Photography

Marketplace Tradition

Renée de Laat
Project Second Year Major
Major Photography
Year Second Year

For my projects, I mostly select a group or cultural environment that I am interested in and then delve into it. With the help of my camera, I am trying to get to know the world a little bit better. The rich cultural diversity around me is one of my main interests. And photography is a perfect medium to introduce the audience to a different world. By going deeper into the background or culture of those portrayed, I try to make the overall project more engaging for the viewer.

"Van Alle Markten Thuis" is a collaboration project I have recently done with my classmate Sophie Noordhoek. Together, we dived into the world of the marketplaces. With our cameras in hand, we have visited various marketplaces in The Netherlands. We wanted to provide a clear picture of a tradition that is dynamic in so many ways. According to many, the market and marketplace have changed over the past years, things are no longer as they used to be. Some say even that the tradition of marketplace sales is about to die out.

We wanted to collect accurate impressions of the various marketplaces all over the country, where the stalls are still being built up and removed on a daily basis.

One of the markets where many portraits of shoppers were taken was the market at Blaak, Rotterdam. It is located right in front of our academy en is held twice a week, on Tuesday and Saturday.