photo: © Jimmy Nelson - Marken
During the recent pandemic and its global travel restrictions, Jimmy realized that he did not need to travel to the ends of the earth to discover exceptional human beauty. That insight led to a new project close to home. The resulting art book Between the Sea & the Sky is an ode to the Netherlands, Nelson's adopted homeland.
In Between the Sea & the Sky Jimmy Nelson portrays twenty Dutch communities in regional and traditional costumes and the environment that shaped them.
This artistic journey takes you from Zeeland to Friesland along the last remaining traditional cultures of the Netherlands. The 528-page book about Dutch heritage and costume consists of intimate portraits and iconic landscapes captured with a custom-made analogue plate camera.
The photographs’ fine detail, strong contrast and depth create a romantic, painterly atmosphere that subtly recalls the work of the seventeenth-century Dutch masters.
The images convey respect for people and their surroundings through Nelson’s relatively low viewpoint and the use of natural light. The intimate portraits and distinctly Dutch landscapes are complemented by reportage photographs. Walking, talking and dancing, the people before the camera reveal how they live together, framed by familiar seaports, golden dunes on the horizon and windmills in broad vistas.
Alongside the striking photographs, the chapters in Between the Sea & the Sky contain histories, myths and sayings from the different regions. Hand-drawn maps and illustrations of symbols, mythical figures and natural elements accompany the text. Together, they tell the story of Dutch communities that fought the water for centuries to keep safe a country of which almost a quarter lies below sea level. That demanded extraordinary strength, solidarity and endurance, qualities that helped shape Dutch culture and identity.
At the time of publication, a curated selection of images could be scanned with the free, award-winning Jimmy Nelson app to reveal accompanying video and bring the photographs to life.
On Sunday, September 18, more than five hundred people in traditional regional dress gathered on Amsterdam’s Museumplein for a historic photo shoot. Art photographer Jimmy Nelson made a group portrait of people from twenty Dutch communities whom he had Between the Sea and the Sky portrayed for his latest book. With the Rijksmuseum as the backdrop, the session marked the book’s official launch.
Jimmy Nelson has spent his life photographing traditional cultures, resulting in his first book, Before They Pass Away , in 2013. Five years later came Homage to Humanity , published in 2018. Nelson places the people before his camera on a pedestal, giving extraordinary and often nearly forgotten communities a dignified, visible platform. Through his passionate portraits, he celebrates human diversity and beauty. Nelson dreams of connecting humanity through love for ourselves, one another and the Earth. Only then, he argues, can we preserve our precious planet.
Between the Sea & the Sky -Jimmy Nelson
Pages: 528
Price: €125.00
