Woman at the Oude Kerk in Delft

by Rini Braber

Last summer, I visited the exhibition "Lothar Wolleh sees Jan Schoonhoven" at museum De Prinsenhof in Delft. This was my first introduction to the work of Lothar Wolleh (1930-1979). Wolleh is best known for his characterful portraits of avant-garde artists from the 1960s. His pictures, taken with a Hasselblad camera, are always square, in black and white and with a thick black border. Also characteristic of his work is the use of strong contrasts. Wolleh was friends with Delft artist Jan Schoonhoven and also visited him regularly in his home town of Delft. The portraits Wolleh made of Schoonhoven in Delft are the subject of an exhibition in De Prinsenhof. The exhibition and the accompanying photo competition (no, I did not win anything) gave me the idea of making a series of photos of Delft, inspired by the portraits of Jan Schoonhoven that Lothar Wolleh made in Delft. Instead of portraits, I made street photos with casual passers-by as walk-ons. In this picture, a woman just catches the daylight before stepping into the shadow of the portal of the Oude Kerk.