Kunsthal Rotterdam presents the exhibition Homo Mobilis. Photographer Martin Roemers sent us these images and this text.
What does a vehicle say about the person driving it? For years, I have been photographing people and their vehicles – from compact city cars to throbbing trucks, and from tuktuks to motorcycles. An exhibition in Kunsthal Rotterdam shows that these vehicles are not just a means to travel from A to B, but also reveal something about status, identity, culture and society.
For this project, I travel to cities in the Netherlands, Germany, China, Ukraine, India, Senegal, and the US. In public spaces, my team and I build an improvised studio: a white backdrop measuring 12 meters long and 6 meters high that blocks out all visual distractions. Due to this neutral setting, the focus lies on human and vehicle, thereby allowing the tiniest details, like posture, expression, and materials, to speak for themselves. In Dakar, Senegal, car sales employees Aïcha, Yvonne, Fatimata, and Bécaye posed with a bright red Mini Convertible. In Santa Monica (Calif.) I photographed Juan, an immigrant from Mexico, who lives in a car, and in Bengaluru, India, Hariom and Vinoth were photographed in their ice cream truck.
The colourful and diverse images show how mobility is different around the world, but at the same time touches on universal themes like the environment, gender, class, and individuality. To some a vehicle is purely practical, but to others it is an extension of their identity.
Martin Roemers
https://martinroemers.com/homo-mobilis/
Exhibition
Kunsthal Rotterdam
27 September 2025 – 1 March 2026
https://www.kunsthal.nl/en/plan-your-visit/exhibitions/martin-roemers-homo-mobilis-en/
Book
Martin Roemers : Homo Mobilis
Lannoo Publishers, hardcover, 27×34 cm. 208 pages, 163 photos, Text: English. Price €49,95
https://www.lannoo.be/en/homo-mobilis
