Exhibition – book – wEbsitE

GibRALtAR - sPAin - FRAnCE - itALY - CRoAtiA - ALbAniA - GREECE - CYPRUs - tURkEY - sYRiA - LEbAnon - isRAËL / wEst bAnk & GAZA - EGYPt - LYbiA - tUnEsiA - ALGERiA - MoRoCCo

In So Blue So Blue, the Dutch documentary photo-

grapher Ad van Denderen sketches a very different

picture of the region around the Mediterranean from

that of sun-drenched beaches, charming hotels, lively

discos and azure sea.

Between 2003 and 2008, Ad van Denderen travelled

regularly through the 17 countries that border the

Mediterranean Sea. This immense area is under a

huge amount of pressure from the fast-growing tou-

rism industry and the political, cultural and religious

tensions that the geopolitical location brings with it.

Africa, Asia and Europe, Christianity and Islam, rich

and poor all come together here.

While working on his project Go No Go, about

migration in Europe, Van Denderen experienced the

idiosyncratic effect social-economic developments

have had in the Mediterranean landscape. On the

south coast of Spain he photographed a group of

a hundred illegal immigrants landing on the beach

with rubber boats. Soaked to the skin, they ran off

in the early morning light. Three hours later tourists

appeared on the same beach, spreading out their

towels to enjoy another sunny day on the beach. This

event was Van Denderen’s starting point from where

he meticulously started working his way around the

Mediterranean Sea.

What we, the spectators, get to see of these pro-

blems is silent proof. Through his, at times surprising

images, Van Denderen shows us the presence and

movement of groups of people that we never or rarely

see in the media. Images of, for example, Russian

tourists in Turkey and Egyptian or Korean guest

workers in Libya. To be able to catch these images,

Ad van Denderen had to make a shift in the approach

to his subject. Having previously worked on his ex-

tensive documentary projects in black and white with

a small format camera and close up to the people

he portrayed, Van Denderen chose to photograph in

color with a medium format camera. So Blue So Blue

thus provides a broader and more detached vision.

In a literal and formal sense, Van Denderen focuses

on the environment as a whole. Human beings are

revealed as actors, without volition, ‘drowning’ in their

self-created landscape.

Van Denderen conducted his research into the cur-

rent situation from the perspective of a genuinely

curious, non-interfering (relative) outsider. The por-

trayal is contemplative, never stigmatising and acts

as a buffer against the simplifying portrayal that – in

correlation with a hardening political standpoint –

dominates the media.

Ad van Denderen (b. 1943) has demonstrated his

social engagement in his books Welkom in South

Africa (1987, about apartheid), Peace in the Holy

Land (1997, about the conflict in Palestine) and the

extensive project Go No Go (2003, about human

trafficking in Europe), which consists of a book, a

travelling exhibition and the website www.go-no-go.

nl. He received a number of prestigious prizes for

his work, including the Visa d’Or at the International

Photofestival Visa pour l’image in Perpignan. Ad van

Denderen is a member of VU Agency, Paris.

PA R A D O X - PO Bo x 113 - 1135 ZK Edam - The Ne t h e r l a nd s - T +31 (0 )299 315083 - F +31 (0 )299 315082 - E s e r v e r@pa r ado x . n l - www.pa r ado x . n l

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PARADOX creates projects in photography, v ideo and media related ar ts . The interact ion between social , economic and technological change is central to most thematic and monographic projects developed. PARADOX’ act iv i t ies include t ravel l ing exhibi t ions, f i lm product ion, book and electronic publ ishing and organising workshops and symposiums. For fur ther info: www.paradox.nl

SO Blue SO Blue edges of the Mediterranean - AD vAn DenDeRen PuBlicATiOn: SteidlMack (london 2008) - €35,- / iSBn 78-3-86521-734-9 eXhiBiTiOn: FRAMeD PRinTS (100 X 128cM) AnD SATelliTe BROADcASTS eXhiBiTiOn Fee: € 12 .500 , - WeBSiTe: www.sobluesoblue.nl