Biography

Discussion

People are Corinne Noordenbos’ primary source of inspiration: particularly women in relation to their surroundings and culture. This topic is likewise part of a larger field of investigation. Noordenbos is interested in family ties in general, and specifically in terms of the mother-child relationship. In recent years, this interest has expanded to include topics related to medical care.

Virtually all of Noordenbos’ photo projects include references to religion, culture, and history. While not raised in a religious family, the relationship between religion and art history inspires her. Noordenbos’ use of historical connotations initially concerned a collective past. In the course of her career, however, this reference has come to focus directly on her own personal history.

Noordenbos’ interest in art emerged during her days at the Montessori Lyceum secondary school in Amsterdam. Encouraged by her parents, she decided to study in an art-related field. Having no work to present of her own, however, Noordenbos was ineligible to take the entrance exam at any of the art academies. To gain experience, she decided to spend a year in Paris working as an au pair. There she was witness to events that transpired during the May Revolution of 1968, which she photographed. Noordenbos subsequently submitted these photos together with her other work and was subsequently admitted to the Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam. During her years as a student at the academy, photojournalism in Europe was evolving into a form of socially engaged documentary photography. Noordenbos received instruction from Hans Katan, Jaap d’Oliveira, Jan Versnel, Pieter de Groot, and Cees Heemskerk. At this time, a feeling of dissatisfaction regarding the nature of the study was predominant among the students, with the point of discussion being whether the curriculum should be technically oriented versus artistically inclined. The situation eventually led to a student rebellion, in which Noordenbos was actively involved. The GKf (Gebonden Kunsten Federatie, vakgroep fotografie, ‘United Arts Federation, Department of Photography’) was approached to ponder the structure of the study programme. It was in this manner that Noordenbos came into contact with Ad Windig and Carel Blazer. Rather than protesting, her preference was to resume photographing. On Blazer’s advice, Noordenbos subsequently travelled to Canada to do an internship with Kryn Taconis. Taconis was a documentary photographer who had gained notoriety back in the 1950s with his picture stories.

For her final exam project at the Rietveld Academy in 1973, Noordenbos produced the series De Jordaan—Mensen maken de Wijk (‘The Jordaan—People Make the Neighbourhood’). Noordenbos had previously become familiar with ‘The Jordaan’, as well as the closed community its inhabitants formed, during her internship with Hans Pelgrom on the Rozengracht, located at the very heart of this working-class neighbourhood in Amsterdam. It was during this period that she first came across photos by the American photographer Bruce Davidson. In the book East 100th Street, Davidson shows his own street in New York City, specifically, in the neighbourhood of Harlem. With his photos he reveals that black people on the street—when compared to the whites, the Latinos, and other ethnic groups residing in the same neighbourhood—not only enjoy a higher standard of living, but they also allow themselves to be photographed with a higher degree of personal dignity. It was Davidson’s book that inspired Noordenbos to produce a ‘portrait’ of people living in the Jordaan. Based on her conviction that no outsider would be capable of making such a series, she moved into the neighbourhood herself. Noordenbos’ chosen ‘operating base’ was the neighbourhood café ‘Rooie Nelis’ on the Laurierstraat. Via the barmaid and the pub’s regular clientele, Noordenbos was able to come into contact with the neighbourhood’s inhabitants, who in turn became her subjects.

In the series Mensen maken de Wijk, Noordenbos studied how people function in their surroundings and how they transform these surroundings into their own personal living environment. By depicting the inhabitants of the Jordaan in such a way, she was able to show what connected them or the things they shared in common. Noordenbos portrayed people of different ages, who had probably spent their entire lives in this neighbourhood. The interiors in which they were photographed appeared to be interchangeable.

From this exam work, Noordenbos obtained her first assignments for the magazine Avenue, which also included a series concerning ‘small people’ in the province of Friesland, i.e. people who were generally described by the term ‘midget’. Noordenbos was chosen for this assignment because Avenue‘s editorial department had observed parallels in her work with Diane Arbus’ ‘freak’ genre. A connection with the work of Bruce Davison, who had photographed midgets in the 1950s, was nevertheless more self-evident, when considering his early influence on Noordenbos’ Jordaan series.

