Press release 7 March 2023
Art manifestation h3h biennial Oosterhout (3rd June – 16th July 2023) will pay homage to the documentary photographer and photojournalist Piet den Blanken (Wijbosch, 1951 – Guatemala City, 2022). An inveterate traveller, Den Blanken took photographs across the globe, focusing on the theme of social injustice. His work was published in a wide range of newspapers and magazines, both in the Netherlands and abroad. Together with Den Blanken’s estate, h3h biennial curators Hendrik Driessen and Rebecca Nelemans have made a selection from the countless pictures of informal carers, migrants, and victims of political upheaval which show compassion, determination and conviction. The selection is founded on human perseverance and the belief in a happy future.
“We were talking about the possibility of inviting a photographer to produce a series of works for the theme of Faith. Piet den Blanken’s oeuvre sprang to mind right away. His empathy and keen photographer’s eye enabled him to capture how people can manage to hold on to hope and strive for a better life, even when faced with miserable circumstances”, Hendrik Driessen and Rebecca Nelemans commented.
About Piet den Blanken
Piet den Blanken began his career as a darkroom technician and photographer at a local newspaper in ’s-Hertogenbosch in the 1970s. During this time, he also trained as a photo reporter at the photography school in Apeldoorn. From 1978, he embarked on many long journeys as a self-employed photographer, specialising in social and economic topics. “I never travelled to countries out of general curiosity. I went to Nicaragua because I wanted to record the revolution. To El Salvador to record the resistance. I still do. Recently, I visited Guatemala to show the abysmal circumstances of the workers harvesting sugar cane. Not to capture its natural beauty.” (Excerpt from an interview in BN DeStem, 7th March 2015: “Sociaal onrecht als grote inspiratiebron”)
Den Blanken has mostly documented the underbelly of society. He photographs working and living environments, records how people interact, how they carry out actions, how they stand up for themselves, how they starve, how they flee: “These are often very strong people who find solutions that would never even cross our minds. It’s not depressing to watch – if anything, seeing their resilience is inspirational.”
His reports were distributed by photo agency Hollandse Hoogte and published in national and regional newspapers, trade union magazines, and opinion magazines. Piet den Blanken has also made various photo books about topics ranging from rural life in the southern Netherlands to justice, civil wars, informal care, and prostitution.
