Bertien van Manen (15 February 1935 – 26 May 2024) was a Dutch photographer. She started her career as a fashion photographer, after having studied French and German languages and literature. Inspired by

Robert Frank Robert Frank (November 9, 1924 – September 9, 2019) was a Swiss American photographer and documentary filmmaker. His most notable work, the 1958 book titled ''The Americans'', earned Frank comparisons to a modern-day de Tocqueville for his ...

's ''

The Americans ''The Americans'' is an American historical drama, period spy fiction, spy drama television series created by Joe Weisberg for FX (TV channel), FX. It aired for six seasons from 2013 to 2018. Weisberg and Joel Fields also served as showrunners ...

'' she travelled around, photographing what she saw. She had her first exhibition in

The Photographers' Gallery The Photographers' Gallery was founded in London by Sue Davies opening on 14 January 1971, as the first public gallery in the United Kingdom devoted solely to photography. It is also home to the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize, established ...

in London in 1977 and since then her work has been exhibited in the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

, New York, the

Maison européenne de la photographie Maison (French for "house") may refer to: People * Edna Maison (1892–1946), American silent-film actress * Jérémy Maison (born 1993), French cyclist * Leonard Maison, New York state senator 1834–1837 * Nicolas Joseph Maison (1771–1840), M ...

in Paris, the

Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (; Municipal Museum Amsterdam), colloquially known as the Stedelijk, is a museum for modern art, contemporary art, and design located in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

, and the

Fotomuseum Winterthur Fotomuseum Winterthur is a museum of photography in Winterthur, Switzerland. History The museum was founded in 1993 by photographer George Reinhart, the nephew of the wealthy Swiss art collector Oskar Reinhart. ''Fotomuseum''s exabits are dedicat ...

. Van Manen's work is found in major public collections.

Life and work

Bertien van Manen was born on 15 February 1935 in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

. She started her photography career in 1974 as a

fashion photographer Fashion photography is a genre of photography that portrays clothing and other fashion items. This sometimes includes haute couture garments. It typically consists of a fashion photographer taking pictures of a dressed model in a photographic stu ...

after studying French language and literature at the

University of Leiden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange as a Protestant institution, it holds the distinction of being the oldest university in the Neth ...

. Inspired by

's book ''

'' (1958), van Manen switched from fashion photography to a more documentary approach, she travelled around, photographing what she saw. She uses an inexpensive snapshot camera to take photos of people she meets, as she feels that these cameras allow her subjects to consider "me as a tourist or friend, who likes to take pictures." She has photographed extensively in China, the Appalachian Mountains in the US and the former Soviet Union. She worked on commission and for long running projects, such as ''A Hundred Summers, A Hundred Winters'' (1991) about the

post-Soviet states The post-Soviet states, also referred to as the former Soviet Union or the former Soviet republics, are the independent sovereign states that emerged/re-emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Prior to their independence, they ...

, ''East Wind, West Wind'' (2001) about China, ''Give me your Image'' (2006) about Europe, ''Moonshine'' (2014) with photographs of mining families in the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a mountain range in eastern to northeastern North America. The term "Appalachian" refers to several different regions associated with the mountain range, and its surrounding terrain ...

, and ''Beyond Maps and Atlases'' (2016) from Ireland. In 2011 ''Let's Sit Down Before We Go'' was published by MACK, edited by Stephen Gill. In 2017 ''I Will be Wolf'' was published by MACK, edited by Stephen Gill. Van Manen died in Amsterdam on 26 May 2024, at the age of 89.

Publications

*''A Hundred Summers, A Hundred Winters.'' Amsterdam: De Verbeelding, 1994. * ''East Wind West Wind.'' Amsterdam: De Verbeelding, 2001. *''In Moldova.'' Aorta Chisinau, 2005. *''Give me your Image.'' Göttingen:

Steidl Steidl is a German-language publisher based in Göttingen, Germany. Founded in 1968 by Gerhard Steidl, it publishes photobooks. Overview The company was started by Gerhard Steidl.Bill Kouwenhoven, "Off to see the wizard", ''British Journa ...

, 2006. *''Let's Sit Down Before we go.'' London: Mack, 2011.Edited by Stephen Gill. *''Easter and Oak Trees.'' London: Mack, 2013. *''Moonshine.'' London: Mack, 2014. *''Beyond Maps and Atlases.'' London: Mack, 2016. . *''I Will be Wolf.'' London: Mack, 2017. Edited by Stephen Gill. . *''Gluckauf''. FW, 2023. *''I am the Only Woman There''. FW, 2024. .

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

*''A Hundred Summers, A Hundred Winters,

,1995 *''East Wind West Wind'',

, London, 2002 *''Beyond the Image: Bertien van Manen & Friends'',

, 2019 *''Wish I Were Here '', Fotomuseum Winterthur, 2022

Group exhibitions

, New York

Collections

Van Manen's work is held in the following public collections: *

Rijksmuseum The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the S ...

, Amsterdam *

Fotomuseum Antwerp Fotomuseum Antwerp, also known as FOMU, is a museum of photography in Antwerp, Belgium. History and programme The museum opened in 1986. The Fotomuseum in Antwerp has a historical and contemporary collection of photography that is given a new p ...

, Paris *

, Winterthur, Switzerland *

, Amsterdam *

, New York *

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

, New York *

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is a modern art, modern and contemporary art museum and nonprofit organization located in San Francisco, California. SFMOMA was the first museum on the West Coast devoted solely to 20th-century art ...

, San Francisco

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Manen, Bertien van 1935 births 2024 deaths Dutch contemporary artists Photographers from The Hague 20th-century Dutch photographers 20th-century Dutch women artists 21st-century Dutch photographers 20th-century Dutch women photographers 21st-century Dutch women photographers Leiden University alumni