Top 6 best photographers in the Netherlands

We have selected six absolute toppers for the list of 6 best photographers in the Netherlands. 

Erwin Olaf

What I prefer to show is a perfect world with a crack in it. I want to make the image tempting enough for people to retract my stories, and then give a blow - Erwin Olaf. Erwin Olaf is quite hot right now. The Gemeentemuseum The Hague and Fotomuseum The Hague pay tribute to one of the most famous Dutch photographers in a double exhibition. Erwin Olaf, who last year received a lot of praise for his portraits of the royal family, will turn sixty this year.

Rineke Dijkstra

Rineke Dijkstra gained international fame with her photo series Strandportretten (1992–94). Her work reflects abstract and universal subjects. She captured universal feelings, for example, by photographing newly born mothers, in whose eyes the triumph and tiredness can still be read, naked and standing, with their baby in their arms. She also photographed bullfighters just after their fight, sometimes with a torn uniform, sometimes without cracks, but with death in their eyes. She did the same with soldiers in Israel. Due to the manner of photography, the portraits of Rineke Dijkstra are confronting, because she reveals the emotional state of the person portrayed.

Anton Corbijn

As a photographer, Anton Corbijn became known for his photos of mostly rock musicians and other artists. Corbijn started his career as a photographer for the Dutch magazine OOR. His first photo in a music magazine was a photo of the Solution group, who performed in 1972 on the Grote Markt in the city of Groningen. Corbijn has photographed the following artists and artists: Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, David Bowie, Miles Davis, Joy Division, Björk, Captain Beefheart, Robert De Niro, Stephen Hawking, Luciano Pavarotti, Clint Eastwood, Gerhard Richter, Bart Chabot, Marlene Dumas, Lucian Freud, Herbert Grönemeyer and Nelson Mandela.

Hendrik Kerstens

Hendrik Kerstens (1956) is a Dutch photographer and visual artist, specialized in portrait photography. He is self-taught and mainly gained fame through his free work. His photos are characterized by monumental portraits of his daughter Paula.

Carla van de Puttelaar

Carla van de Puttelaar is a Dutch photographer specializing in portrait photography. She studied from 1991 to 1996 at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy. She won the Esther Kroon prize for her graduation work. In 2002 she won a basic prize as a nominee for the Prix de Rome.

Desiree Dolron

Desiree Dolron (1963) is known both for her penetrating travel reports and for her staged photography. She is currently one of the most successful Dutch photographers internationally. The Guggenheim Museum in New York and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London recently purchased work from her. In 2005 the Photo Museum The Hague presented the first major overview of her oeuvre.

Header Image: Hope, The Hallway. 2005 © Erwin Olaf. Courtesy Flatland Gallery