For years, Jannes Linders has been photographing artworks in Rotterdam's public spaces. His work always offers a surprising perspective on the city, with an eye for the spatial environment and the influence of time. For the new Rotterdam Art Route, from Beurs metro station to City Hall Commissioned by BKOR, he roamed the city with his camera, past selected artworks primarily from the Post-65 period. We're curious about his experiences photographing these works. We also wanted to learn more about his photography practice and how urban photography has evolved.
For the latest route map, you delved into the art and architecture of the post-65 era. What stood out to you?
I thought I had a pretty good idea of what to expect for this assignment. I'd always loved a few streets along this walking route, but I preferred to skip other sections. As a photographer in Rotterdam, I'd deliberately avoided the Blaakse Bos with its Cube Houses, the Spaanse Hof (Spanish Court), the Oude Haven (Old Harbour), and the Blaak metro station for decades. It was too much of a well-trodden path, too cheesy, and too ugly for me to make anything of it.
Now, BKOR and SIR have brought together a great deal under one umbrella in this walking tour about art and architecture in the Post-65 era. And suddenly, I felt it was a wonderful challenge to photograph all of this under that single umbrella, Post-65, as a whole. Just as I, as a photographer, preferred to circumnavigate this area on the map, I also did my best to avoid the architectural photography that had been the dominant practice since 1965.
I received the assignment in early 2025, the trees bare, the sky clear and deep blue, and the sun shining. Ideal conditions for the type of architectural photography I preferred not to pursue in the last century. Of course, it's only through photography that you discover qualities in the projects, the subjects, and the themes you previously didn't see, or didn't want to see, or at least ignored. And suddenly, there's the opportunity to create something in style, technique, and craftsmanship within the constraints of a handy roadmap. This is clearly reflected in my series. Echoes and afterimages of Rotterdam cityscapes from the 80s and 90s by photographers like Piet Rook, Sybolt Voeten, Ger van der Vlugt, and Eric van der Schalie.
You've been photographing for CBK Rotterdam, specifically for BKOR and SIR, for several years. Can you tell us something about the development of urban photography?
I moved to Rotterdam in the late 65s; it was spacious, empty, quiet, and inexpensive. I photographed many cityscapes, without spectacle (because there wasn't any), under gray skies, in large format, with a view camera, on a heavy tripod, from beneath a black cloth, always allowing plenty of time for long exposures, on black-and-white negatives. Rotterdam is changing, photography is evolving, and I'm changing too. This is all very visible, easy to identify and point to. A natural progression and a dynamic that I find beautiful and enjoyable to observe. So everything is brought together here as a roadmap under the name PostXNUMX, in a new light. For me, this is now.
Your photographic style, perhaps even style, leans toward architectural photography. Can you tell us a bit about your working method?
As a photographer, I've always worked extensively in the arts, creating a lot of three-dimensional work and large installations for museums. In my opinion, as an image-maker, it's wise to proceed cautiously, for example, because there's already an author, the creator of the work, the artist. It's a beautiful assignment to try to photograph invisibly. It doesn't exist, but what I mean is: invisibility as a method, as a task. By incorporating knowledge and skill and by suppressing outward appearances. That's less simple than it sounds. Outward appearances present themselves precisely when you're not paying attention. It requires an active effort to keep any semblance of it out of the picture. And then it turns out that, precisely within those margins, there's a surprising amount to discover. After all, the image, the photograph, must be worthy of being seen, be attractive. It's an image in two dimensions, from a specific angle and lighting, far removed from the original work. Viewed by someone who wants to remain out of the picture. This difficult, yet fascinating work continues to occupy me and takes me out onto the street, practically around the corner from my studio, Blaak, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
De Rotterdam Art Route, from Beurs metro station to City Hall is available free of charge at Rotterdam Tourist Information on Stationsplein.