Exhibition – book – wEbsitE
GibRALtAR - sPAin - FRAnCE - itALY - CRoAtiA - ALbAniA - GREECE - CYPRUs - tURkEY - sYRiA - LEbAnon - isRAËL / wEst bAnk & GAZA - EGYPt - LYbiA - tUnEsiA - ALGERiA - MoRoCCo
In So Blue So Blue, the Dutch documentary photo-
grapher Ad van Denderen sketches a very different
picture of the region around the Mediterranean from
that of sun-drenched beaches, charming hotels, lively
discos and azure sea.
Between 2003 and 2008, Ad van Denderen travelled
regularly through the 17 countries that border the
Mediterranean Sea. This immense area is under a
huge amount of pressure from the fast-growing tou-
rism industry and the political, cultural and religious
tensions that the geopolitical location brings with it.
Africa, Asia and Europe, Christianity and Islam, rich
and poor all come together here.
While working on his project Go No Go, about
migration in Europe, Van Denderen experienced the
idiosyncratic effect social-economic developments
have had in the Mediterranean landscape. On the
south coast of Spain he photographed a group of
a hundred illegal immigrants landing on the beach
with rubber boats. Soaked to the skin, they ran off
in the early morning light. Three hours later tourists
appeared on the same beach, spreading out their
towels to enjoy another sunny day on the beach. This
event was Van Denderen’s starting point from where
he meticulously started working his way around the
Mediterranean Sea.
What we, the spectators, get to see of these pro-
blems is silent proof. Through his, at times surprising
images, Van Denderen shows us the presence and
movement of groups of people that we never or rarely
see in the media. Images of, for example, Russian
tourists in Turkey and Egyptian or Korean guest
workers in Libya. To be able to catch these images,
Ad van Denderen had to make a shift in the approach
to his subject. Having previously worked on his ex-
tensive documentary projects in black and white with
a small format camera and close up to the people
he portrayed, Van Denderen chose to photograph in
color with a medium format camera. So Blue So Blue
thus provides a broader and more detached vision.
In a literal and formal sense, Van Denderen focuses
on the environment as a whole. Human beings are
revealed as actors, without volition, ‘drowning’ in their
self-created landscape.
Van Denderen conducted his research into the cur-
rent situation from the perspective of a genuinely
curious, non-interfering (relative) outsider. The por-
trayal is contemplative, never stigmatising and acts
as a buffer against the simplifying portrayal that – in
correlation with a hardening political standpoint –
dominates the media.
Ad van Denderen (b. 1943) has demonstrated his
social engagement in his books Welkom in South
Africa (1987, about apartheid), Peace in the Holy
Land (1997, about the conflict in Palestine) and the
extensive project Go No Go (2003, about human
trafficking in Europe), which consists of a book, a
travelling exhibition and the website www.go-no-go.
nl. He received a number of prestigious prizes for
his work, including the Visa d’Or at the International
Photofestival Visa pour l’image in Perpignan. Ad van
Denderen is a member of VU Agency, Paris.
PA R A D O X - PO Bo x 113 - 1135 ZK Edam - The Ne t h e r l a nd s - T +31 (0 )299 315083 - F +31 (0 )299 315082 - E s e r v e r@pa r ado x . n l - www.pa r ado x . n l
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PARADOX creates projects in photography, v ideo and media related ar ts . The interact ion between social , economic and technological change is central to most thematic and monographic projects developed. PARADOX’ act iv i t ies include t ravel l ing exhibi t ions, f i lm product ion, book and electronic publ ishing and organising workshops and symposiums. For fur ther info: www.paradox.nl
SO Blue SO Blue edges of the Mediterranean - AD vAn DenDeRen PuBlicATiOn: SteidlMack (london 2008) - €35,- / iSBn 78-3-86521-734-9 eXhiBiTiOn: FRAMeD PRinTS (100 X 128cM) AnD SATelliTe BROADcASTS eXhiBiTiOn Fee: € 12 .500 , - WeBSiTe: www.sobluesoblue.nl
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