The Nederlands Fotomuseum moved to The Santos Warehouse (images 1-10)
The origins of the museum is a private funding in 2003, it was situated in the Las Palmas building till 2025. Now, it has found its new home in the renovated historic warehouse situated on the Rijnhaven harbour. It provides a safe haven for the collection of over six million photographs.
The listed Santos building is a hidden gem on the Rijnhaven on Katendrecht. Architects J.P. Stok Wzn and J.J. Kanters designed the warehouse on behalf of N.V. Blauwhoedenveem, it opened its doors in 1903 and was used as a warehouse for Brazilian coffee. Since 2012, the German design group stilwerk has been transforming the neglected historical building into an architectural gem.
Here the 175 valuable archives from Ed van der Elsken and others; early daguerreotypes; and contemporary work by photographers such as Erwin Olaf and Dan Lixenberg have found a new permanent depot. You are also able to view the Gallery of Honour of Dutch Photography again (images 4-10), telling the story of photography in the Netherlands from 1842 to the present day.
And first – there was an image, in a book!
35 publishers and specialist booksellers are presenting their latest and most beautiful photography editions, including participants such as Fw:Books, Kehrer Verlag, The Eriskay Connection and Hannibal Books
New publications from photographers such as Ruth van Beek, Robin de Puy, Anton Corbijn, and Stephan Vanfleteren will be shown. Participants are organizing book dedication sessions, giving you the chance to take home an extra special edition. Admission to the Unseen Book Market is free, the exhibitions mentioned below aren’t.
Awakening in Blue: An Ode to Cyanotype (Exhibition images 11-20)
Cyanotype: a process that links us almost directly to the prehistory of photography. Published in 1842 by a scientist who has meant a lot to the medium (John Hershel 1792-1871) , and was first used in a brilliant way by a woman (Anna Atkins 1799-1871). And if we also consider what we associate Holland most of the time (that’s right, with Delft Blue porcelain – damned all you people who thought of other things, like cheese). Then you might as well say “Awakening in Blue: An Ode to Cyanotype”, there is no better exhibition to open the new Dutch photography museum with.
The deep-blue process is known for its hands on approach, and is everything that photography isn’t today: slow, labour intensive, oddly monochrome, uncertain. Examples of the early use of the process of the cyanotype technique are the starting point of the exhibition. Among them original cyanotypes of the Santos warehouse, the new home of the Nederlands Fotomuseum. The architectural drafts dating from 1901 by architects J.J. Kanters & J.P. Stok Wzn, are on display for the first time.
The exhibition features work by fifteen contemporary artists. the process has enormous expressive potential, it is flexible, and can be applied to a wide variety of substrates. Contemporary, also in the message: it explores current themes such as ecology, colonialism and the body.
This exhibition runs till June 7
Rotterdam in Focus: The City in Photographs 1843– Now (exhibition, images 21-24)
Rotterdam in Focus: The City in Photographs 1843 – The second temporary exhibition offers an impressive overview of photography of the city of Rotterdam from 1843 to the present. Through more than 300 photographs, the development of photography unfolds over a period of some 180 years with images taken by both professional and amateur photographers. Iconic photographers such as Hans Aarsman, Iwan Baan, Eva Besnyö, Henri Berssenbrugge, Johann Georg Hameter, Helena van der Kraan, Jannes Linders, Cas Oorthuys, Otto Snoek and others show how a constantly changing Rotterdam continually inspires new ways of seeing, observing, and photographing. The exhibition features works from leading collections, including those of the Nederlands Fotomuseum, the Rotterdam City Archives, the Dutch Royal Collections and the Maria Austria Institute. It is curated by guest curators Frits Gierstberg and Joop de Jong and will be on view till May 24, 2026.
John Devos
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