subjects have been his family and nature.

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Werner Mantz (1901-1983)

Initially, German-born Werner Mantz’s work bore similarities to classic art photography, but it developed further under the influence of the New Photography. In 1921, Werner Manz opened a photo studio in Cologne and soon his customers included a wide circle of architects. Starting in 1932 he also worked in Maastricht, in the south of the Netherlands, where he restarted his career in 1938. From that time on, he specialized in portrait photographs, chiefly of children. He also received commissions from the provincial water board and the architect F.P.J. Peutz. His studio remained in operation until 1971.

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Cas Oorthuys (1908-1975)

Cas Oorthuys began his career as a communist worker photographer; in 1936 he started making photo reports for Wij, a social democratic weekly. At first, social engagement was at the centre of Cas Oorthuys’ work. Later on, ideology retreated into the background, but his attention remained focused on people. His interest in people is evident not only in the many company and commemorative books and annual reports for which he took photos, but also the in the forty travel paperbacks he published (1951-1965) and the book Rotterdam dynamische stad (1959).

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Nol Pepermans (1920-2007)

In 1939, Nol Pepermans went to work in the Emma States Mine, where he rose from postsleper (a worker standing between two hewers and hammering wooden supporting cylinders into the coal front) to foreman. After having contracted rheumatic fever in 1956, Nol Pepermans started a career as self-taught photographer. At first, he was captivated by the Free Photography movement, but later on he tried to find a middle course between esthetic and documentary photography. In November 1973, he took photos of the last workweek in the mine in his capacity of ‘insider’. After that, Nol Pepermans decided to confine himself to specific themes: he documented Mardi Gras (Carnival) festivities inside and outside the Netherlands, rifle club celebrations, the river Maas in the Dutch province of Limburg, the landscape, the city of Liège in Belgium and slums in France.

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Hans Spies (1905-1973)

Hans Spies was born in Germany but moved to the Netherlands in 1931. He became famous as an architecture and interior photographer but also made publicity and studio photos. He is often mentioned together with Jaap d'Oliveira, who concentrated on the same themes and with whom he worked for two years. In his photographic work, he applied the basic principles of the New Objectivity. As a freelance photographer, Hans Spies worked for the Bruynzeel works, architect and interior designer Hein Salomonson and other architects, among whom P. Zanstra, K. Sijmons, J.P. Kloos and Jan Wils.

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Ed van Wijk (1917-1992)

Ed van Wijk began his work as a photographer mainly by taking portraits and photos of wedding ceremonies. He produced a number of illegal photo reports during the German occupation. After the war, he returned to portrait photography and also worked for the Residentie Toneel, a theatre company in The Hague. His photos were published in periodicals such as the women’s magazines Eva and Wij Vrouwen, the photo book Nederland - wonder uit water (1954) and various other photo books about the Netherlands. Ed van Wijk’s photos reflect the influence of Otto Steinert’s ‘subjective’ Photography. He also taught photography starting in 1957.

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