Biography

Discussion

Wim Berssenbrugge, called ‘Wil’ by his family and friends, is a lovable and down-to-earth person. He has devoted his ample talent for technical matters to investigating problems with enthusiasm and resolution, leading to various inventions.

Berssenbrugge rarely just accepted the ideas of others. Berssenbrugge had enough business acumen to make a good living as a freelance photographer and as a representative of the company Xograph. During his many travels, he took photographs with a passion. Above all, Berssenbrugge wished to make ‘technically beautiful pictures’, in which the landscape and people are emphatically conveyed to the viewer. The underlying sociological aspects of these photos were of less interest to him.

Wim Berssenbrugge grew up in a middle-class environment in the town of Scheveningen, adjacent to The Hague. His mother died one year after his birth, and in his third year, his father remarried with Jo Arts, a woman with whom Berssenbrugge shared a close bond. His relationship with his father was difficult. In his youth, Berssenbrugge experienced a knee injury from an accident, which required him to undergo an operation in Leiden. This handicap would give him trouble for many years. Although his illness would force him to miss many classes, Berssenbrugge still managed to obtain his HBS-B (Hogere Burgerschool, an upper-level secondary school) diploma in 1939.

Even as a child, it was apparent that Berssenbrugge had a talent for technical matters, for instance, by making devices that moved mechanically and transforming a gramophone player into a recording device (by inscribing the music into the record disc). He became interested in photography at an early age, in part thanks to photos taken by his uncle, Henri Berssenbrugge, who was already a well-known photographer by this time. Henri felt that Berssenbrugge was too interested in technique and saw this as an obstacle to becoming a truly great photographer. During his secondary school training at the Aloysiuscollege (‘Aloysius Secondary School’), Berssenbrugge was taught physics by Dr. J.J.M. van Santen, with whom he conducted numerous discussions about stereo photography. From this, a life-long friendship would arise. Berssenbrugge worked for a year in his father’s textile store in Rotterdam. With his earnings, he purchased a camera. It was his task to go around visiting customers, but he would often fail to show up, because he was instead out photographing ships on the Meuse River. His father allowed him to work at Hans Nieuwenhuis’ photography store on the Van Hoytemastraat in The Hague. Here Berssenbrugge made passport photos for identity papers and repaired photo cameras.

In the early days of the German occupation, Berssenbrugge briefly worked as a photo lab technician at the company ‘N.V. van Leer Optische Industrie Delft’, and from 1942 to 1945 for the ‘N.V. Optische Industrie Oude Delft’. In this environment, Berssenbrugge learned a great deal about optics. In part thanks to the physics teacher, Dr. J.J.M. van Santen, Berssenbrugge became fascinated with stereo photography. In the late 1930s, he experimented with the ‘anaglyph’ method, in which two stereo images, respectively coloured red and green, were slightly shifted in respect to each other and printed as one photo. Using eyeglasses in which filters are mounted that let the colours red and green show through, one then sees a stereo image. Using two projectors, one can project both images on top of each other. Berssenbrugge was dissatisfied with the result, because the colour filters were not good enough and the subject had to be grey. This is why he chose for a method utilising polarisation filters, placed either in the eyeglasses or in front of the two projectors. In March 1940, Berssenbrugge came into contact with Major-General L.E.W. van Albada, an expert in the field of stereo photography, who had presented a lecture with stereo projection at the Haagsche Amateur Fotografen Vereniging ‘The Hague Amateur Photographers Association’. Berssenbrugge offered several self-made stereo slides, which Van Albada used. An extensive correspondence arose between the two men that lasted until September 1942. Van Albada, a theoretician in principle, was fascinated by Berssenbrugge’s practical approach. He viewed him as a new authority in the area of stereo photography in the Netherlands and encouraged him where he was able. Berssenbrugge wrote articles on this topic with great frequency in the years that followed.

