This is the second consecutive exhibition by The Europeans in the former H&M fashion store in the Kroonpassage in Den Helder. On this occasion we are showing work that has its origins in this city: De Marinebasis / The Naval Base.

In 2021 we stayed for three months in Het Pompgemaal, a beautiful artist-in-residence in the dunes on the outskirts of Den Helder hosted by the Mondriaan Foundation. To conclude our working period, we presented this same work there in October 2021. When Peter Kramer of Housing Corporation Den Helder saw our work, he thought it would be a good idea to present it again, but this time in the heart of Den Helder: De Kroonpassage. The exhibition is on display until Aug. 6. Then we will convert to our third chapter, Our Ancestral Home, which opens Aug. 20.

On Sunday, July 9, at 3 p.m., my colleague Arnold van Bruggen will talk about the motivation and methods of The Europeans.

By purchasing a work in edition from The Europeans, you are supporting our project in a very essential way. This work from The Naval Base, our previous chapter within The Europeans, is offered at a discounted price until 1 August 2022. From each chapter within The Europeans, two defining works are chosen and offered at a 20% discount for a period of three months. The framed works measure 42 x 51 cm (16 1/2 x 20 inch) in an edition of 7 copies.

In connection with the nomination of the series of board members of hobby and volunteer clubs for the national SO awards, the board members of Klaverjasvereniging De Jutter are now on advertising dispalys in Amsterdam. Also work by the other 19 nominees is spread throughout the city. Please vote for my work via link below (takes 3 seconds).

I am happy to announce that my portrait series of board members of volunteer clubs is nominated for the national SO Awards. Before, this series won the Second Prize Portraits Series in the national Zilveren Camera Award. The series is part of the story The Naval Base, about a town that is excessively dependent on the attention of the national government. The accompanying publication, which includes this series of portraits, can still be ordered from my website for €9.50. The publication is also for sale in museums and selected bookstores. By purchasing this publication you are contributing to the overarching project The Europeans, in which I document Europe between 2020 and 2030, together with Arnold van Bruggen.

You can vote online for your favourite nomination. The entry that receives the highest number of votes wins the Audience Award. The announcement of the winners of the SO Awards takes place on 14 April in Amsterdam.

Interview around my series of portraits of volunteer clubs and association boards in times of lock down as result of nomination at the Dutch Zilveren Camera Awards.

More good news from Zilveren Camera. My series of portraits of volunteer clubs and association boards in times of lock down won the second prize in the category ‘Portraits Series’ at the Dutch Zilveren Camera Awards. This series of portraits is part of the recently presented chapter The Naval Base as part of The Europeans 2020 - 2030, a ten-year project I am working on together with writer Arnold van Bruggen. Click on the link below for more detailed project information.

You can find our latest publication The Naval Base / De Marinebasis for €9.50 at Foam Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam, Huis Marseille, Museum Hilversum, Nederlands Fotomuseum, Fotomuseum Den Haag, Citymarketing Den Helder and via online bookstore photobookstore.nl. In Germany at Kominek bookshop Berlin and Café Lehmitz Photobooks. In Belgium at the shop of Fotomuseum Antwerpen - FOMU. In Austria at AnzenbergerGallery and in the US for only $10.95 at photo-eye. We are always looking for more selling points worldwide. We offer phenomenal discounts for booksellers who want to work with us until the end of the project in 2030.⁠⁠

Het Parool writes about our modest exhibition The Naval Base at DNPG: “The Portrait Gallery Studio, the new home of the Dutch National Portrait Gallery at the Marineterrein, opens with an applicable exhibition: The Naval Base by photographer Rob Hornstra.”

After the presentation of The Naval Base in het Pompgemaal Den Helder, part of the works will travel immediately to the Dutch National Portrait Gallery on the Marineterrein in Amsterdam. More information on the website of the Dutch National Portrait Gallery.

