INFO
Contact:
email: info@benkrewinkel.nl
phone: +31645612860
skype: benkrewinkel
email: info@benkrewinkel.nl
phone: +31645612860
skype: benkrewinkel
Short c.v.
Ben Krewinkel (Maastricht, 1975) studied history (specialization modern African history) in Amsterdam and Pretoria. He wrote a thesis on the role women played in the liberation struggle of Mozambique. After studying history, he studied documentary photography at the Fotoacademie in Amsterdam where he graduated cum laude with a series on a series about how people were trained as nurses to
combat HIV in Venda, South Africa. He published two photobooks titled A Possible Life. (2012) and Looking for M. (2014) and was commissioned to design some exhibitions and photobooks. After another study he holds a M.A. Photographic Studies at the University of Leiden for which he wrote a thesis on the photographic representation of the ‘Poor Whites’ in South Africa in the 20th Century.
combat HIV in Venda, South Africa. He published two photobooks titled A Possible Life. (2012) and Looking for M. (2014) and was commissioned to design some exhibitions and photobooks. After another study he holds a M.A. Photographic Studies at the University of Leiden for which he wrote a thesis on the photographic representation of the ‘Poor Whites’ in South Africa in the 20th Century.
He works as a teacher in photography and research practices at the HU University of Applied Sciences / Media Institute and has worked for four years at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague. Next to practicing and teaching photography Ben Krewinkel writes on photography. He also works as a curator and book designer working with a.o. Bertien van Manen, Geert van Kesteren, Ringel Goslinga, Koos Breukel, Cynthia Boll, Dana Lixenberg.
As a judge he is involved in the Eiger Foundation African Photobook of the Year Award, the CAP Prize and a he is a member of the commission for Documentary Photography at the Stadsarchief Amsterdam.
Currently, he is working on a long-term project named Africa in the Photobook, a project about the changing visual representation of Africa as expressed through the medium of the photobook. This project started with the open platform with the same name and is about to be published as a book.Artist's statement
As a documentary
photographer, based in Haarlem, the Netherlands, I work with still and moving images, my own as well as archive
material from both public and private collections. Being a (photo)historian
graduated in modern African history and documentary photography the focus of my
work is the connection between historical and social issues, with an emphasis
on Africa and the African Diaspora.
A recurring theme
which still inspires is how people deal with the connection between their
present, past and future. More often than not the contrast between my own
background and that of my subjects constitutes a major part of my narrative and
I am often both artist and subject. Fundamental to my approach is to be
unconstrained by pre-conceived ideas of the outcome: on the contrary, close
collaboration with the subject(s) and other artists allows the story to tell
itself and the creative process to be captured.
My primary
motivation is a deep felt interest in historical and social issues and
specifically how it affects the personal lives of those involved.
Photographing, collecting and writing enable me to distil the essence of major
issues down to the level of the individual. In this combination of my own input
as historian, photographer and writer with that of my subjects and other
artists, a coherent and harmonious body of work emerges, despite superficial
differences in the topic.
Education
(2010) MA Photographic Studies in Leiden
(2006) FotoAcademie (cum laude) in Amsterdam
(1999) MA modern African history in Amsterdam and Pretoria
(2006) FotoAcademie (cum laude) in Amsterdam
(1999) MA modern African history in Amsterdam and Pretoria
Publications
(tea) Africa in the Photobook
(2019) Sinking Cities Jakarta, exhibition catalogue (design)
(2019) Photobook Belge (ed. Tamara Berghmans, contribution to the section on photobooks from Belgian Congo)
(2018) Door de ogen van Berretty. Watersnood 1953 (text/edit/design)
(2017) Banjir Banjir (design)
(2014) Looking for M.
(2013) 25 jaar ASKV (collective)
(2012) A Possible Life. Conversations with Gualbert (Shortlisted for Dutch Doc 2013)
(tea) Africa in the Photobook
(2019) Sinking Cities Jakarta, exhibition catalogue (design)
(2019) Photobook Belge (ed. Tamara Berghmans, contribution to the section on photobooks from Belgian Congo)
(2018) Door de ogen van Berretty. Watersnood 1953 (text/edit/design)
(2017) Banjir Banjir (design)
(2014) Looking for M.
