May 5th, 2025 marked the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII in The Netherlands. At that occasion, a large exhibition started at FOAM in Amsterdam, “The Underground Camera”, about the resistance fighters who, throughout the war and at their own risk, took photographs on the sly to document the occupation of their country by the German forces and the consequences on the local population. The original aim, towards the end of the war, was to gather enough evidence, send it to the Dutch government in exile in London, so that the allies would drop food to support the populations. The result of this work is stunning. Although a project inherently documentary in nature, I could find some shots I could enjoy, as they reminded me of other famous photographers I admire most. I also marvelled more generally at those people, most of which unknown to this day, and their dangerous work under the noses of the occupiers. Using the bike as a place to hide the camera, taking photos in passing, documenting the work done by the underground, with the risk of being caught with enough evidence for the Gestapo to intervene and wipe out entire resistance cells. Later on, capturing evidence of the suffering of starvation of the entire population during the terrible hunger winter of 1944-1945, with children scraping the bottom of pans for food, older folks looking desperate directly into the camera and dead bodies accumulating everywhere. Varied artists were involved: Emmy Andriesse, Cas Oorthuys, Charles Breijer, Ad Windig, Krijn Taconis, Marius Meijboom and Hans Sibbele. Some, like Cas Oorthuys already seen in two exhibitions of his own in 2018 and 2023, became famous after the war.