One of Noordenbos’ next assignments came from Tom d’Angremond, which involved taking photos resembling film stills for his documentary film on the topic of Belgian music. Noordenbos and all of the film’s co-workers—including the folk singer/sculptor Walter de Buck—met together in Ghent, the Belgian city in which Flemish folk music had originated and the location where the filming was to be done. Both the neighbourhood where the actual film shoots took place, as well as the ‘film community’ of which Noordenbos was a part, revealed parallels with the Jordaan.

In the first year after she completed her studies at the Rietveld Academy, Noordenbos worked as an assistant to the studio and advertising photographer Peter Ruting. It was at Ruting’s studio that she met the Italian photographer Lorenzo Merlo, who was working in the Netherlands and preparing to open a photo gallery in Amsterdam. Merlo was interested in exhibiting De Jordaan—Mensen maken de Wijk at his gallery, but he also wanted to show more photos. He therefore commissioned a second series based on this theme. Noordenbos’ first series consists of sequences with two portraits depicting the same person; the second series comprises single portraits without ‘pendants’.

Noordenbos’ meeting with Merlo led to her being hired as an assistant and a replacement at the Canon Photo Gallery on the Reestraat in Amsterdam in March 1974. She was responsible for the day-to-day running of the gallery, as well as maintaining contacts with visitors, photographers, and clients. In addition to her work for the gallery, Noordenbos took on photo assignments for magazines, government ministries, municipalities, and private individuals.

In 1976, Noordenbos travelled to Suriname. The trip was made on her own initiative, but only after having arranged freelance assignments in advance on behalf of the monthly magazine Avenue, the Ministry of Development Cooperation, and other clients. In the tropical forests of Suriname, Noordenbos studied a number of families, photographing a day in the life of a young Maroon girl on location, as well as a day in the life of indigenous children. Slide series compiled from her shots were used by the Dutch education system at the primary school level (with the Amsterdam Tropical Museum as a distribution centre) and published in the magazine SamSam. At a later point, Noordenbos was able to sell some of the photos from this project to the Nederlandse Kunst Stichting (‘Netherlands Art Foundation’).

In Suriname, Noordenbos produced series of portraits and landscapes, as well as a series that looks into the rituals and daily activities of a woman from a primitive tribe. With this last project, she provides an example of how the role of women in indigenous tribes was historically determined, in a lifestyle that had long ago disappeared in the Western world.

Starting in 1977, Corinne Noordenbos undertook a three-year post-academic study in Visual Communication at the RABK (Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten, ‘National Academy of Fine Arts’). Among her fellow students were Hans Aarsman, Harrie Meijer, and Cary Markerink. Noordenbos was indirectly involved in setting up the magazine Plaatwerk (‘Plate Work’), a magazine for social documentary photography debuting in 1980 as a publication of the RABK. Noordenbos wished to be part of the discussions concerning the magazine’s form and content, but had no desire to be involved in its editorial aspects. After several incidental issues, the magazine was continued as a publication of the publishing company Uitgeverij Fragment starting in 1983.

Noordenbos’ choice of subject matter was initially inspired by events in her surroundings, but her themes soon began to centre on the position of women in society. The second feminist wave in the Netherlands began in 1967, the year in which Joke Smit (1933-1981) published her article ‘Het onbehagen bij de Vrouw’ (‘The Discomfort of Women’, in the magazine De Gids). The year after, Smit established the emancipation organisation ‘Man Vrouw Maatschappij’ (‘Man Woman Society’), together with Hedy d’Ancona. The organisation’s goal was the equal treatment of men and women. Smit and D’Ancona’s ideas resonated with others. In 1977, the Stichting Amazone (‘Amazon Foundation’) was established in Amsterdam, where activities were organised by and for women. The foundation also opened up a gallery, where women artists could show their work. Noordenbos came into contact with women’s emancipation via commissioned work, gaining renown in this movement as a photographer, thus leading to new commissions. Based on her position as a female photographer, as well as the social context in which her photos were categorised, Noordenbos’ work obtained a feminist stamp. This was an unintended consequence that she sought neither to cultivate nor avoid. Through her regular contact with people involved in the women’s movement, Noordenbos became motivated to form her own standpoint. To give her social engagement direction, she took on assignments that would bring attention to the matter of women’s rights among a wider audience.