(2013) 25 jaar ASKV (collective)
(2012) A Possible Life. Conversations with Gualbert (Shortlisted for Dutch Doc 2013)
(2010) The Cocoa
Ambassador (foreword)
Exhibitions
(2023) Double Exposures as part of R/evolutions with Ethel Tawe, PhotoIreland, Dublin (Ireland)
(2021/22) Resistance Visuelle Generalisee, exhibition by Catarina Boieiro and Raquel Schaefer, INHA (Institut national d'histoire de l'art) Paris
(2021) Africa in the Photobook: A selection of 15 books, Photobook Festival Self Publish Riga, ISSP Riga (Latvia)
(2019) Books of the Liberation Struggle, Fotodok Utrecht (the Netherlands).
(2019) Photobook Belge, Fotomuseum Antwerpen (Belgium) - display part of collection
(2017) 30x30; Group exhibition, CBK Zuidoost, Amsterdam (the Netherlands)
(2017) 30x30; Group exhibition, CBK Zuidoost, Amsterdam (the Netherlands)
(2016) Der Greif. A Process 2.0; Krakow Photomonth Festival, Krakow (Poland)
(2016) Looking for M. (video projection); Making Africa, Centre Civic, Barcelona (Spain)
(2015) Looking for M. (book); Athens Photo Festival, Athens (Greece)
(2015) Looking for M. (book); Encontras da Imagem, Braga (Portugal)
(2015) Looking for M. (book); Photobookweek, Galleri Image, Arhuus (Denmark)
(2014) Il m'a sauvé + A Possible Life; Kominek Gallery Berlin (Germany)
(2013) A Possible Life. (book); TIFF Festival (Poland)
(2013) A Possible Life.; part of Undercover - Dutch Photography Experience project St. Petersburg (Russia)
(2013) A Possible Life.; Dutch Doc, Amsterdam (the Netherlands)
(2012) A Possible Life.; CBK Amsterdam Zuidoost (the Netherlands)
(2016) Looking for M. (video projection); Making Africa, Centre Civic, Barcelona (Spain)
(2015) Looking for M. (book); Athens Photo Festival, Athens (Greece)
(2015) Looking for M. (book); Encontras da Imagem, Braga (Portugal)
(2015) Looking for M. (book); Photobookweek, Galleri Image, Arhuus (Denmark)
(2014) Il m'a sauvé + A Possible Life; Kominek Gallery Berlin (Germany)
(2013) A Possible Life. (book); TIFF Festival (Poland)
(2013) A Possible Life.; part of Undercover - Dutch Photography Experience project St. Petersburg (Russia)
(2013) A Possible Life.; Dutch Doc, Amsterdam (the Netherlands)
(2012) A Possible Life.; CBK Amsterdam Zuidoost (the Netherlands)
(2006) Home Based
Care; Part of EFA2006 Amsterdam (the Netherlands)
Exhibition design / curator
(2023) Double Exposures with Ethel Tawe. Part of R/evolutions with Renée Musai and Catherine McKinley
(2019) Sinking Cities Jakarta by Cynthia Boll, Erasmus huis, Jakarta (Indonesia)
(2018) Door de ogen van Berretty, Watersnoodmuseum, Ouwerkerk (the Netherlands)
(2017) The people behind the seawall. Exhibition of work by Cynthia Boll, Watersnoodmuseum, Ouwerkerk (the Netherlands)
(2015) Camille Lepage, School of Journalism, Utrecht (the Netherlands)
(2015) 360 cubic metres, Naarden Photofestival May 14 - June 21 2015, Work by Cynthia Boll
(2018) Door de ogen van Berretty, Watersnoodmuseum, Ouwerkerk (the Netherlands)
(2017) The people behind the seawall. Exhibition of work by Cynthia Boll, Watersnoodmuseum, Ouwerkerk (the Netherlands)
(2015) Camille Lepage, School of Journalism, Utrecht (the Netherlands)
(2015) 360 cubic metres, Naarden Photofestival May 14 - June 21 2015, Work by Cynthia Boll
(2013) Solo exhibition Marian Zijlstra, Jan Mot Galerie, Brussels (Belgium)
(2012) ‘Denk vooruit, kijk achteruit’, Photographers Ringel Goslinga, Geert van Kesteren, Dana Lixenberg and Bertien van Manen, Travelling exhibition openend in Stadsschouwburg Utrecht (the Netherlands)
(2011) 29 Minutes
Afghan nurses by Cynthia Boll, travelling exhibition opened City council The Hague (the Netherlands)
Teaching
(2009-now)
Photojournalism / Documentary photography, School of Journalism, Utrecht (the Netherlands)
(2012-2016)
Photography, Royal Academy of Art, The Hague (the Netherlands)
Articles
'Our Photogenic Masai' in: PhotoResearcher Volume 38, 2022/11 (European Society for the History of Photography, 8-25.
