'This photo of a farming family, taken near Utrecht a year and a half ago, is part of my personal series One Hundred Dutch Households, which I started three years ago and am still working on. I photograph the whole of the Netherlands this way.
Two things are important to the series. One is the permanence of the family as the cornerstone of society. After all, fathers and mothers with children exist all over the world. Figuratively speaking, that represents humanity's continuity and stability. At the same time, the world has never changed as rapidly as it does today. That change is reflected in the photographs through the interiors, clothing, jewelry—in short, everything people surround themselves with. That is also why I always photograph this series indoors.
If you ask me why I consider this photograph special, I can give two reasons. In terms of content, the image fulfills the brief I set myself: photographing family life in the Netherlands in a situation that could occur in that family's everyday life. Second, the photograph meets several formal criteria: the colors and light are beautiful, the composition is good, and the natural atmosphere feels right. Everything works together.
It takes me about three quarters of an hour to decide where to place the camera, taking several factors into account, such as the direction of the light (I work exclusively with available light), the number of people, and the furniture… As I do this, I observe how the family members interact with one another, which is something I try to capture in the photograph. The oldest son, for example, kept slightly apart, trying to look tough, so I positioned him separately, while the two girls sat comfortably close together in the foreground.'
- Name: Taco Anema (1950)
- Location: Amsterdam
- Portfolio: Philips, Heineken, Wolters Kluwer
- Info: www.tacoanema.nl
