Rineke Dijkstra: Beach Portraits [Hardcover]

Rineke Dijkstra (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2, 2003

Tall, skinny, short, round, squat, awkward, slouched, tanned, bashful, and sometimes unknowingly beautiful, the adolescents in Rineke Dijkstra's Beach Portraits stand alone, the ocean rolling behind them. Clad in little more than bathing suits, these young people are striking to behold. Remarkably clear and formally classical, each subject is frontally posed and shot straight on; the resulting photographs participate in a cold, quasi-scientific categorization reminiscent of the work of August Sander and Thomas Ruff. Yet Dijkstra's pictures are not just that--there is also something of the eccentric in them, something that comes closer to Diane Arbus's images. Seen together, the complete series of 20 Beach Portraits creates a kind of collective portrait of the existential insecurity and awkward beauty of youth.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Rineke Dijkstra was born in 1959 in Sittard, the Netherlands, and lives and works in Amsterdam. She has been the subject of numerous solo and group exhibitions at museums and galleries including The Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Venice Biennial; the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; and the Photographers Gallery, London.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 72 pages
• Publisher: LaSalle Bank, N.A.; First Edition edition (February 2, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 097024522X
• ISBN-13: 978-0970245229
• Product Dimensions: 13.4 x 10.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,097,250 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful insight into a truly gifted photographer, May 15, 2009

By 

Frank Jansen "Animal Photographer" (West Boylston, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rineke Dijkstra: Beach Portraits (Hardcover)

Rineke Dijkstra has a gift for capturing the underlying humanity in her portrait subjects with a simplicity and innocence that is rare even among top photographers. Beach Portraits shows a sample of this skill in a series of photographs that, at first glance, are composed in a very straightforward manner; the nuance of her composition lies in the elevation of the camera to capture the portrait: mostly at belly button height. This lends a sense of power to the subject without making the subject overpowering; the subtlety of the effect brings balance to the overall image between innocence and being somewhat self-possessed.

The narrative in this book provides an in-depth explanation of Rineke Dijkstra's approach, as well as the method of displaying the final prints in exhibition. One may not have seen the images first hand, but through this book the emotion of the images is conveyed effectively.

Highly recommended for the serious student of photography.