At the end of the 1930s, Berssenbrugge felt the need to produce stereo photos more rapidly, likewise considering the possibilities of coupling his Leica camera to a second one. For the stereo photography of moving objects, one must be able to operate both cameras at the same time when taking a shot. Together with a precision instrument maker in Leiden named Wismeijer, Berssenbrugge produce detailed drawings in 1940 and 1941 for requesting a patent. The two Leicas were connected to each other and both shutters could be used at the same time. The objectives and distance metres were also coupled to each other. In 1941, Berssenbrugge visited the Leitz factory in Wetzlar, Germany, to negotiate his patent with Dr. Paul Wolff. The Dutch patent for his ‘Inrichting voor het vereenigen van twee camera’s’ (‘Installation for the Joining of Two Cameras’) was granted on 15 February 1944 under No. 56651. Berssenbrugge called his invention ‘Leica tandem’. In 1949, a German patent was granted under No. 853259 with the Leitz factory. An American patent was granted in 1950 under No. 2529905, for which Berssenbrugge received a selling fee. In 1949, an extensive article on this camera was published in the American magazine Leica Photography, presented as if it was available for order. According to Berssenbrugge, however, it was never manufactured.

With stereo projection, a lighted pointer is handy for positioning an arrow in a room. Berssenbrugge designed a small hand-held projector containing two slides with images of the same arrow. The two images of the arrow were then projected into the space, either via crossed polarisation filters or colour filters with complementary colours. By shifting the two slides of the arrows, one could vary the apparent distance between the observer and the image of the arrow, which was highly effective with stereo photography. On 7 November 1950, Berssenbrugge received an American patent on this invention under No. 2528681.

Particularly in the 1940s, Berssenbrugge wrote various articles that were published in Focus, Foto (‘Photo’), and in the Nederlands Jaarboek voor de Fotokunst (‘Netherlands Yearbook of Photographic Art’). Based on considerations of a business nature, he is likely to have aimed for notoriety with his publications from the time he started working for the Optische Industrie Oude Delft and KLM Airlines, in anticipation of his future as a freelance photographer. His first article was on a ”kleurenkiekkijkkast’ (‘Colour Snapshot Viewing Box’), published in Focus in 1939. During the war, Berssenbrugge wrote articles about stereo photography and stereo projection in the Nederlands Jaarboek voor de Fotokunst, in which he covered the entire field, with his main target group being the average amateur photographer.

During the final years of the occupation, Berssenbrugge completed his book on De natuurgetrouwe stereoscopische afbeelding (‘The True-to-Nature Stereoscopic Image’) published in 1945 by H.L. Smit & Zn. in Hengelo. In this book, he disputed the empirical values of the distance between the two cameras as well as the approach to framing, such as dictated by several German stereo-photographers. He rejected the use of transparent masks with the two stereo images, in order to obtain a frame that pleasantly fades in the resultant stereo image. The end products, as they were presented in this book, were also often featured in articles published in foreign magazines, such as American Photography and The British Journal of Photography.

In 1946, Berssenbrugge brought his ideas together in a survey article entitled ‘European Progress in Stereoscopy’, which appeared in American Photography. In that same year, he also wrote several educative articles for the amateur photographer in the first edition of Foto, concerning the topics of photographing theatre and circus performances as well as developing Ansco slide film on one’s own. In 1971, he wrote the stereo photography entry for the Focus Elsevier Foto en Film Encyclopedie (‘Focus Elsevier Photo and Film Encyclopedia’), as well as a summary chapter on stereo projection.

