There are two ways to go about a project like crafting a 'serious' photo book. One way is to do it in stealth mode and launch it when it is ready, out of the blue. I am choosing the other way, which is to announce it early, while I am still in the process of working on the book. I am going down this path for a number of reasons. One is that by publicly stating my goal, I feel I will be more committed to actually finishing it. Like everyone, I have my weak spots and sticking to something and bringing it to completion is one of them. I hope by being public about this project will help me bring it across the finish line. The second reason is that I can use this blog, and other ways where I will be sharing about my book-to-be, to get feedback on my approach. I strongly believe this will make it a better book than I could ever do just on my own.
Now that the cat is out of the bag, let me tell you briefly what the book is about and why I am creating it. I don't have a title yet but the book will be about the reinvention of the dream that was the driving force behind the creation of a new Amsterdam neighborhood in the sixties and seventies of the last century; the Bijlmermeer (or Bijlmer). Lofty ideas coming from the Modernist movement took firm root in the idealistic architects and city planners, determined to turn this addition to the city into a new way of living, an egalitarian community with a level of comfort that would be incomparable to the difficult housing conditions many Amsterdammers were still dealing with at that time. Large spacious apartments in honeycomb grids of nine floors that were to be surrounded by green space and elevated roads that would reinvent urban life.
But it all didn't work out that way. After a promising start where many true believers of Modernism moved into the Bijlmer, things took a different turn. There was tunnel vision of the architects, failing to do justice to the needs of the people living in their grand masterplan. Simple things like wanting to have local shops to do your groceries were not provided for as the Modernist ideal had other ideas about how and where you should buy your food. People missed having a space where they would come together. The communal space in the buildings that the architects envisioned would be the meeting place of the community turned out to be a dark corridor that people avoided as much as possible. The planed infrastructure of how to get from a to b also proved difficult in reality, a planned metro line was severely delayed for instance. The Bijlmer was one of the later Modernist mega projects in the world, and construction began when other cities already decided that this idealistic novel approach just wasn't working, with some projects being cancelled and others already torn down after only a few decades. When the first shovel went into the ground in the Bijlmer, the fate of the Modernist approach already seemed doomed.
The start of the Bijlmer also coincided with a crucial moment in Dutch history where the independence of one of its colonies, Suriname, resulted in a large group of Dutch citizens who decided to leave the South American country, needing a place to stay in the Netherlands. The Bijlmer was one of the places that had the capacity to take in people, more than 100.000 people left Suriname for the Netherlands right after 1975, many of them found a home in the Bijlmer. They were used to a very different way of living and were now taking residence in this futuristic Modernist project. The merger of the different groups living in the Bijlmer proved to be difficult. The area became less attractive and soon the grand ambition of the project lost its appeal. On the other side, because it became an unpopular neighborhood, prices dropped, and this meant it quickly turned into a haven for people who had difficulty finding a place to live elsewhere, either for economic or societal reasons. The result was a big mix of people with all kinds of backgrounds coming together in one neighborhood, and all of the beautiful and challenging aspects that goes with it.
The eighties and nineties were a time of de-investment and the low point for the Bijlmer. There was drug abuse and the neighborhood has a serious challenge with crime. The design of the honeycomb grid concrete structures and the way the roads were elevated one floor above the pedestrian level created many overpasses which turned out to be hot-spots for criminal activity. On top of that, the Bijlmer was the site of a horrific accident when a Boeing cargoplane crashed straight into one of the honeycomb apartment buildings. Dozens of people died in this tragedy. It seemed like the Bijlmer just couldn't catch a break at that time.
This is when I grew up in this area. Despite the difficulties, I cherish having had the experience of living in an area with so many different nationalities and cultures. It has been the basis for a tolerant and inclusive worldview. And while I remember finding heroin needles around my apartment building where I was playing, I also felt the joy of what the architects had in mind when they designed the massive green spaces. As a kid I could explore hours on end with my friends. The Bijlmer holds a special place in my heart. After I moved away, I moved back to the neighborhood at a later stage in life. I lived in a new apartment building that was part of a major refresh of the Bijlmer that is still going on today. The City of Amsterdam deserves credit for this long-term approach to diversify the area and take on the difficulties but leaving some of the elements that makes this area so unique intact.
This is why I want to create my photo book about the Bijlmer. I want to show how the neighborhood reinvented itself. From the Modernist ideal to a new, more realistic approach to how you create cohesion in a massively diverse community. The Bijlmer is about sixty years old which is super young if you compare it to some of the other neighborhoods in Amsterdam. I feel the Bijlmer is only now finding its true identity, after rebelling against its architect-parents and overcoming a lot of adversity it didn't ask for. I am excited to see the way the new houses are merging with the classic honeycomb blocks. There is more buzz on the street, good vibes instead of watching over your shoulder vibes. Not everything is perfect, on the contrary, but the Bijlmer is on the right path.
That is what I want to show with my book. I want to show the raw beauty of the place, but also the green spaces and the contrast in buildings that is now starting to become a positive feature. And then of course, I want to show the people that live there. I want to do portraits of people that have been living in the Bijlmer for forever as well as newcomers and capture what the Bijlmer means for them and what they mean to the Bijlmer.
So far, I've started my work on capturing the buildings, the parks, the infrastructure. I still have many places I want to capture. The next phase will be interviewing and making portraits of people. The narrative will come from those interviews and they will guide me how the way I captured the buildings and surroundings will bring color to the stories of the residents, just as it should be.
I will keep you posted and wish me luck! If you know people that you think would be great for a portrait and interview, let me know at photo@erwinhartenberg.com
PS: One of my favorite podcasts did 2 episodes on the Bijlmer which are a great introduction for my international readers who are less familiar with the Bijlmer. Check it out here: https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/bijlmer-city-future-part-1/
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