Visit to the Fotomuseum - Last post of the trip from Rotterdam

Tuesday October 23 was another good day for walking- a mix of sun and cloud and a bit of wind.  High of 15C.   I had forgotten to post a picture just behind our hotel of the old boats in the harbour.

Boats in the harbour- near Cube houses and our hotel

Another interesting office building right beside the Markthal

We decided to go to a coffee shop that had been recommended by a number of people.  It was in the northern part of the city, about a 30 minute walk from our hotel.  Across from the Markhal, we ran into Europe's longest street market, which consists of over 400 stalls offering  cheese, fresh vegetables, baked goods and lots of clothes and other "flea market" offerings.  It runs three days a week (Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday) and tracks up a long street for 2.5 km.  We walked up the street as it was in the direction we were heading.  Lots of folks out at the market.

Cheese stall

Walking up the street with the 400 stalls

Passing small canals and interesting houses

We reached our destination Man Met Bril, and the coffee didn't disappoint. There was a roaster on site, and Alain bought some beans.

Poster at Man Met Bril café

Coffee roasted on the premises

Alain with his purchase of beans

This part of Rotterdam had escaped the May 1940 bombing and many of the houses dated from the 1920s and 30s.

Housing in the northern part of the city

One of the barista's pointed out the abandoned rail tracks just above the coffeeshop and noted that the track originally ended at the Metro station across from our hotel.

Abandoned rail line

We wandered back towards the water, passing a very modern McDonalds (still wouldn't eat there, but it was a gorgeous building).

Designed by Mei architects - 2015-- the former kiosk was once voted the ugliest building in Rotterdam.  The new building is a real gem with lots of light as it is open 24/7.

We then crossed the spectacular 800 metre long Erasmus Bridge built in 1996 and designed by Ben van Berkel.  It spans the Nieuwe Mass River.  The shape of the pylon gives the bridge its nickname-the Swan.  The three linked buildings on the other side are by Rem Koolhaas (a Rotterdam native) built in 2013 (called De Rotterdam).  They house a 4-star hotel, offices, and restaurants.  There are a number of buildings on that street by many of the "starchitects" including Renzo Piano and Norman Foster.   This is the street where the Fotomuseum is located-- our destination of the day.

The Erasmus bridge-- view of buildings on the southern side of the bridge  

One of the small islands we saw crossing the bridge

We were extremely lucky to see the Erasmus bridge opened to allow a barge with a huge crane go through.  It took about 10 minutes to open and close.

Bridge open

The barge after it passed the bridge

Almost back to normal

View of a second bridge also opening to accommodate the barge

We went to the Nederlands Fotomuseum to see a fabulous exhibit called Dit is Cas: Vintage fotografie van Cas Oorthuys.  This is Cas: Vintage photography by Cas Oorthuys.  Cas Oorthuys (1908-1975) was born in Leiden and a year later his family moved to Amsterdam.  He spent practically his entire life taking pictures.  By the time he died, he had accumulated an archive of almost 500,000 photographs which the Nederlands Fotomuseum has preserved since 1990 (when his wife Lydia died).  The museum has recently digitized all of the 34, 000 contact sheets that they hold.  Cas and his wife Lydia had spent hours classifying his negatives according to a meticulous system.

Cas was exposed to the New Photography movements and other avant- garde movements of the 1920s and 1930s including De Stijl, Bauhaus and Russian cinema.  He was a founding member of the Alliance of Artists in Defence of Cultural Rights and he organized an anti-fascist exhibit The Olympiad under Dictatorship in 1936.  He also joined AP, Workers' press, a social democratic publisher, and became one of the press photographers of the weekly journal (We. Our work. Our Life) and the daily Het Volk (The People).

In 1940, Germany invades Holland and on May 14, 1940 Rotterdam was bombed mercilessly. Oorthuys joins the residence, hides a number of Jews at his home and takes clandestine photos during the war.  In May 1944, he was arrested by the Germans for illegal activity and held in a concentration camp before being freed at the beginning of August.  He took part in clandestine activities with a group of photographers that was later called "the Hidden Camera".  Oorthuys took a number of photographs during the "hunger winter" of 1944-45, including a portrait of a starving woman eating a piece of bread, an image that would become famous when shown in The Family of Man exhibit at MOMA in New York in 1955.

