Cas Oorthuys and Charles Breijer had known each other since 1937. By then, Oorthuys had already worked as a photographer for some time, and was a member of the communist leaning 'Vereeniging van Arbeidersfotografen' (Labour Photographers' Society). In 1936 Oorthuys started work as a report photographer with publishing house De Arbeiderspers, where Breijer became his colleague. Later, during the last year of the war, Oorthuys and Breijer were members of the illegal Amsterdam-based group 'De Ondergedoken Camera' (The Hidden Camera).

Because Oorthuys and Breijer both took a sincere interest in the Indonesian people and their struggle, they photographed from a Dutch as well as from an Indonesian point of view, and on Dutch as well as on Republican territory. As a result, their photographs show the unbridgeable gap between the Republican pursuit of freedom and Dutch paternalism.

The photographs made by the young conscript Lex de Herder are less pronounced politically. They are a miscellany of war photography, snapshots of the highlights of army life and touristic photography.

Read more about:
Cas Oorthuys
Charles Breijer
Lex de Herder