During the German occupation, Berssenbrugge worked as a photo lab technician with the Optische Industrie in Delft. In the early years of the occupation, he travelled to Berlin and thereafter to Wetzlar, where the Leitz factory was located. In 1944, Janke van der Kooi, who worked for the resistance group ‘G’, persuaded Berssenbrugge to make microphotos of espionage drawings and documents: floor plans, enquiries concerning troop movements, the locations of storage depots, research into rockets, etc. Berssenbrugge was friends with members of this group even before the war. The ‘G’ group, also known as the M.I.D. group, supplied information to the ‘Spyker’ group, which in turn had access to radio transmitters belonging to the organisation, ‘Packard’. The microphotos were sent over to the Dutch government’s Department of Intelligence in London. Following the launch of the first German V2-rocket in September 1944 in Wassenaar, the resistance put a lot of time into spying on such launches, which were made from the centre of The Hague and elsewhere. On occasion, Berssenbrugge could see these activities directly from his working space at Laan van Meerdervoort 27.

When shooting a photo of a V2 rocket taking off, Berssenbrugge related the following: ‘I heard them [the Germans] busy at the Vredespaleis [‘Peace Palace’]. I already knew how long it would take, [before] that something was going to take off. Then I’d open every window, because when things went wrong, all the windows would still be in one piece… ha, ha. And then I waited calmly until it warmed up and then gradually flew into the air, [and then] I took photos with short breaks in between.’ Berssenbrugge felt relatively safe when carrying out these illegal activities, because their back garden bordered the neutral zone of the Peace Palace. In the case of a sudden raid, he only had to jump over the fence and disappear into this area. Berssenbrugge also took a night shot of a V2-rocket taking off right next to the Peace Palace. To do so, he placed his Leica with a 50 mm lens onto a sponge, as a mount to minimise vibration. He also took a photo of a cart carrying liquid oxygen, the fuel used for the V2, from his room. Berssenbrugge wrote an espionage report with interpretations of the V2’s propulsion and navigating systems, demonstrating a substantial knowledge of rocket technology. His talks with Van Santen may very well have helped him in this respect. Yet Berssenbrugge was taking a major risk. On 1 March 1945, two members of the resistance group—Jansen and Van der Kooi—were arrested by J.H.C. Krom, an accomplice of the Sicherheitsdienst (the German ‘Security Service’), while having espionage material on the V2 in their possession. They endured the torture sessions in the Oranje Hotel (the prison) in Scheveningen, revealing the names of no one. Freek Vlag became the leader of Berssenbrugge’s group. In August 1945, Berssenbrugge received a statement from the Commanding Officer Netherlands Intelligence Department, Major P.J.M. Driebeek at Huize Maarheze in Wassenaar, citing that he had worked as a ‘document photographer’ from December 1944 until the liberation for an information group of the Intelligence Department.

In 1946, Berssenbrugge came into contact with Albert Plesman, the director of the KLM (Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij, ‘Royal Airline Company’). Berssenbrugge showed Plesman a self-made stereo slide of the KLM’s newest acquisition, the Douglas DC-4: Plesman’s pride and joy. Plesman immediately understood that photography could be an effective tool in his efforts to get the KLM off the ground once again and to place airplanes in the public spotlight as a quick means of transport. He arranged a contract for Berssenbrugge and hired him as a photographer in the KLM’s publicity department, where he was to work with Louis den Hertog. Den Hertog’s task was to promote safety and Berssenbrugge’s photography was perfectly suited to this aim. Business-wise, Berssenbrugge was savvy enough to hold onto the copyrights for these photos. He took photos of Schiphol during its construction and the newest additions to KLM’s air fleet. Berssenbrugge gave up this job in 1947 to become a freelance photographer, most likely due to the low salary he received—the KLM was known as ‘Low-Pay Airline’—but also because of the restraints it placed on his freedom. He would nevertheless maintain close ties with KLM for the rest of his life. For every trip he made, he received a fee and a free airline ticket. He was compensated for every photo he supplied, as well keeping the copyright. In 1948, Den Hertog went to Curacao as the head of advertising for the West-Indies branch of the KLM. Berssenbrugge visited him there in connection with commissioned work. For various promotional visits to the Caribbean, Den Hertog gave the speeches and Berssenbrugge did the stereo projection.

