The 2011 Silver Camera, the Netherlands' most important award for photojournalists, was presented to photographer Joost van den Broek (1967) at the Fotomuseum Den Haag.
His photo shows neighbors demanding that the treasurer of the Martijn pedophile association leave their neighborhood in Hengelo. They appear ready to take the law into their own hands.
Marthijn Uittenboogaard is the treasurer of the Martijn pedophile association. His neighbors in Hengelo disapprove. They threatened him in July, and his windows had already been smashed earlier.
According to the jury, the winning photo provides a crystal-clear picture of the Netherlands in 2011: a multicultural society in which impatience, aggression, and the tendency to take the law into one's own hands appear to be gaining the upper hand. Joost van den Broek shows this by standing among the people while still maintaining an appropriate distance.
Van den Broek succeeds in portraying the news in a compelling way. He demonstrates this not only with the winning photo but also with his other entries. He is a deserving winner, with a photo series about the deportation of Iraqis; a photo of Nasrdin Char and his proud parents during the presentation of the Golden Calves in Utrecht; and, of course, the image of the vigilante confrontation in Hengelo.
The winning photo, together with the other nominated images, can be seen at the Fotomuseum Den Haag through February 26.
More information is available at www.zilverencamera.nl.