This is the first retrospective of his work.

Veendermolen, Roelofarendsveen- 1965 - beautifully composed photograph

Near Harderwijk 1955-59

Oortthuys had a series of photos of traditional Dutch costumes still worn in the rural areas in the 1950s.  Apparently, there were very slight differences in the regional costumes which he had to photograph for the project.

Traditional costume, Staphorst 1957-59

Self-portrait 1928-32

Eva Besnyo, photographer, Amsterdam 1937 (Jewish Hungarian photographer who had fled Hungary)

Poster D.O.O.D. Design Cas Oorthuys and Jo Voskull 1936

Oorthuys' wartime and post-war pictures were amazing.

Wartime destruction, Venlo- 1940 1945

German forces leaving Amsterdam May 7 1945

Flag laying in the Weteringplantsoen where the Germans shot 32 people, Amsterdam 1945 [this was taken clandestinely as the Germans banned photography in the last year of the war]

'Hunger Winter', Amsterdam 1944-45 (this picture was in the Family of Man exhibit at MOMA in 1955.

A wartime hiding place on the Nes (with Coen and Ella van Eekeres-Jünge posing), Amsterdam 1946

Canadian military personnel with Dutch women after the Liberation, Amsterdam 1945

In 1970, Cas Oorthuys published a book entitled:  The Last Year 1944-45 that contained his war-time pictures.  It had a large impact and was a seminal project.

 

Oorthuys also photographed the Nuremberg war criminal trials.

During the Nuremberg Trials, Germany 1946

Arthur Seyss-Inquart in the dock during the Nuremberg Trials, Germany 1946 [ He was the former Reichskommissar in wartime Netherlands where he was a figure of intense hate.  This photo became famous as Seyss-Inquart looks unperturbed - it became a symbolic image in the context of the need for justice].

After the war, Oorthuys became famous for his photographs of post-war reconstruction.  He produced dozens of photo books about the restoration of the Netherlands economic and social fabric. Between 1948 and his death in 1975, he published, either alone or in collaboration with others, over 200 photobooks and company photobooks.

Girl (Maryla Nienhuis) playing Betuwestraat, Amsterdam, circa 1955

In 1947, Oorthuys travelled to the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), which was then struggling for its independence.  Opposing public opinion in the Netherlands, he took the side of the Indonesian people.  He made that clear in his photo book Een start in wording (A state in the making).  While the book ended up being remaindered, a few years later the Netherlands gave in to international pressure and Indonesia acquired its independence.  Oorthuys was very proud of the book which he designed himself.  It displayed photographs contrasting the Dutch occupiers and the Indonesians.  He returned for a visit in 1956.

Member of 'Lasjkars' (citizen militia) 1947

Indonesia 1947

Laughing man, West Irian 1956

The book-- cover photo with man with map- symbol of optimism

Oorthuys's clients included major companies in various industrial sectors.  He created pioneering corporate photo books---taking beautifully composed photos- often photographed from below.

Maatschappij shipyard, Amsterdam 1959

At the Gusto yard, Schiedam circa 1962

Oorthuys travelled around Europe taking photographs for a series of very successful travel books for Contact.  Within just ten years from 1954-64, he produced books on a number of European countries that were the new holiday destinations for Dutch tourists.

Venice 1957

Santorini, Greece 1957

Hydra, Greece 1957  (hasn't changed a bit- we were there in 2017)

Pocket travel books-very successful

Sestri Levante, Italy 1957

Place de l'Étoile seen from the Arc de Triomphe, Paris circa 1950

Charles Bridge, Prague 1965

London 1954-55

We both really loved these pictures from Europe in the 1950s.  We have visited many of these cities in recent years.

In 1959, Oorthuys published a major, self-designed photo book called Rotterdam Dynamics of a City. It is seen to be one of his finest publications.

