Biography

Discussion

‘(…) You know, doctors work a lot with prescriptions: it seems to us that Nico Jesse works according to the famous example of Goethe’s theatre director: “Greift nur hinein ins volle Menschenleben! Und wo ihr’s packt, da ist’s interessant” [‘Live life only to the fullest! And where it grabs you, that’s where it’s interesting.’] With his camera, Nico Jesse takes life by the horns. And the result is: life. Against all the academic rules of photographic technique, he can afford to take blurry, moving shots. The final result is not bad photography, but rather increased life. From the perspective of art, professional photographers are technically inclined and can usually be quite annoying. As such, they are likely to make all kinds of derogatory remarks when it comes to Jesse’s photos. Yet none of them can deny that he approaches his subjects in a grandiose way, that he knows how to capture life at its most interesting moments and that this life is always captivating.’

Paul Citroen gave this accurate characterisation of the work of his friend, Nico Jesse, in 1955 as part of an introductory text that was found in Jesse’s archive and intended for an unknown photo exhibition. Citroen could not have described it any better: ‘life’ is at the heart of Nico Jesse’s photographic oeuvre. During his travels, Jesse sought out people who were characteristic of a city or country. In fact, ‘sought out’ is not the right term: in reality, he just ran into these people while on his trips. He would take one or more photos of his subjects, and once he was back at home, he would then determine whether they were of any value. It was in this manner that his books came into being, which were known for the candid manner of photographing.

The photos appear to have been made spontaneously. Because Jesse easily gained peoples’ favour, he was able to capture the character of the person being portrayed in a photo. This was exactly what Jesse wished to express in his photographs. On 13 June 1955, he wrote about the importance of photography for the medical profession in a column for Het Parool. He ended his essay as follows: ‘As opposed to photography as a means of registration one can see photography as a means of expression. Photography is exceptionally useful for visualising human interaction. (…) Holding on to what is temporary—the split moment is essential for modern photography, that which shows a person in a flash, just as he is, without a mask, without a label. The combination of doctor-photographer is similarly understandable, as in both areas one must, after all, possess an interest in people and humanity in general. But, I would ask, who does not possess this in the end, where one ultimately wishes to know himself better through a knowledge of the other. And what individual is not interested in himself? If one reasons as such, everyone could be a doctor-photographer! A person is difficult to measure. This explains my doubts with regards to whether everything has been seen with sufficient depth and accuracy, or whether my photos convey people and humanity down to their very essence.’

Nico Jesse has never received any education in photography and, until 1955, he combined his activities as a photographer with his study in medicine and later his professional practice as a doctor. It was his father who introduced him to photography during his high school years. With his plate camera, Jesse documented the outings and school trips of his friends and classmates. In 1930, he moved to Utrecht to study medicine. A year later, immediately after completing his sophomore year, he announced that he wanted to stop with his study in order to devote himself solely to photography. He gave up this plan under pressure from his family, but continued with photography on an intensive basis. In Modern Photography. The Studio Annual of Camera Art 1935-1936, Jesse wrote the following: ‘I have taken photographs for about seven years now without help or teaching from anyone. My opinion is that long theoretical essays on “Art Photography” are no good for the man who wants to make art photographs. A photograph is good or not good, and an art photograph is not to be made by means of brainwork.’ He was exceptionally interested in new developments and had in his possession, for instance, the book, Foto-auge, published in 1929 on the occasion of the exhibition, Film und Foto, in Stuttgart. Jesse was inspired by New Photography and he himself experimented with photograms, photo collages and photomontages. In 1933, he made a calendar with twelve surrealistically tinted photo collages for the Almanak van het Utrechts Studenten Corps (‘Almanac of the Utrecht Student Corps’). Each page of the calendar had a different aspect of student life as its theme. Nico Jesse never furthered his experiments and instead concentrated his efforts on photographing people in their daily environment. In doing so, he laid the basis for the photography that would bring him renown twenty years later.

