Archive: Jan 2012

January 20, 2012

A poster for IKEA; a book cover for W.W.Norton

Some years ago five images from my Rajasthan pages were selected for a – now discontinued – poster called Samples and a series of postcards sold by IKEA.     I took the picture one early morning in Jodhpur when the renowned dyer Tayeb…

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January 17, 2012

What is inspiration?

At the launch of Rajasthan in London in the Fall of 2003, a journalist asks me why, being Dutch, I have not made a book about Indonesia. Although the question is meant to tease me, it is fundamental and the journalist himself is surprised by its effect. What is the…

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January 16, 2012

Looking back #5: Return to India with Rajasthan under my arm

After the launch of Rajasthan I returned to India to finally show my friends what I had been doing. The village of Rohet in the Jodhpur region and its pleasant fort had been my base for longer periods of time. I had even become affectionately known as ‘Pollimadam’ and…

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January 15, 2012

Homage to Homai Vyarawalla

My Indian friend Nina Subramani gave me the Camera Chronicles of Homai Vyarawalla for Christmas last year. Homai Vyarawalla (9/7/1913 – 15/1/2012) was the first woman photojournalist in India, and many of the most famous pictures dating from the time…

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January 15, 2012

Looking back #4: The launch of Rajasthan into the world…

There are some more ‘memories’ entries to come as an introduction to an up-to-date blog, but I’m getting there. Autumn 2003: Rajasthan is festively launched in Paris, Brussels, London and the Netherlands. The kind booksellers of the Lagerfeld 7L bookshop in Paris transform its interior for one party night, aligning…

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