Directly after the war, Berssenbrugge used his travels for the KLM to visit family and businesses in the United States. Based on his correspondence, it appears he might have been contemplating to emigrate. Vague offers came from a number of companies. Berssenbrugge, however, has always felt a great need for freedom and no desire to enter any one commitment.

Prior to the war, the Dutch coffee and tea supplier Douwe Egberts had published the book De Wereld van Boven (‘The World from Above’), with the renowned pilot A. Viruly. Shortly after the war, they came up with the idea of saving points via coupons on packages of coffee and tea in order for customers to acquire sets of colour photos depicting exotic destinations that one could fly to with KLM Airlines. The book in which the photos were to be pasted was available separately. Berssenbrugge was probably approached through Viruly by Douwe Egbert’s advertising head, S. van der Zee, to collaborate on a new book as photographer. This book was released by Douwe Egberts in Joure in 1948 under the title Kleurenvlucht (‘Colour Flight’). A reprint followed in 1951 or 1952 (no year of publication is mentioned in the books). The text was written by Viruly, with all of the photos taken by Berssenbrugge. The image arising from the serene but vivid compositions, together with the soft colours of the autotype (the original colours were sometimes altered in the printing material in order to achieve the desired contrasts), is almost poetic.

Besides landscape shots, Berssenbrugge also took photos of airplanes, the cockpit and engine maintenance. What housewife would not have had a feeling of security when seeing the image of an airplane motor taken care of like a child by the mechanics? It was precisely in this period around 1950 that air accidents, occurring on a regular basis, were receiving major coverage in the press.

Douwe Egberts brought out more books. Appearing in 1949 was Naar de tropen (‘To the Tropics’), with the text by W.G.N. de Keizer. Berssenbrugge supplied one-third of the photos in this book. Bali in Kleuren (‘Bali in Colour’) appeared in 1951, with the text by P. Bakker. In this case, Berssenbrugge did all the photography. The book Naar “de West (‘To the West’) was published in 1952, with text again by P. Bakker and including photos by both Berssenbrugge as well as A. Hustinx.

In 1957, Berssenbrugge’s ex-colleague from the KLM, Louis den Hertog, returned to Amsterdam and became the head of the airline’s advertising department. Berssenbrugge started supplying him with stereo viewers that were set up in KLM shops in Amsterdam, The Hague, and Rotterdam. He called them ‘Tridicolor stereo viewers’. Between 1976 and 1978, the interior of this viewer was redesigned and built more soundly by the precision instrument builder, Jan Meijers. Berssenbrugge commissioned him to build twenty-five of these viewers. Two of the devices were placed at Madurodam in The Hague. Berssenbrugge continued to supply slides for his Tridicolor stereo viewers into the 1980s, as well keeping them in good condition.

Through KLM, Berssenbrugge was involved in the promotional activities around the starting up of the Indonesian airline Garuda, in the 1970s. He produced stereo photos and supplied stereo viewers with a special design. In 1948, Berssenbrugge met Trees Driessen, a woman who respected his need for freedom. They married in 1954. In 1955, Berssenbrugge began to lead a more stable life as the ‘Director of Photography’ for the View-Master factory in Sint-Niklaas, Belgium. This was the European office of the American company Sawyer, which had 200 employees.

Each year, for a major part of the summer, Berssenbrugge and his wife travelled around Northern Europe in their caravan taking photographs. They frequently used a Leica tandem camera with an image size 24 mm vertical x 28 mm horizontal. In the U.S., these photos were used for view-master reels. During the winter, Berssenbrugge worked at his office in Sint-Niklaas. In the 1960s, he was still working from his office, leaving others to take the photos. With the view-master, Sawyer managed to penetrate the children’s play toy market. In Sint-Niklaas, Berssenbrugge became increasingly involved in the visual culture that was being dictated by Walt Disney. This was not to his liking, and in 1966, he left the company. Berssenbrugge nevertheless continued to receive large freelance commissions from Sawyer for travel photography right up unto the 1980s.