In 1935, the journalist Otto van Tussenbroek contributed an article to Elsevier’s Geïllustreerd Maandschrift (‘Elsevier’s Illustrated Monthly’) bearing the title: ‘Moderne fotografie van Nico Jesse’ (‘Modern Photography of Nico Jesse’). According to Van Tussenbroek, Jesse was able to capture what was characteristic in a person, animal or situation: ‘If he is travelling, he is always able to record all kinds of things, as in a photographic sketchpad, which touch the character and atmosphere perfectly of the foreign figures and landscapes presented before his eyes.’ Van Tussenbroek predicted that Jesse would further develop himself in the direction of film. This was not to be the case, although Jesse was most certainly interested in the film medium and belonged to the managing board of the Filmliga (‘Film League’) in Utrecht – probably in the period 1932 to 1933. Van Tussenbroek, however, was not entirely off the mark. Jesse’s later photobooks were especially appreciated for their film-like quality: their strength was not so much in the individual photo as it was in the sequential ordering of the various photos. In response to Jesse’s 1941 solo exhibition at Wagenaar Art Dealers in Utrecht, Gerrit Rietveld presented a discussion of his work in the magazine, Kleinbeeld-foto. For Rietveld, the core of a photo was: ‘the characteristic moment of a movement, freed from everything that is not a direct part of that movement, or which gives that movement a certain character.’ Rietveld praised Jesse for his talent in capturing that characteristic moment of the movement, of life that passes by, in a single image, without forgetting the aesthetic qualities of that image. In Modern Photography, Jesse himself cites movement as the most important aspect of film as well as photography. The innovative character of Jesse’s early work lies not so much in his experiments with photomontages and photograms as it does in his approach. Jesse approached photography with an unconventional, almost film-like point of view. His affinity with New Photography can also still be seen in the 1950s. Particularly in his corporate books, Oranje Nassau Mijnen (‘Orange Nassau Mines’) and N. V. Coq, he took advantage of the various ways in which to address a subject photographically. The miners and factory workers were portrayed in a spontaneous manner, while when photographing a machine, Jesse chose for abstraction by highlighting a noticeable detail.

During the Second World War, Jesse replaced a number of doctors across the country. In addition, in 1942 he received a photo commission from the Utrecht City Archives. According to a report of the city archives, the assignment concerned the years of occupation: “(…) The photographing of (…) not so much the monuments and buildings, as much as of city life in the broadest sense of the word, such as it appeared in the eyes of contemporaries during the years of the occupation.’ The bestowal of this commission was inspired by the fear that Utrecht might possibly have been partially or totally destroyed. Jesse took a large number of photos, which he assembled into small scrapbooks. He also made approximately thirty-six colour slides. Consequently, he was one of the few people to photograph in colour during the war. For the remainder of the war, Jesse was primarily busy with making family portraits. For many photographers, this was a key source of income during the German occupation.

Together with his second wife, Margreet de Vries, and their two children, Wendela and Machteld, Jesse moved to Ameide in 1945, where he was able to take over a family medical practice. It was also at this time that he began to photograph more professionally as well as sharing the knowledge he had acquired with other fledgling photographers. One of them was Jan Versnel, who assisted him in 1946 and 1947. It gradually became clear for Jesse, however, that combining his activities as a family doctor with his passion for photography was a difficult undertaking. In 1950, his photographic career began gaining momentum. In the summer of that year, Jesse’s first photobook appeared, Utrecht as it is/Zó is Utrecht, published by Lankamp and Brinkman. In the years that followed, he provided photos for Het versterkte huis. Kastelen in Nederland (‘The Fortified House. Castles in the Netherlands’). He was commissioned by the Maatschappij tot Exploitatie van Limburgse Steenkoolmijnen (‘Society for the Operation of the Coal Mines in Limburg’) to produce the commemorative book, Oranje Nassau Mijnen (‘Orange Nassau Mines’), and by the publishing company, Bruna, to make the book, Vrouwen van Parijs (‘Women of Paris’). This latter work, which appeared in 1954, received overall praise for its unconventional approach: the book consists of a sequence of photos showing women caught in the act of their daily activities. Technical aspects of photography, such as framing and focus, hardly play a role. His preference for artificial flash lighting was unusual, using flash bulbs of his own manufacture. While in most situations the available light was sufficient, Jesse still chose to use a flash bulb, resulting in an effect in which the person being portrayed, as it were, became removed from the background. Bruna Publishers put out a pocket edition of the book in 1956. The book’s print run totalled 44,000 copies, including those distributed in countries such as France, Sweden and Japan. A selection of the photos were exhibited in the Print Room of Leiden University and acquired for its collection. Even then, the book’s success was as yet incomplete. In 1954, it was included among the finest of publications cited by the CPNB (Commissie voor de Collectieve Propaganda van het Nederlandse Boek, ‘Commission for the Collective Propaganda of Books in the Netherlands’), just as with Oranje Nassau Mijnen, which appeared in 1953.

Encouraged by this success, in 1955 Jesse made the decision to leave his family medical practice and begin work as a professional photographer. The immediate reason for Jesse’s move was the Nationale Energie Manifestatie (‘National Energy Manifestation’) E ’55 in Rotterdam, an event for which he was commissioned to make illustrations for the ‘Pavilion for Public Health’. He spent his entire summer working on this project, realising afterwards that he could no longer maintain his commitments as a doctor while working as a photographer. This change in his career entailed moving his family to the estate called ‘Over Holland’ in Loenen aan de Vecht.