One of Noordenbos’ projects focused on an artist raising her child on her own, entitled Een dag uit het leven van kunstenares Marlies Appel (‘A Day in the Life of the Artist Marlies Appel’, 1981). The work concerned a series of nine photos depicting an average weekday of the artist. The series was shown at the photo exhibition Vrouwen in Beeld (‘Women in Pictures’), organised by Stichting Amazone in 1981, which included the work of nine Dutch photographers. Noordenbos’ series as well played a role in the book Vrij Spel. Nederlandse kunst 1970-1990 (‘Free Rein. Dutch Art 1970-1990’), published in 1993.

In 1983, Noordenbos produced several reportages on assignment for the Dutch feminist magazine Opzij. On her own initiative, she did a reportage entitled Vrouw en Arbeid—Wat levert werk op? (‘Woman and Labour—What Good is Work?’). As a photographic reporter, she also took part in the conference ‘Rode Vrouwen’ (‘Red Women’). In 1985, Noordenbos was approached by Uitgeverij Sara, a feminist publishing house, to make a series of portraits of women writers. Among those photographed for this assignment were Renate Dorrestein and Marion Bloem, two Dutch women writers who had achieved fame based on their feminist standpoints. The portraits resulting were published in the book Wie weegt de woorden. De auteur en haar werk (‘Who Weighs the Words. The Author and Her Work’), together with essays.

In 1985, Noordenbos’ interest in the women’s movement and women’s standing in society led to her making a photo reportage during the UN Women’s Conference in Nairobi, Kenya, in response to an invitation of the IIAV (Internationaal Informatiecentrum en Archief van de Vrouwenbeweging, ‘International Information Centre and Archive of the Women’s Movement’). The fact that she was the first photographer to receive such an accreditation made it more appealing for other institutions, including Novib (Nederlandse Organisatie voor Internationale Bijstand, ‘Netherlands Organisation for International Assistance’), to request that she also photograph on their behalf. While working on the project in Nairobi, Noordenbos also produced a portrait series, just as she had done in Suriname. A number of photos from the Nairobi conference were shown at the exhibition A Priori fotografie, held at the Makkom Gallery in 1986. Despite the fact that she initially had little faith in her ability in the area of photojournalism, the Nairobi project was a success.

In various works, Noordenbos attempted to reveal the underlying tensions and relationships within the family. In 1990, she took part in the jubilee exhibition of the FIOM (Federatie van Instellingen voor de Ongehuwde Moeder, ‘Federation of Institutions for the Unwedded Mother’), entitled Wat verzwegen is blijft ongezien (‘What’s Hushed Up Remains Unseen’), which focused on the topic of the issues and consequences arising from sexual abuse and incest. For this project, Noordenbos addressed the darker aspects of family life, specifically, incest and the underdog position of women. The project took the form of an installation artwork—a one-time event in her oeuvre. It consisted of white boards bearing quotations on which an image produced with a slide projector could be seen. Nowhere could an image be viewed directly, excepting photos of the installation itself. In the series Een groeiend monument (‘A Growing Monument’) from 1993, Noordenbos photographed the mourning rites of various cultures living in the Bijlmermeer neighbourhood of Amsterdam. These rites of mourning are determined by religious beliefs and culture, and likewise display the differences and similarities between cultures. Noordenbos was able to convey this loaded topic with integrity by omitting the presence of people, thus showing only the objects that have a function in these rites.

In 1994, the Amsterdam Tropical Museum commissioned Noordenbos to photograph the meaning of family in the context of the United Nations’ ‘Year of the Family’. For this purpose, Noordenbos focused on one foster family, in which she observed daily life for a period of time as a member of the household. For the design and technique of this series, entitled In Klein Verband (‘In Close Association’), she was inspired by the British photographer Martin Parr: a documentary approach with the feel of snapshots, using a combination of daylight and flash. In one shot that depicts the entire family of foster children, a flash has been used to highlight a little girl with a snow-white baby goat on her arm. The disorienting radiance brings to mind an image of the Lamb of God.

Between working on the Nairobi series and her series Moderne Madonna’s (‘Modern Madonnas’, 1988), Noordenbos became a mother. The shift in her own position as a woman is perceptible in her work. The role of the woman as a mother is the theme of her portraits of women ‘stashed away in the polder’. Initially, Noordenbos’ aim was to find an environment where everything was new, from the buildings and the people to the greenery. In the brand new city of Almere, stamped out of the ground, she found the young families with small children she was looking for. Everything seemed to be referring to ‘a new beginning’: an element strongly parallel to Noordenbos’ own existence.

