'Men at work' in Rome and Holland
New workshops: Canada...and more
New book and exhibition: Men at Work
25 February 2012
With the opening of a solo-exhibition in Amsterdam's Melkweg Gallery on February 29th and the launch of a new book Thijs will celebrate his project 'Men at work', for which he photographed for almost 20 years. 'Men at work' portrays men from all over the world in their working place. (Go to this gallery to see images from the series, or check out a preview (PDF) of the book here)
Thijs: 'The question raised by each of these images: is a man’s identity based on his work, or is his work based on his identity? It is up to the viewer to answer that question. For myself, I see a clear connection between the (socio-)geographic location where I take a picture and the role that work plays in the lives of men. In the wealthy, capitalist Western world, men seem to identify strongly with their work: they are what they do. In less advanced countries, this is often quite different. Here it works the other way around: people tend to do work that suits them.'
The book is published by Oost West Thijs Best, text is in English. Order here. The exhibition in De Melkweg lasts till April 1st.
New book and exhibition: Au!
2 November 2011
'Au!' is the title of Thijs' new photo book on Suriname. Today film director Jean van de Velde received the first copy of the book during a presentation in Amsterdam.
To shoot for his new book Thijs spent 3 months in Suriname's jungle. The book documents the lives of the people that live in this vast piece of Amazon rainforest. Click here for an extended preview (or here if you can read Dutch and want to order a copy).
To celebrate the publication of this new book there will be an exhibition of Thijs' Surinam images in Pakhuis De Zwijger in Amsterdam during the whole month of November.
Sailing & shooting in the Caribbean
26 September 2011
If all these dry conditions are not really your piece of cake, we have something different for you! Cruising a spectacular tallship along beautiful Caribbean islands and improving your photographic skills at the same time. That's what it's all about on board the Clipper Stad Amsterdam next January. Thijs Heslenfeld will be on board to help you shoot better images.
All information here.
'Hot' voted best travel photobook of 2009!
18 January 2010
The nomination was already there, but now it's official. The Dutch association of travel book shops voted 'Hot - Life in the Australian outback' the best Dutch photo book of 2009! Here's what the jury had to say:
'Thijs Heslenfeld is one of the best Dutch travel photographers. In this book about his much-loved Australia, he strikes exactly the right note to make the outback sing. Heslenfeld says that he wants to show life in the outback - nothing more, nothing less. But that, obviously, is an understatement. Not everyone can perceive the beauty in desiccated carcasses in red sand, a pile of tyres in the desert, some tools in a dusty shed.
Whilst there is, of course, a lot of outback in this book, there is a lot of Heslenfeld too. His sense of rhythm, patterns and eye for very subtle shades makes it a very personal book. Details of feathers, the gentle green tones of broken bottles and even a picture of a road train that rumbles past him imbue a soft sheen.
Truly an exceptionally beautiful photo book.'
1.000+ copies sold
2 December 2009
Not bad! The book is out only a few weeks and we sold already more than 1.000 copies. Orders are coming in from far-away destinations like South-Korea, Argentina and Canada, a lot from the UK and - obviously - quite a few from Australia.
'Hot - Life in the Australian outback' is out!
9 November 2009
Finally! Thijs' new book 'Hot' is out and now available not only here on the special 'Hot'-website, but also in Dutch and Belgian bookshops and on international websites like buecher.de (Germany), libris.de (Germany), amazon.de (Germany, free shipping!), cosmox.be (Belgium, free shipping!), amazon.co.uk (UK) and bol.com (Netherlands).
Exhibition in Rotterdam
7 November 2009
Today the Aboriginal Art Gallery in Rotterdam opens an exhibition with images from 'Hot'. Together with the gallery owners Thijs selected 17 images from the new book that will be displayed full size till 31 january 2010. The gallery is located in the heart of Rotterdam: Jufferstraat 98 and open tuesday-sunday from 12.00 till 17.00.
'Hot' is popping up in the media
16 September 2009
Thijs' new photo book is being picked up by the media: check out these news items from Digital Photographer (UK) and The Inspiration Room (USA), an interview on fotolook.nl (in Dutch) and this interview with Shots (PDF, 1 Mb).
Thijs wins a Charlie Award!
10 September 2009
Thijs wins a Charlie Award! But nobody bothered to tell him...
Full story on his website
Interview Shots magazine
20 August 2009
Shots Magazine published an interview with Thijs Heslenfeld in their last issue. Shots is one of the worlds most authoritative magazines on advertising and photography, published in the UK.
read the interview (PDF, 1 Mb)
Veenman prints 'Hot - Life in the Australian outback'
12 August 2009
Good news! Veenman Drukkers in Rotterdam will print Thijs' new photo book 'Hot - Life in the Australian outback'. Veenman is a highly reputed printer that has a long tradition of printing the best and most influential art books in The Netherlands. 'Hot' is due out 9 November this year.
'Cold' heading for the South Pole
30 July 2009
As of next season 'Cold - sailing to Antarctica' will be for sale on Antarctica itself!
During my last visit to Antarctica I met Port Lockroy manager Rick Atkinson, who told me how enthusiastic he was about the coffeetable book. Back home I made a deal with the Antarctic Heritage Trust, and today the UK head office received a pallet full of books.
Later this year they will make the 10.000 mile journey to Port Lockroy, to go on sale next Antarctic season. That makes 'Cold' one of the very few coffeetable books available on the continent itself - in what is certainly the Southernmost bookshop on our planet.