Steam tug 'Europa', Rotterdam 1954

There was beautiful photo of Ossip Zadkine's (1888-1967) sculpture The Destroyed City (1951-1953), representing a man without a heart, a memorial to the destruction of the centre of Rotterdam on May 14, 1940 by the German Luftwaffe.  

Ossip Zadkine's The Destroyed City, Plein 1940, Rotterdam circa 1958

In 1959, Oorthuys was commissioned by the public relations department of the Belgian colonial ministry to spend three months photographing the Congo, which was on the point of gaining its independence.  He travelled the country and took over 6000 photographs.  He was shocked at the unconcealed racism of the Belgian colonists.  His planned book could not be issued at the time because of political developments-- the photos only appeared after his death.

Sapeur or local dandy at the port of Muyumba, Congo 1958

On the banks of the river near Kwamouth, Congo 1958 ( Oorthuys wanted this picture to be on the cover of his book)

Oorthuys also designed a stamp for the 25th celebration of the Liberation of 1945.

Stamp issued in 1970- 25th anniversary of the Liberation

Pyramid at Saqqara, Egypt

Crete 1958

Damascus, Syria 1964

Oorthuys also contributed to the Dutch pavilion at Expo '67!

After the wonderful exhibit, we wandered a bit further down the street and dropped into the Hotel New York.  The Hotel has been in business for 25 years.  It is one of the most beautiful historic buildings in the city- a Jugendstil structure that was the former headquarters of the Holland-America Line.  It looks out towards the sea and has a restaurant and basement bar.  We decided to have a drink.

Treats at the Hotel New York

The bar at the Hotel

Other side of the Hotel New York

Montevideo building beside the Hotel -- 43 story residential skyscraper- opened in 2005, named after the Uruguayan capital city.  Designed by the Mecanoo architecture firm.

View of the Euromast observation tower built in 1960

View of the Port- largest in Europe

We then walked across another bridge to the Fenix Food Factory, one of the old quayside warehouses now accommodating an indoor market for fresh foods and traditional products.

Outside of Fenix Food Factory

Great looking cheeses

Alain near Fenix Food Factory- view back at Hotel New York and Montevideo tower

A new building called Fenixlofts is under constructions across from the Fenix Food Factory.  There were pictures showing the area in 1945 after the German bombing, followed by the 2013 plan for the lofts.  I took a photo of the building in October 2018.

Plan for the building- construction began in 2016

Building under construction today

Photo looking back at the Rem Koolhaus building 

We walked back to the Hotel.  Just one block away, we found Zadkine's famous statue, The Destroyed City, which Oorthuys had photographed in 1958.  The idea for the sculpture was born when Zadkine arrived by train in the destroyed city in 1946.  He said it is "a cry of horror against the inhuman brutality of this act of tyranny."   We have found that the bombings of May 14, 1940 are very much a recurring reference in the city.

We decided not to go too far afield for dinner, as we had already put on more than 20,000 steps and were finally tiring.  We wandered into the neighbourhood near the Cube houses and found de Pizza Bakkers which looked buzzy.  The pizza was very good-they made one with no cheese for us- the tomato sauce was good and it had olives, artichokes and sun-dried tomatoes.

Buzz at de Pizza Bakkers

Alain with our pizza and arugula salad

We walked back to our Hotel and started to pack.  We have had a wonderful fall trip.  Unexpected summer weather in New York and Paris; lots of culture and food; a great return to Antwerp and an exciting new city- Rotterdam, which we highly recommend and which we will definitely return to in the future.

On October 24, we had a long travel day--- 7:20 a.m. tram to the Central Station- then a fast train (just 25 minutes) to Schiphol Airport (Amsterdam)-- then an almost 8 hour flight to JFK New York (a much smoother flight than our flight out)-- a 3 hour layover and then an hour flight back to Toronto.  We arrived at the apartment at 7:30 p.m. (1:30 a.m. Rotterdam time).   

Thank you for joining us on our journey.