The religious reference in Moderne Madonna’s cannot be overlooked, as the title alone says enough. For the visual form, Noordenbos turned to images of historical depictions of the Madonna, such as she had seen at the Uffizzi Gallery in Florence in the 1980s. The women and children in Moderne Madonna’s are chiefly dressed in ‘virginal white’, placed against a deeply coloured background with a high horizon: timeless and modern at the same time. To give her subjects a mystical radiance, Noordenbos used a flash to produce a light more intense than natural daylight. It was during this same period that Michele Talens photographed mothers with children in various countries across Europe, subsequently published in 1990 under the title De Pietà in the first issue of the magazine Madame de Vue, the successor of Plaatwerk. Like Noordenbos’ series, an association with religion and the past is also emphatically present in Talens’ series. The two projects arose independently of each other.

In 1988, Corinne Noordenbos’ mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Several years later, she decided to photograph patients at the Slotervaart nursing home, where her mother was living. The shifting of the parent-child relationship—the mother as a child, the daughter as a mother—inspired her to produce the series De Alzheimers. Each photo depicts a fully framed face of an elderly man or woman. In addition to the frontal shot of the face, every image shows part of the neck, the ears, or a portion of the hair. The intense whiteness of the light gives these faces a parchment-like radiance. As a result, one’s eye is drawn to scant details of colour: a gold tooth, blazing-red lipstick, or the palm of a hand in front of the mouth take on significance. Via her camera, Noordenbos seeks contact with the patients, including her own mother, in a highly personal manner: her last possible resort in showing that, behind every Alzheimer’s patient, an entire life and personality lie concealed. In projects such as De Alzheimers and Maturare, Noordenbos confronts her viewers with topics arising the private world of medical care. She exposes these subjects to an audience that exceeds the caregivers and family members involved, making them part of a social awareness and ensuring they can no longer be ignored.

In 1995, Noordenbos began working on a series about her own neighbourhood in Amsterdam: De Concertgebouwbuurt (‘The Concertgebouw Neighbourhood’). In this project, she studies how different cultures live in cohabitation and how people of different origins give form to their shared personal surroundings. In De Jordaan—Mensen maken de Wijk, Noordenbos showed how people from the same culture shape the coherence of the neighbourhood. In De Concertgebouwbuurt, by contrast, she depicts how people of different backgrounds manage to create cohesion. The series is comprised of different ‘sub-series’: design, portraits, and street scenes. She continues to work on this project to the present day, with intervening breaks. In 1996, an exhibition showing some of this work was organised at the Melkweg Gallery, under the title Werk in wording: de Concertgebouwbuurt (‘Work in Process: the Concertgebouw Neighbourhood’). In the same year, parts were used for an assignment on behalf of the magazine Items, in connection with a project on the future of design.

Starting with her final exam at the Rietveld Academy, Corinne Noordenbos’ oeuvre comprises projects made up of series. Through the repetitive and contrasting elements in these series, she delves deeply into her topics. Prior to the series Moderne Madonna’s, virtually all of Noordenbos’ work was produced in black-and-white. One of the few exceptions in this ‘black-and-white period’ are the reportages produced in Suriname, with colour introduced for the first time in response to the Ministry of Development Cooperation’s desire for a slide series. Noordenbos’ first work, De Jordaan—Mensen maken de Wijk, was printed with a coarse-grain technique in black-and-white and on inexpensive paper, thus creating a mood reminiscent of old newspaper photos. The same technique was applied with the series on Vlaamse Volksmuziek and Kleine mensen in Friesland (‘Little People in Friesland’). In the series for the book Ongehuwde moederzorg in Nederland from 1990, Noordenbos published historical photos related to her subject, which accompanied her own contemporary ‘reproductions’. Noordenbos’ last major series produced entirely in black-and-white was her project for the UN Women’s Conference in Nairobi in 1985. De Alzheimers was done entirely in colour: she had started out in black-and-white, but judged it to be overly aesthetic for the purpose she had in mind. Noordenbos works primarily in medium format with technical cameras, and with 35mm for slide series.

