Haute Photographie: a new concept in a new location in the old harbour of Rotterdam. What’s better than a large refreshed former warehouse with high ceilings to exhibit photographs? Keilepand is not easy to find but worth the trip. The Haute Photographie event draws its analogy to what’s haute cuisine is to cuisine. A posh concept for a high-end exhibition featuring a healthy and copious mix of (old) masters like Arnold Newman, Marvin E. Newman, Vincent Mentzel (again!) or Atze Haystsma and young new talents, like Alex Timmermans, Antoine Khol, Du Choff, Constanza Gastaldi or Joep Hijwegen. To mention those few, amongst more than 40 artists presented. Deep black&white or bright colours harmoniously provide ravishment for the eyes and browsing through the displays feels like being in a museum. Of course, not everything resonates in the viewers, some catch the eyes and attract, some don’t. I selected the few pictures featured here: The bright coloured reflection and silhouette of Joep Hijwegen, with a special attention to the eye, providing a patch of white at the bottom left of the picture, the delicious quirky humour of Alex Timmermans, subject of an upcoming coup de ❤️, the mysterious mountainous landscape of Costanza Gastaldi using the photogravure process, the no less mysterious manly silhouette of Du Choff named “Katachi”, the shy young David Hockney in his atelier or the humorous 1948 warning of Ge van der Werff “Stay calm, not a racing strip”, depicting a place and time long gone. Finally Antoine Kohl, a French photographer with a unique aesthetics, showing material somehwere between photographs and modern paintings. The list of discoveries could have been much longer. The staff of Haute Photographie strives at putting together an exhibit twice per year, once in Rotterdam, once in Amsterdam. Something to look forward to. The appointment is already made for the next edition in September.