The online VR version of our first regional presentation The Former Capital was a massive success and has been viewed more than 25,000 times. So we have decided to recreate The Naval Base exhibition on location in its entirety again on Artsteps. Including easter egg. Although we understand that Real Life and Virtual Reality are different experiences, we try to make it possible for people who are not able to come to het Pompgemaal to experience the work. Use 3D goggles for an even more real experience. Follow the link below and please share and like and such…

Announcement of our exhibition The Naval Base in Het Pompgemaal: “There is something strange about the photograph Rob Hornstra made of the street row of shops on Marsdiepstraat. Who wants to know what exactly, should go and have a look in the former Pompgemaal in Huisduinen”.

In Het Pompgemaal in Den Helder, a Mondriaan Fund artist residency, the exhibition ‘The Naval Base’ will take place from 27 to 31 October 2021. For two months, photographer Rob Hornstra and writer Arnold van Bruggen roamed through the naval base and made a portrait of the town. They portrayed hundreds of inhabitants of the town, from fishermen to chairmen of associations and from sea cadets to naval officers. Together they and many others form the social network of the naval base. For five days, a selection of their work will be exhibited in Het Pompgemaal and the 112-page publication The Naval Base / De Marinebasis will be presented.

The photographs and stories that Hornstra and Van Bruggen made in Den Helder will be part of the project The Europeans. Between 2020 and 2030 they will document Europeans in countless regions and mid-sized towns at a time when Europe is under pressure. The ambition of The Europeans is in line with illustrious predecessors from the last century: an engaging historical document in the tradition of Robert Frank’s The Americans or Henri Cartier-Bresson’s Les Européens.

Visual material for promotion can be requested from studio@robhornstra.com

Titel: De Marinebasis / The Naval Base
When: 27 t/m 31 oktober van 10:00 – 18:00 uur
Opening: Wednesday 27 oktober om 17:00 uur
Location: Het Pompgemaal, Duinweg 50 in Huisduinen
Online: More information www.theeuropeans.fm

“Some say The Naval Base is the end of the world. They are wrong. This is where Europe begins.”⁠
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This is the cover of our forthcoming publication The Naval Base. The Naval Base is a town built, bombed and rebuilt by the government. When the government invests in the navy, the city flourishes. When the government withdraws, the city fades away. There are many more like The Naval Base in Europe: towns, cities or regions that are excessively dependent on the attention of the national government. A city where the population is unilaterally composed according to the demand of the largest employer.

Order your copy today for only 9.50 euros and receive it in your mailbox before 1 November, 2021.

As part of our multiyear project The Europeans, writer Arnold van Bruggen and I have recently worked on an extensive series about local associations in Corona times. How do the numerous associations and clubhouses cope with the absence of community? The series is presented now during Europe Day 21!

Despite the lockdown, I started working with writer Arnold van Bruggen on chapter 3 in our long-term project The Europeans, titled The Naval Base. The Naval Base portrays a town whose fate is in the hands of the government. A town in the periphery of a country, where many people vote populist parties that promise change. A portrait from the perspective of all kind of inhabitants, through community life, the navy and people in danger of being excluded from society. 

In October, we will exhibit The Naval Base in Het Pompgemaal in Den Helder and present the publication of the same name. The search for supporters to adopt this region is in full swing, in order to contribute to the production of the publication. By adopting a region for €120 you will receive the hardcover edition including the same size print on your doormat. If you pre-order before production date, your name will also be mentioned in the publication.

This month writer Arnold van Bruggen and I are working on a new chapter within our multi-year project The Europeans based out of the Mondriaanfonds residency Het Pompgemaal. Although we are facing a total lockdown and defying harsh winter weather, we are grateful that so many people are making time for us. Our focus during this work period includes the pandemic impact on community life and people in crucial jobs. We will return here in September to continue working on this chapter, after which we plan to present publication and exhibition on the same place in October. More on that later. Meanwhile meet some Europeans.