The Maritime Museum will open a new photo presentation with works by Cor Jaring on November 17, 2023. The date marks the tenth anniversary of the photographer's death. The exhibition focuses on the places that shaped Jaring into the photographer he became: the islands next to the Maritime Museum where he grew up and the port where he worked in his early years. These, in his own words, were his 'academies'.
Award-winning photographer
Cor Jaring became famous as the photographer of the counter-movements in Amsterdam in the ’60s and ’70s. Provo, Bart Huges who drilled a hole in his skull, Amsterdam as a 'magic center' of the world, happenings around the Lieverdje, the bed-in in the Hilton with John and Yoko, hippies and protests: as a participating observer, Cor Jaring photographed his environment from the inside. What is less known is that he also made reports in Russia, Japan, Cambodia, Vietnam and Indonesia.
In 1975 Jaring received the World Press Photo Award for his image of the city of Amsterdam and in 2002 he was honored with the Frans Banninck Cocq Medal for his long-term achievements in the field of culture. He was also an honorary citizen of Amsterdam.
Jaring was self-taught. He quickly understood that just a good photo does not make a good photographer. His personality and the way he interacted with people made Jaring the photographer he was. His photos are dynamic, rich in contrast and close to the skin. They are raw and loving.
The Eastern Islands and the Amsterdam port
Cor Jaring was born in 1936 on Wittenburg, one of the Eastern Islands in Amsterdam, and came from a real dock worker family. From the age of fourteen, Jaring worked in the harbor as a cleaner, shore sailor and fire watch. He first came into contact with photography during military service.
He took his first professional steps as a photographer of children's portraits.
At the same time he started photographing his neighborhood and the harbour. After a short adventure as a reportage photographer, Jaring got his old job back at the Amsterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij (ADM). At night he worked there as a fire watch, during the day he moved with his Leica camera among the dock and boat workers, painters and spray painters.
Without being aware of it at the time, he captured a unique image of the times. He also created a unique image of the neighborhood in which he grew up. Jaring depicted the Eastern Islands before new construction took the soul out of the neighborhood.
The presentation Cor Jaring | Neighborhood views and harbor portraits is made up of more than sixty photos. In addition to works from our own collection, loans from the archives of the Jaring family, the Rijksmuseum and Amsterdam City Archives shown. Never before has such a wide selection of images of these subjects been exhibited. The exhibition also includes excerpts from an earlier interview with Jaring.
Cor Jaring | Neighborhood views and harbor portraits
November 17, 2023 to May 17, 2024
The Maritime Museum
