The Europeans Photo

Photographer’s Note

The Europeans

City: Amsterdam – Quarter: Centre – Location: Central Station.

This giant photo wall on display here is called The Europeans. It flanked Central Station square in Amsterdam. Reinier Gerritsen made it and its size was 4x45m.
I photographed it more than a year ago. The photo wall was aimed to show that Europe is open and that we are united and that there aren´t (or better: shouldn´t be) barriers between the multitude of ethnic groups here. I always thought that the photo wall didn´t work very well – especially the part that I show you here seems to show a different message.
It perhaps fits the phase that we are entering now during this stage of the economic crisis. Massif lay-offs are shocking Europe (and the other parts of the world too) and times like this tend to be hard on solidarity an civility.
In Holland there is good example of this. One of the right wing political parties here is basically one-issue (nationalist and anti-multicultural and anti muslim) and the stance it takes is rabidly radical and intolerant. Because of this the party leader is facing criminal charges for reasons of the public distribution of hatred . And the decisions of the Dutch High Court to persecute him, made his party dramatically raise in popularity. If there were to be elections now, the party would be the second largest in the parliament. Let´s be aware, y´all.

The PCS3 work flow: I altered the saturation, contrast, curves and levels for the whole pic and some elements separately, using different layers, ran the highpass filter on a 54% transpartent layer, USM-ed, added a frame and resized, enhanced the edges on a 68 % transparent layer, merged the layers and did a gentle USM (0,7px, 35%) again.

Have a good start of the week.

exif data
Camera Manufacturer : Canon
Camera Model : Canon EOS 30D
Exposure time [s] : 1/100
F-Number : 7.1
ISO speed ratings : 160
Date taken : 2007:12:20 10:48:11
Exposure bias value : -2/3
Metering mode : Eval, Multi-segment
Exposure mode : Av-priority
Focal length [mm] : 140 mm (35 mm equiv)
Colour space : sRGB

carper, BennyV, Sne011, ribeiroantonio, danos, Dpbours, Tue, lucasgalodoido, thea0211, jhm, UlfE has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

carper (64612) 2009-03-01 9:23

fraaie foto buurman.
mooie samenstelling goed gezien en vooral goed genomen foto. prettige avond.
groet Jaap

glasscafe (824) 2009-03-01 9:26

Hi Bert!

Very good shot, I like mainly for the POV and for the clarity, the image is very clean, congratulations.

Greetings from Madrid!
Alberto

MiguelP (14324) 2009-03-01 9:31

Hi Bert... Excellent shot a excelent note, I have always thought that this crisis is one of the main challenges the EU is going to face, it´s quite easy to give up solidarity in this times... Let´s wait for the inteligence to stay...
Take care!
Miguel

fplohoff (751) 2009-03-01 9:35 [Comment]

Show Comment

Rinie_Hoff (9332) 2009-03-01 9:47

Well, just a while ago I heard that that party would win the elections. One seat more than the CDA. It shocks me every time I hear this, and it seems that his followers are now the higher educated ones, because he became a sort of martyr for free speech after he was not admitted in the UK. It really scares me, so what ever happens to this coalition right now. thee must NOT step aside, everything is better than the PVV.

OK, now the picture, strong, but also weird because the image of the people is so sharp and big as if they are really walking there. The two canal boats form a great contrast.
Wow, what an angry young man....

BennyV (4636) 2009-03-01 10:17

Dag Bert,

Interesting shot, I like the photography collage by RG, the confrontation with the idyllic and very Dutch-Dutch boats works well. I like your thought-provoking note too. In Antwerp we've gone through a very lengthy spell with the extreme right party being the biggest, though never in power, as nobody wants to work with them. There was an enormous sense of relief after last election when they were no longer the biggest party, but they're still here, of course...
Personally I believe you missed a BIG opportunity when Wilders was denied entry in the UK: that was a great opportunity to deny him entry back into Holland as well!

