about

In the past, Van der Veen has worked for the Dutch magazine Vrij Nederland and many other printed media, was commissioned twice by the Amsterdam Fund for the Arts, and made several documentary series. One of them, The Skiable Landscape, has been exhibited at the Noorderlicht International Photofestival 2012. Recent work was exhibited in 2019 in Sydney at the Head On Photo Festival.

In 2013 he started his comprehensive body of work Untitled (ink on paper), in which he is playing with the paradigm of the photograph as a representation of reality.

The images seem to depict previously existing realities, but there are little or no clues why the photos were taken. The lack of context challenges the viewer to look for clues. The democratic lens captured everything it saw; the camera is a mechanical device that does not discriminate: it loves the fascinating chaos as much as it loves the contemplative serenity, while tiny details add to the feeling you can almost enter the scene physically.

But in the mean time ideas like truth and meaning are left behind.

In 2014-16 he completed the series Amsterdam - The City Proper, a portrait of the picturesque old city swarmed with hordes of tourists, a battle between the chaos of the crowds and the order of the architecture.

The Enchanted Landscape is a subset of Untitled (ink on paper), and is inspired by the perplexity you can sometimes feel when looking around and becoming aware of the idiosyncrasies of your surroundings.

But, like in Untitled (ink on paper), the image itself is all you get and you may never know what it's really about, like a song in a language that you do not understand.

Goos van der Veen lives and works in Hilversum, The Netherlands.

He is represented by:

ANP/Hollandse Hoogte (photojournalism, reportage)

Sandvoort Gallery (fine art)

about / goos van der veen