'Nieuwe perspectieven op (on)bekende verhalen', in: Extra, Vol 22, 2017/11 (Fw: Books, FOMU Antwerpen), 65-78.
Short essays and reviews
(2023) 'Zelfrepresentatie als thema: ontwikkelingen in het "Afrikaanse" fotoboek na 2000' in Fotografisch Geheugen 110
(2023) African Insights: Books by Todd Webb, Olaf Heine, Elliott Verdier, Michele Sibiloni, and Sanne De Wilde/Bénédicte Kurzen, reviewed by Ben Krewinkel for European Photography 113
(Conference) Presentations / Talks / Panel Discussions
(2023) Talk about Africa in the Photobook for Sanremo festival, San Remo (Italy)
(2023) Talk about Africa in the Photobook for ANT!FOTO, Düsseldorf( Germany)
(2023) Talk about Africa in the Photobook for Leipzig Photobook Festival, Grassi Museum, Leipzig (Germany)
(2022) Talk about Africa in the Photobook for Gamleby folkhögskola, Gamleby (Sweden)
(2022) Talk about Africa in the Photobook for Die Freie Universität, Berlin (Germany)
(2021) Talk about Africa in the Photobook for Instituto Português de Fotografia, Porto (Portugal)
(2021) Talk about Africa in the Photobook for the Royal Photographic Society, Bristol (United Kingdom)
(2021) Talk about Africa in the Photobook for the Royal Photographic Society, Bristol (United Kingdom)
(2021) Talk about Africa in the Photobook for Leeds Arts University and Slade School of Fine Art (UCL) & Global Photographies Network (United Kingdom)
(2020) Online talk about Africa in the Photobook with Yumi Goto and Moto Yoshikuni of Reminders Photography Stronghold, Tokio (Japan)
(2019) Talk about photobooks issued by liberation movements in Portuguese Africa, Institute pour la Photographie, Lille (France)
(2019) Guest on Fotodok Photobookclub, Utrecht (The Netherlands)
(2019) Talk about colonial photobooks on Africa from 1884-1905, Dialogue Vintage Photography, Amsterdam (the Netherlands)
(2019) Talk about photobooks issued by liberation movements in Portuguese Africa, Institute pour la Photographie, Lille (France)
(2019) Guest on Fotodok Photobookclub, Utrecht (The Netherlands)
(2019) Talk about colonial photobooks on Africa from 1884-1905, Dialogue Vintage Photography, Amsterdam (the Netherlands)
(2019) Symposium on Belgian photobook moderated by Sandrine Collard-De Bock, Antwerp (Belgium)
(2018) Talk on Africa in the Photobook, Unseen Fotofestival, Amsterdam (The Netherlands)
(2018) Talk on Africa in the Photobook, Fotobookfestival Kassel, Kassel (Germany)
(2017) Talk on photobooks from/about Suriname, Fotodok, Utrecht (the Netherlands)
(2016) Talk on African photobooks, Image Afrique, Basel (Switzerland)
(2015) Panel discussion on photojournalism, LagosPhoto, Lagos (Nigeria)
(2015) Talk on photography, Yabatech College of Art, Lagos (Nigeria)
(2014) Bridging Differences - PirccaPractice, talk on work, Academy Minerva, Groningen (the Netherlands)
(2014) Talk on concerned photography, Studium General, Academy St. Joost, Breda (the Netherlands)
(2018) Talk on Africa in the Photobook, Unseen Fotofestival, Amsterdam (The Netherlands)
(2018) Talk on Africa in the Photobook, Fotobookfestival Kassel, Kassel (Germany)
(2017) Talk on photobooks from/about Suriname, Fotodok, Utrecht (the Netherlands)
(2016) Talk on African photobooks, Image Afrique, Basel (Switzerland)
(2015) Panel discussion on photojournalism, LagosPhoto, Lagos (Nigeria)
(2015) Talk on photography, Yabatech College of Art, Lagos (Nigeria)
(2014) Bridging Differences - PirccaPractice, talk on work, Academy Minerva, Groningen (the Netherlands)
(2014) Talk on concerned photography, Studium General, Academy St. Joost, Breda (the Netherlands)
(2017-now) Member of
committee Stadsarchief Amsterdam to award the annual grant of the documentary
'Foto-Opdracht'