Benny

ribeiroantonio (21885) 2009-03-01 16:48

This poster seems quite impressive and I believe it would have a great impact on the people looking at it. It depicts a very diverse society and it is probably that diversification that those radical parties do not like. Unfortunately, time of crisis is the better time for them to proliferate and gain support.
Your photo is very nice and the presence of the boats add good context. Well done.
Antonio

danos (32250) 2009-03-02 1:15

Good morning Bert,
nice this part of the photo wall with all these people from different nations to live and work in Europe.Of course there are a lot of natives that they want not the foreigners, especially in nowadays that we are in economical crisis.But all these emigrants left from their countries for a better life.Well done.

Have a nice day,danos

Dpbours (218) 2009-03-02 2:56

Hi Bert,

Very nice post processing you did here for sure! I like it how punchy the big photograph wall comes out in the composition. It's like a giant lcd screen. Very nice!!

Oh, ik kan natuurlijk gewoon Nederlands typen.
Mooi om te zien dat je dit ziet. Vaak vallen de dingen die zo dicht bij je in de buurt zijn helemaal niet meer op. Dat heb ik ten minste.

Groet!
Dennis

Tue (25608) 2009-03-02 6:17

Hey Bert!
Wat leuk om te zien dat je weer terug bent op TE! En wat leuk om deze foto te zien, want ik weet niet of je deze foto van mij kent: Amsterdam Diversity? Het ziet ernaar uit dat jij precies een week later ook op het idee kwam hier een foto van te maken! :-) Mooie close-up dit van al die hoofden en leuk om de neuzen van die rondvaartboten er ook bij te zien. De donkere, blauwe tinten zijn ook goed. Bedankt!
Groeten,
Lars

brevbrev14 (372) 2009-03-02 6:27

Hi dear Bert!
very good this image, i like the game of the faces
original image
Have a great start of the week! :))))))
ciao
Valeria

lucasgalodoido (16583) 2009-03-02 10:20

Hi Bert,
curiosity this work of european people, the eyes of actors are interesting and impressive the quality of your picture and outdoor print.
Great job, my friend.
Regards,
Lucas

thea0211 (1355) 2009-03-02 11:19

hi bert,
thought provoking/story telling photo and of course note you've got here. saddens me of course as i have visited holland and i know it is a peaceful, beautiful country with very friendly and warm people. unfortunately this crisis 'situation' may hit (and hits as we've already seen) in many ways and probably it's even worse and more difficult to cope with not so easy every-days when you weren't used to 'not so easy' every-days.
and of course extremists (like the nationalist politicians) use the every-day dramas and the 'slippery' new 'economic territory' to their own benefit. don't they always? they've got their own special arithmetics :(
... visually living/talking sight, good use of the poster, good angle and appropiate pp.
let's hope wisdom will find its way back where it belongs!
dora

Sne011 (3101) 2009-03-02 14:51

Hi Bert,
I like how you captured this enormous photo of people diversity, I love the initial idea for the photo. Great shot!
Best regards,
Sneza

jhm (82297) 2009-03-03 3:00

Hoi Bert,

Een lange tijd geleden dat ik nog eens op het C.S van Amsterdam was.
Moet een gigantische opgave zijn om dergelijke grote foto te maken, maar wat u er van maakte is zeker evenwaardig ook al is hij niet zo groot.
Scherpte en kleuren kunnen niet beter.
Een echt Bert werk, bedankt.

Groeten uit Vlaanderen, zwaar bewolkt en 6.1° C
John.

UlfE (8955) 2009-03-03 10:12

Hi Bert,

Excellent shot. I have seen the Europeans photo before. I really like your composition where the colours of the boats match the colours of the poster. Excellent sharpness. TFS and have a fine week!

Cheers,

Ulf

Photo Information

Copyright: Bert Hoetmer (bertolucci) (11976)
Genre: People
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2007-12-20
Categories: Daily Life, Artwork
Camera: Canon EOS 30D, Canon EF-S 17-85 4-5.6 IS USM, SanDisk Ext III 4 GB, UV filter 67 mm
Exposure: f/7.1, 1/100 seconds
More Photo Info: view
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2009-03-01 9:10