The unique portrait of Nelson Mandela that Sander Veeneman made in 1994 was offered for sale to help fund his first Dutch feature film. He was the only Dutch photographer to portray Mandela in 1994 and was nominated for the Zilveren Camera for the image.
The proceeds from the sale of the portrait, which was printed in a limited edition, were intended to provide seed funding for his first Dutch feature film.
For years, Veeneman traveled the world as a photographer, creating powerful images of people living in poverty and conflict zones. His photographs gave them a face. Through a feature film, he wanted to tell their stories and inspire viewers.
Sander: “After several rejections from the Government Information Service, I eventually managed to arrange a portrait session with Mandela. To me, that photograph symbolizes the conviction that nothing is impossible. I am once again trying to achieve something difficult in this period of budget cuts: I want to make a film. To achieve that, I am drawing inspiration from Mandela once more. His portrait can help me make it possible.”
Portrait proceeds to provide seed funding for Dutch feature film
Exposed was the working title of a film about ordinary people in extreme circumstances. A photographer visits battlefields, refugee camps, and disaster areas around the world, photographing people in desperate situations.
He is driven by the belief that pain prompts learning. That is why he takes photographs that hurt. Viewers follow several stories in different parts of the world. Each story shows, in its own way, the courage of ordinary people to change course at the risk of their lives. The photographer connects the different stories.
Sander Veeneman (1962) worked for years as a photographer, primarily producing black-and-white portrait series for well-known magazines and advertising agencies. As a director, he also made several television commercials and two documentaries, including That’s Life, which was nominated at the Netherlands Film Festival.
In 2004, he founded First8, an independent initiative and visual protest against poverty. First8 sent confronting photo booklets to the 25,000 most influential people in the world to draw attention to global poverty. Secretary-General Kofi Annan described Veeneman as ‘the power of an individual.’