In his early years as a professional photographer, Jesse experienced no shortage of work. He received commissions from various companies, photographed for annual reports and corporate publications, and for years documented the renowned ‘Book Ball’ held annually in Amsterdam. He also produced a large number of photobooks at a rapid tempo on Spain (1955), the French Riviera (1956), London (1959), Rome (1960), Berlin (1960), and once again, Paris (1962). Jesse always worked for publishing companies and corporations, but was at the same time continually busy developing ideas for photobooks. His archive comprises various mock-ups and scrapbooks on the widest variety of subjects, including flamenco dancers, the liberation of Ameide in 1945 and sculpture in the Netherlands. In the 1950s, working on photobooks figured as the most significant share of his photographic activities. When comparing the different photobooks on European countries and cities, one finds a number of similarities. Jesse was, above all, interested in people. The tourist attractions of a city or region were hardly covered. The basis for each book was the atmosphere that a city or country radiated. In Rome, where life takes place on the street (more so than in the northern Europe), Jesse photographed mainly the countless terraces, squares and parks. In London, by contrast, his attention was devoted to the theatres, department stores and pubs, hardly taking any outdoor shots.

With these photobooks, Jesse placed himself into the category of ‘human interest’ photography, which in the Netherlands came into play in the late 1930s with the exhibition Foto ’37, and the establishing of a photography department at the VANK (Nederlandsche Vereeniging voor Ambachts- en Nijverheidskunst, ‘Netherlands Association for Applied and Industrial Art’). This tradition reached its climax with the famous exhibition, The Family of Man.

Appreciation for Nico Jesse’s work developed in the years that he worked as a photographer. The first books that he produced were suited to the tradition of the times. Publishers were producing touristic books on a large scale. Vrouwen van Parijs received attention thanks to its design and Jesse’s unconventional manner of photographing. In 1954, it was still unusual to go out on the street and photograph anyone who passed in front of one’s view. Starting in the second half of the 1950s, however, there were other requirements placed upon photobooks. Jesse’s photobooks were discussed more critically. Since The Family of Man, aesthetically justified photos without any message were no longer appreciated. Jesse became increasingly seen as a photographer who was superficial, someone who did not take the trouble to delve into the lives of the people that he photographed. He portrayed the homeless and the outcasts, not as a complaint against the terrible circumstances in which these people lived, but rather because these figures were photogenic and distinctive. Instead, it was the books of photographers such as Ed van der Elsken and Johan van der Keuken that drew attention. Ed van der Elsken lived from 1950 to 1954 in Paris, where he came into contact with the existentialism that was to become an important way of life for some groups in the years following the Second World War. Van der Elsken was fascinated by this and showed the futility of such an existence for young people – characterised by alcohol, drugs and suicide – in his book, Een liefdesgeschiedenis in Saint Germain des Prés (English title: Love on the Left Bank, 1956). While the book was set up as a photo novel with a fictitious storyline, the situation in which these people found themselves was by no means artificial. Life in Paris had never before been photographed so penetrating: the city itself only served as a background for the story.

Between 1956 and 1958, Johan van der Keuken photographed in Paris during his study at the film academy. His book, Paris Mortel (1963), provides an image of the harsh reality in 1950s Paris. The Algerian issue led to demonstrations by the far right, while labourers protested against their horrible working conditions. Van der Keuken photographed the demonstrations, railway strikes and the Salvation Army out on its collections. The image that he presented of the city was neither touristic – such as with Cas Oorthuys, and to a lesser degree, Nico Jesse – nor realistic and at the same time coloured, as was the case with Ed van der Elsken. Ed van der Elsken and Johan van der Keuken rebelled against the conventional values of the generations that came before them. They were confronted by a society that was completely different from what Steichen showed in The Family of Man. Nico Jesse continued to photograph in the old way. His approach was still personal, but was now considered superficial, in the same way that The Family of Man had come to be seen as naive and unrealistic.

Critics accused Jesse of applying a success formula—shots that are apparently candid, radiating dynamic and spontaneity— without daring the risk of breaking away from it. Jesse, however, was not one to be persuaded by a political conviction, but was led by a personal interest in the ‘common’ man in his daily surroundings. He chose not for exceptional events that occur in life, but rather for its every day aspects. His subjects are recognisable, but thanks to the photographer’s frankness and his subject, they carry an additional value. The critique was aimed not only at his personal approach, but also to the technical aspects of his work. His frequent use of artificial flash lighting – which at the time of Vrouwen van Parijs was still seen as something positive – was later viewed as a lack of technique instead of a pronounced trait of Jesse’s style of photographing. Jesse was very well informed of the technical possibilities. For him, however, it was more important to convey an emotion than to strive for technical perfection.

Nico Jesse took photographs based upon a genuine fascination with the medium of photography and with his fellow man. Throughout the years, he remained truthful to his own ideas concerning photography and did not allow himself to be persuaded by shifts in appreciation and taste. It is for this reason that his oeuvre possesses a coherent character. His interest in people—a trait that motivated him both as a doctor and a photographer—resulted in an oeuvre that provides a personal vision of life in the Netherlands and Europe in the years both prior to and after the Second World War, with an emphasis on the 1950s.

Documentation