Upon their return to the Netherlands from Belgium, Wim and Trees Berssenbrugge moved back into their home in Scheveningen. Berssenbrugge continued to do freelance work for KLM and View-Master on a regular basis. In all likelihood inspired by an article in the Revue der Reclame (‘Advertising Review’, 1966), he contacted an American company based in New York, Visual Panographics Inc. Shortly thereafter, he became the company’s representative in the Netherlands, as well establishing good ties with Richard P. Harmel, the Vice-President of Marketing. Berssenbrugge was always travelling somewhere on business. He sold so-called ‘Parallax Panoramagrams’ of the brand Xograph. The concept was based in part on a German patent under the name of Walter Hess that dated from 1911. They were photos with a spacious stereo image and were called ‘raster photos’. The only way to achieve a high quality was by having well-trained professionals and costly photo equipment and printing presses. The photo shots and printing were done in the United States. In 1966, the camera came to the Netherlands, along with developing equipment and accompanied by its own crew, in order to produce raster photos of the Amsterdam canals and the Keukenhof (an edition of 80,000 copies).

In the 1970s, Berssenbrugge observed a greater interest in moving raster photos versus stereo raster photos. His biggest client was the Nederlandse Hartstichting (‘Netherlands Heart Association’), which ordered 500,000 cards of a moving artificial heart. Another major client was Philips Duphar, which ordered 80,000 advertising cards for nasal pills. A preacher named ‘Stap’ ordered 4,000 cards with a figure of Christ, who knocks on a closed door.

As early as the 1950s, Berssenbrugge had already been placing his photos with well-known photographic stock agencies, such as PIX and Superstock in Florida, ZEFA in Dusseldorf (Germany), Shostal Associates in New York, and the Freelance Photographers Guild in New York. He received copyright payments for these, which was just enough to make end’s meat. He had slides in stock of approximately forty (chiefly exotic) countries. As a freelance photographer and a representative for Tridicolor and Xograph, he made excellent profits: in the 1960s and ’70s, an average of Hfl. 30,000 per year. Following the recession in the early 1980s, however, things became a bit more difficult.

Typical of Berssenbrugge’s approach to advertising is the following fragment of a mailing to his business relations in 1979: ‘We have for you in stock, in brilliant Kodachromes/ Ektachromes: Golden Buddhas from Thailand—Beefeaters from London—Skyscrapers from New York—Sand and oil from Bahrain—beautiful girls from Bali and Bangkok—Hotels in Aruba and St. Maarten – Bazaars in Istanbul, Casablanca, Nazareth and Muscat—Beaches of San Juan, Nias, Nice, Rhodos, Killarney and Kijkduin. What we don’t have, we’ll make for you. Further, directly from the importer: XOGRAPH 3-D and animation printed matter: spinning windmills, flying birds, cartoons and numbers that jump back and forth, centimetres become inches. As buttons, pocket cards, rulers etc. Your importer is your best advisor.”

Wim Berssenbrugge’s oeuvre consists of a slide archive of 35 mm, 6×6 cm, 6×9 cm, 4×5 inch and 13×18 cm, shot with his Leica tandem, 6×6 Rollei, 6×9 Super Ikonta, and 13×18 cm Linhof Technika cameras. The small part of his oeuvre that covers his illegal photography during the occupation is of great historical significance and has remained in obscurity for far too long. In terms of stereo photography, he is more than a worthy successor to the Dutch pioneers in this field, L.E.W. van Albada and J.J.M. van Santen.

Through books and stereo viewers, Berssenbrugge’s travel and stereo photos were designed to awaken an interest in people to see the world with their own eyes. The photos are uncomplicated and objective, are mainly informative and in no way intended to evoke any kind of emotional involvement. Geometric compositions and the positioning of colour planes have received significant attention. As a freelance colour photographer for advertising and mass production, Berssenbrugge created his own customer demand with a requisite ingenuity. The many articles he wrote on photographic technique have contributed to the professionalisation of the field of photography.

Documentation