artist: Koos Breukel
located in: Friesland,
Noord-Holland,

Koos Breukel (born in 1962) made a series of portraits of farmers in North Holland and Friesland for the 2003 ‘Year of the Farm’ project. Most of the portraits are close-ups, making the farmers look almost archaic. In addition, he made a number of general views in which you see more of the farmer and his surroundings. At the house of one of the farmers he was photographing in North Holland, Breukel came across the book Verdwijnend Volk Folk from the 1930s, likewise with portraits of farmers. He adds reproductions from the book as a historical dimension and as a reference to what is occurring now, also in the experience of the people he photographed.