Ernst van Deursen

As an art school student, I worked six hours a week as a security guard at the Stedelijk Museum. I noticed that very little reportage photography was being done, while the pictures Ed van der Elsken took at the Stedelijk of “Dylaby”, for example, were often shown. I thought: there is an opportunity for me there. As a teaser, I took photos of Karel Appel, who put on his own exhibition in 2001. My photo of him and Rudi Fuchs became the opening photo in the book “Acquisitions Stedelijk Museum 1993-2003”, which opened the door for me as in-house photographer. Many art institutions and artists followed, including van Gogh Museum, Galerie Fons Welters, Veem, DNB and JCK.

I combine specialisations such as performance and reportage photography with architecture and interior photography, capturing the “moment suprême” in an optimal emergent setting.

Since 2020, I have also been working on my own subjects in the Netherlands, France, Germany, Poland and Ukraine. In preparation: Palestine and surrounding areas.