Artist: Johan van der Keuken (1938-2001)

Sequence of 5 photos, set of prints (each with the size of 15×21,5cm) produced by the photographer in 1991 for the publication of his book ‘After-image; Nabeeld’ on pages 120-121 (published by Fragment Uitgeverij, 1991). Two of the prints are signed on the back.

In 1956, Van der Keuken went to Paris to study at the Institut des Hautes études Cinématographiques. His first two photo albums, ‘Wij zijn 17’ (1955) and ‘Achter glas’ (1957), caused some turmoil in the Netherlands. They show a doubtful, insecure, and unpleasant childhood on the threshold of maturity and show a generation gap that the older generations had not been aware of until then. Ed van der Elsken would become famous a little later with albums in which the same theme was further developed.

Between 1957 and 2000 he produced about 60 documentary movies, next to his photography. And won twenty prizes among a Gouden Kalf (Dutch filmprize) in 1991, the Capi-Lux Alblas prize (for his photographic work) in 1994, and the 5e Biennale International du Film sur l’ Art, Paris, 1994.

In 1998, Van der Keuken heard that he had a deadly form of prostate cancer and would die within a few years. He decided to travel once more, returning to the places that had a special memory for him. Van der Keuken captured these last years of his life in the film ‘De Grote Vakantie’ (2000). It is a moving film in which he looks back on his life and feels his end approaching.