Jeroen Bruggeman Photography

By believing passionately in something that still doesn't exist, we create it. The non-existent is whatever we haven’t sufficiently desired.   Franz Kafka

Curriculum

Book African memories (2025) Max Ent: Amsterdam.

Exhibitions [solo] 2013 University of Amsterdam (Spinhuis), series of car market in Cotonou and portrait of blind man; 2011-2012 University of Amsterdam (Spinhuis), series of Bucharest; Dec 2010 Taranului museum Bucharest, Africa and Bucharest; Sept 2008 de Aanschouw Rotterdam, portrait Ramatou; Nov-Dec 2007 de Kijvelanden psychiatric hospital Rotterdam, portraits; March 2004 Goethe-Zentrum (German Cultural Center) Iasi, Romania, portraits; June 1997 Desmet theatre Amsterdam, portraits.

Exhibitions [group] Jan 2009 2x2 projects Amsterdam, conceptual project by Laurence Aegerter; July 2007 Zalet Festival Zaječar, Serbia; Feb 2002 Donkersloot Amsterdam, bodypaints by Espen Greger Hagen; 2001 Fotofestival Naarden, PANL selection; June 1998 Rietveld academie Amsterdam, interior design by Jelena Stefanovic; June 1996 Rietveld, fashion by Klaus George.

Prizes PX3 2011; PANL 2001

Gallery May 2008 - May 2009 de KunstSuper Rotterdam, 8 portraits.

Editorial for Powderzine, the Times of Swaziland, Photo, Strictly, Focus, de Volkskrant, several books, a cd-cover, and multiple other magazines and assignments.

Background

In a mirror reflection self-portrait by Eva Besnyö, a photographer whom I admired, I noticed she had a Rolleiflex camera (that produces square negatives) - so that's what I needed, I then believed. I bought my first one in 1994, and rather than pursuing an academic training, I learned mostly by trial and error, from books, and got additional inspiration from my grandfather Paul Citroen. He became famous for his innovative photography from the nineteen-thirties, after his studies at the Bauhaus. There, Johannes Itten taught that works of art should be a balanced unity of composition, expression, and technique. Citroen applied this threefold principle to his work, and I do my best to apply it to mine. 

Along with my grandfather and Eva Besnyö (who was a friend of my grandfather, and commented my first portfolio), I found inspiration in the works of Emmy Andriesse, Irving Penn, Bill Brandt, and the early Jean Loup Sieff. Many other great photographers, e.g., Malick Sidibé and Seydou Keita, I discovered only later, after I had developed my own style. I readily specialized in black and white, which I print in limited editions on high quality baryte paper.

Through the work of Arnold Newman and Richard Avedon, I became attracted to the quality made possible with large format camera's. Since 2000, I work mostly on 13x18cm negatives, and when traveling on 10x12cm, the smallest format I use. The cumbersome handling of big cameras forces me to work slower and more concentrated than with small cameras, while the large negatives feature incredible sharpness and tonality (that can't be reproduced on the internet). The results are somewhat mysterious - reality slowed down unrealistically - which not only show us in detail what's in front of us but also suggest what we long for or have forgotten.

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