Artist Blog

Every week an artist whose single image was published by Der Greif is given a platform in which to blog about contemporary photography.

Today I'd like to feature some images of Dutch photographer Bart Van Damme. These pictures are part of his Maasvlakte series. I came across Bart's work a couple of years ago. Looking at his skillfully composed pictures my mind wanders off to the lowlands. The almost clinical precision of his compositions is striking. His pictures have been a significant influence to my work in the past couple of years. The Maasvlakte series is available as a book on Bart's website. studiovandamme.com This is what Wikipedia has to say about this surreal piece of the world: It was created in the 1960s by reclaiming land from the North Sea through dykes and sand suppletion. The sand for the suppletion was largely taken from the North Sea and the Lake of Oostvoorne. This lake was created by the construction of the Maasvlakte. Fossils were (and can still be) found in the sand. Before the completion of the Maasvlakte it was a sandbank which was hazardous to shipping. In September 2008 work has started on the "Second Maasvlakte" or Maasvlakte 2: the existing area is being expanded and in 2013 the new harbours in the Maasvlakte 2 will be opened for commercial use. By spraying sand in the North Sea the port of Rotterdam will be extended by some 2.000 hectares[1]