Bertien van Manen (born 1942) is a Dutch photographer. She started her career as a fashion photographer, after having studied French and German languages and literature. Inspired by Robert Frank's ''The Americans'' she travelled around, photographing what she saw. She had her first exhibition in The Photographers' Gallery in London in 1977 and since then her work has been exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris, the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam and the Fotomuseum Winterthur. Van Manen's work is found in major public collections.

Life and work

Bertien van Manen started her photography career in 1974 as a

fashion photographer Fashion photography is a genre of photography which is devoted to displaying clothing and other fashion items, sometimes haute couture. It typically consists of a fashion photographer taking a picture of a dressed model in a photographic studio ...

after studying French language and literature at the

University of Leiden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, as a reward to the city of Le ...

. Inspired by

Robert Frank Robert Frank (November 9, 1924 – September 9, 2019) was a Swiss photographer and documentary filmmaker, who became an American binational. His most notable work, the 1958 book titled ''The Americans'', earned Frank comparisons to a modern-da ...

's book ''

The Americans ''The Americans'' is an American historical drama, period spy fiction, spy drama television series created by Joe Weisberg that aired on the FX (TV channel), FX television network for six seasons from January 30, 2013, to May 30, 2018. Weisberg ...

'' (1958), van Manen switched from fashion photography to a more documentary approach, she travelled around, photographing what she saw. She uses an inexpensive snapshot camera to take photos of people she meets, as she feels that these cameras allow her subjects to consider "me as a tourist or friend, who likes to take pictures." She has photographed extensively in China, the Appalachian Mountains in the US and the former Soviet Union. She worked on commission and for long running projects, such as ''A Hundred Summers, A Hundred Winters'' (1991) about the

post-Soviet states The post-Soviet states, also known as the former Soviet Union (FSU), the former Soviet Republics and in Russia as the near abroad (russian: links=no, ближнее зарубежье, blizhneye zarubezhye), are the 15 sovereign states that wer ...

, ''East Wind, West Wind'' (2001) about China, ''Give me your Image'' (2006) about Europe, ''Moonshine'' (2014) with photographs of mining families in the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They ...

, and ''Beyond Maps and Atlases'' (2016) from Ireland. In 2011 ''Let's Sit Down Before We Go'' was published by MACK, edited by Stephen Gill. In 2017 ''I Will be Wolf'' was published by MACK, edited by Stephen Gill.

Publications

*''A Hundred Summers, A Hundred Winters.'' Amsterdam: De Verbeelding, 1994. * ''East Wind West Wind.'' Amsterdam: De Verbeelding, 2001. *''In Moldova.'' Aorta Chisinau, 2005. *''Give me your Image.'' Göttingen:

Steidl Steidl is a German-language publisher, an international publisher of photobooks, and a printing company, based in Göttingen, Germany. It was started in 1968 by Gerhard Steidl and is still run by him. Overview The company was started by Gerha ...

, 2006. *''Let's Sit Down Before we go.'' London: Mack, 2011.Edited by Stephen Gill. *''Easter and Oak Trees.'' London: Mack, 2013. *''Moonshine.'' London: Mack, 2014. *''Beyond Maps and Atlases.'' London: Mack, 2016. . *''I Will be Wolf.'' London: Mack, 2017. Edited by Stephen Gill. . *''Gluckauf''. FW, 2023.

Exhibitions

The Photographers' Gallery The Photographers' Gallery was founded in London by Sue Davies opening on 14 January 1971, as the first public gallery in the United Kingdom devoted solely to photography. It is also home to the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize, established in ...

, London, 1977 *

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

, New York *

Maison européenne de la photographie The Maison Européenne de la Photographie (MEP; European house of photography), located in the historic heart of Paris, is a center for contemporary photographic art opened in February 1996. Location and activities The Hotel Henault de Cantobre, ...

, Paris *

Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (; Municipal Museum Amsterdam), colloquially known as the Stedelijk, is a museum for modern art, contemporary art, and design located in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Fotomuseum Winterthur Fotomuseum Winterthur is a museum of photography in Winterthur, Switzerland. History The museum was founded in 1993 and is dedicated to photography as art form and document, and as a representation of reality. Fotomuseum Winterthur is an art g ...

Collections

Van Manen's work is held in the following public collections: *

Rijksmuseum The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the St ...

, Amsterdam *
FOMU - Fotomuseum Antwerpen
*

, Paris, *

, Winterthur, Switzerland *

, Amsterdam *

, New York *

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

, New York *

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is a modern and contemporary art museum located in San Francisco, California. A nonprofit organization, SFMOMA holds an internationally recognized collection of modern and contemporary art, and was ...

, San Francisco *

Centre national des arts plastiques The Centre national des arts plastiques (National Centre for Visual Arts, Cnap) is a French institution established in 1982 under the Ministry of Culture and Communication that promotes creation of visual arts. It provides assistance to artists and ...

, Paris *

Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography The is an art museum concentrating on photography. As the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, it was founded by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, and is in Meguro-ku, a short walk from Ebisu station in southwest Tokyo. The museum also ...

, Tokyo *

Baltimore Museum of Art The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, is an art museum that was founded in 1914. The BMA's collection of 95,000 objects encompasses more than 1,000 works by Henri Matisse anchored by the Cone Collection of ...

, Baltimore, MD

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Manen, Bertien van Dutch women photographers Dutch contemporary artists 1942 births Living people Photographers from The Hague