Tim by Jeroen Quirijns

In 1979, Francis Ford Coppola made the anti-war film * "Apocalypse Now"*. Towards the end, Martin Sheen’s character, Captain Willard, encounters an American photographer, a disciple of Colonel Kurtz, played by Dennis Hopper.
The character’s appearance and demeanour were directly modelled on the Dutch set photographer Chas Gerretsen. In terms of personality, Tim Page was Coppola’s main source of inspiration.
Tim was known for being hyperactive and leading a fearless lifestyle characterised by drug use and manic dialogue. The character reflects the psychedelic, frenzied atmosphere in which he lived at the time.
I first came across his photo's when I was about 10; my father was an amateur photographer and a subscriber to the photography magazine FOCUS, which is where my interest in photography came from, but that’s beside the point.
At the age of 19, my father went to New Guinea as a marine, where he took some wonderful photographs of the natural landscape and the local people, in the villages and in the jungle. You can probably see where this is going; it eventually resulted in this painting from 2004 – it had been on my mind for a very long time.... Once it was finished, I got in touch with Tim; it wasn’t even a particularly'difficult search. I told him the story behind it, made a copy and sent it to Brisbane, Australia. Tim passed away in 2022.
The idea behind this painting is simple: "hoeveel ellende kan een mens verwerken en dan toch nog de schoonheid van het leven zien, de wonderen van de natuur"
It has turned out to be a colourful painting, a tribute to a legendary photographer who has shaped part of my life.