After completing her studies at the RABK, Noordenbos became a member of the trade association GKf, where she was a board member from 1982 to 1990. Starting in the 1980s, she was frequently asked to hold seats on various committees, management boards, and juries. Both in the past and present, her response has usually been affirmative. Noordenbos places great importance on building the infrastructure of photography in the Netherlands. In 1981, she began working at the De Moor Cultural Centre (what later became the ‘Amsterdam Center for Photography’), where she was involved in organising exhibitions and publications, and as well provided lessons to course participants. In 1989, Noordenbos became a board member of the De Moor Cultural Centre. With this organisation as her base, she established an alternative circuit of photo exhibitions during Foto ’89, an event commemorating photography’s 150th year. Two years later, she became a member of the advisory council of the management board of the BNAFV (Bond van Nederlandse Amateur Fotografen Verenigingen, ‘Federation of Netherlands Amateur Photographers Associations’), where she remained active until 1999. From 1990 to 1992, Noordenbos was also a member of the preparatory workgroup involved in establishing the NFI (Nederlands Foto Instituut, ‘Netherlands Photo Institute’) in Rotterdam. From 1994 to 2003, she was also a board member of this institute.

The solitary nature of the photographic profession underlies Noordenbos’ desire to work with other people and has motivated her to accept many of the teaching positions offered. In the early 1980s, she completed her education with a CPDB teaching accreditation course (Creatieve Pedagogische Didactische Bijscholing Audio-Visueel, ‘Creative Pedagogical Didactic Audiovisual Supplementary Training’). In 1985, she began teaching at the HKU (Hoge School voor de Kunsten Utrecht, ‘Utrecht School of the Arts’) in Utrecht, initially in the Audio-visual Department and later in the Department of Photographic Design as well as the ‘Lerarenopleiding’ (‘Teacher’s Training Programme’). With respect to her teaching positions, the HKU is Noordenbos’ chief employer. From 1990 to 1997, she was responsible for tasks such as developing a study curriculum for photography as a separate study field within the teaching programme’s visual arts department. Hereafter, she was charged with overseeing the coordination and organisation of classes, establishing and realising newly developed didactic policies, and recruiting guest speakers, while maintaining contacts with the professional field. Since 2000, Noordenbos has been responsible for the documentary photography study curriculum in her function as a documentary photography instructor for the entire bachelor’s programme ‘Photography’ at the HKU. In addition, she has initiated the development of the theory/practice programme, which interlinks fields such as sociology and documentary photography. As the head of ‘Visual Communication’ at the KABK (Koninklijke Academie van Beeldende Kunsten, ‘Royal Academy of Art’) in The Hague since 2005, Noordenbos has been responsible for the developing and launching of a new curriculum for two full-time and evening study programmes in photography, as well as defining a new policy within the academy as a whole.

In addition to her teaching positions at the HKU and the KABK, Noordenbos gives workshops at creativity centres, community colleges, primary schools and formative centres, as well as mentor and expertise training sessions in the cultural sector. She also coaches professional and amateur photographers on an individual basis. Both at home in the Netherlands as well as abroad, Noordenbos has given lectures and led forums at organisations such as the Mois de la Photo Montreal, the European Cultural Foundation, the Rietveld Academy, the Academy of Arts Farnham (United Kingdom), the London School of Polytechnics John Cass (UK), the Sinus Foundation, Steunpunt Beeldende Kunst Gelderland (‘Gelderland Arts Support’), the BNAFV (Bond van Nederlandse Amateur Fotografen Verenigingen, ‘Federation of Netherlands Amateur Photographers Associations’), and the ‘Centrum voor amateurkunst Noord-Brabant’ (‘North Brabant Centre for Amateur Art’).

Noordenbos lets her voice be heard on the management boards of various institutions, in the juries of photography prize, and in education. Through her key position at the organisational level with respect to policy, exhibitions, and educational programmes, she exercises decisive influence on the Dutch photographic infrastructure.

As a photographer, Noordenbos’ presence in the public domain is equally as tangible due to her involvement in social issues such as women’s emancipation, family matters, and medical care on the basis of her work. Her photo series on the Jordaan, the Concertgebouw neighbourhood of Amsterdam, and her feminist-tinted projects are not just intriguing documents that reflect the thinking of her day. They likewise stand as important contributions to the ‘photography collection of the Netherlands’ in its current state. In the meantime, a number of Corinne Noordenbos’ photos from projects such as Moderne Madonna’s and De Alzheimers have become icons of Dutch photography.

Documentation