“Since 1982 I have been established as photographer and audiovisual designer. Ever since, my art work has been exhibited in various museums in Eastern and Western Europe and Africa and published in various books and publications.“
Reinout van den Bergh (Wageningen, the Netherlands,1957) studied photography and audiovisual design at St. Joost School of Fine Art and Design in Breda, the Netherlands.
He worked for various ethnographical museums and for Dutch development cooperation. His work has been exhibited in various museums in Eastern and Western Europe and Africa, and published in several books and other publications.
“In all my work I try to combine subject matter with human interest and interaction. I am fascinated and inspired by daily recurring events in the lives of ordinary people; how they live, eat, drink, work, sleep, dream and love.“
One of his projects is: The Miners from Beringen (2014).
It comprises a collection of photographs made in the Belgian mining community of Beringen during the 1980s. It was proclaimed as one of the best photobooks of the year by Dutch quality newspaper de Volkskrant. For ‘Factories’, a long-term project, with fellow artist Huib Fens he visited industrial heritage all over Europe. The ‘Environment’ project is a combination of visual art and photography, for which he cooperated with sculptor Gerhard Lentink, travelling in several European countries.
Eboundja
This is a photo project that occupies Van den Bergh from 2011 onwards. One of these beautiful pictures is in Storybook.
Since 2009, the 30 families of the fishing village of the same name in southern Cameroon are in great uncertainty about their future. The village is situated in the middle of a coastal strip where the Chinese, in exchange for Cameroon’s iron ore, are constructing a deep sea harbour. The inhabitants are vulnerable to the combination of a corrupt government and megalomaniac project developers. In a series of photographs and cinematic impressions, van den Bergh shows, with great commitment, the decline as well as the intimacy and beauty of the small community; the resignation but also the pride and resistance. The recent, enormous changes in the village environment and the direct and indirect impact on its inhabitants is the content of a book that will be published by mid 2020.
Do you want to see more of his work?
> Website: www.reinoutvandenbergh.nl
> Instagram: @reinout_van_den_bergh
There is also an encounter between Barbara & Reinout you can read!
