Karlijn van Diepen was born in Zeist, The Netherlands in 1977. She originally holds a Bachelor in Journalism and has 17 years of experience in television for a wide variety of programmes working as a researcher, director, editor and video camera operator. Filming often required combining all of these roles to be conducted solo or as a small team on location around the world to include Ireland, Nepal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and the USA. In 2018, she deepened her knowledge of viewing through the lens by adding a second Bachelor’s degree in Photography.

Town Country

In the winter of 2018, Karlijn van Diepen began to walk through Amsterdam Nieuw-West. An area of the city that consists of almost 33 square kilometers and is home to over 180 different nationalities. A vast, changing place which still has a tarnished image concerning safety and crime. The district was envisioned in the 1950s by urban planner Cornelis van Eesteren to provide city dwellers with 'light, air and space'. It was his adaptation of the garden city movement - which combines the advantages of city living with the open, green feel of the country.

For over a year, Van Diepen explored the area in her own way. Led by curiosity, she wandered each block with her camera in hand. By having a chat and taking pictures, Van Diepen intended to get to know the people of Nieuw-West. Van Diepen put prejudice aside and engaged with people with an open mind. While this approach was sometimes met with suspicion, she also encountered many people who shared their stories with her.

Most of the portraits were made after or during conversations. One family spoke to her about how they happily traded their modern home in IJburg, another area of the city, to return to their childhood home in Nieuw-West. An old woman shared feelings of loneliness after being forced to move away. Two young lovers contemplated marriage to get a residence permit for the boy. 

The photos raise questions but moreover, they tell the stories of the people who live here. They depart from any preconceived notions of Nieuw-West. Van Diepen documented the surroundings and creates a new view of the area seen through her eyes only. She invites each viewer to shape their own thoughts and ideas about this place.

Residents were also given a camera so they could photograph each other, some of the results together with a published newspaper are also part of the exhibition Town Country.

 A box of roses, a tree and a plastic chair

‘This is the first book in a series where I follow my own protocol, my method. I give myself an area to wander. I limit myself to a specific district to challenge myself to see new things. Through photography I I examen a space, this time a neighbourhood and its inhabitants. For me around every corner is a new adventure in unfamiliar terrain. This is my beach to comb where my metal detector clicks. This could be anywhere in the world, but for A box of roses, a tree and a plastic chair it is close to home, de Bijlmermeer. It doesn’t matter where it is exactly. I can get lost in the covert paradises found in this backyard. It’s right there, if you look.

While strolling - I get carried away by glances, fleeting encounters, or the attraction of dark tunnels. Always there’s the hint of a story.

Within the borders I have drawn, the ‘exotic’ is just a notion of everyday life and you can see the traces of it everywhere. I also know what it’s like to come from somewhere else and recognise the homesickness and melancholy it can bring. This is what I try to capture in my photos.

My research initially centred around architect and urban planner of the Bijlmermeer, Siegfried Nassuth. His design of this neighbourhood was intended to recreate his childhood feelings of freedom. Nassuth had a happy upbringing in the Dutch East Indies that filled his memories with colourful tropical imagery. He dreamed through design a futuristic suburb in Amsterdam where it’s inhabitants would combine the feeling of freedom with the unity of a collective. We now know the aspiration that was Bijlmermeer would be caught by reality. Crime and drug problems tarnished the image of the once grand ideal. Could the incorporation of the design into reality then be considered a success?

This knowledge of the planner’s initial intent inspired my beginning an investigation to discover what was left of the Nassuth ideal.

I like to walk the line between documentary and emotional photography. I tell a visual story based in personal experiences. I try to not focus on traditional imagery but to show the viewer a new and different perspective with room for their own thought, perhaps like my own. Often I was pulled back in time into personal memories of lived adventures.

The result of my visual investigation is A box of roses, a tree and a plastic chair- a close by home series with many worlds.’

Exhibitions/Publications/Projects

2024 VLOED - a sneak peak and talk about the research for Between sea and stars - Landlubbers at VLOED, a new interdisciplinary art project in Leiden, focussing on the relationship between humans and the sea. Artists, writers and thinkers are involved to explore this relationship.

2022 Town Country acquired by photo library City Archive Amsterdam, Gemeente Amsterdam Stadsarchief

2022 series Skinny Dip in group expo, Pictura Groningen

2022 online publication of A view of my hometown and interview about my practice, het Parool

2022 commissioned series A view of my hometown featured in the weekend magazine of het Parool

2021 commissioned series and video Amsterdam Municipality, masterplan Gemeente Amsterdam

2021 commissioned series International Documentary Filmfestival Amsterdam, IDFA 2021

2021 commissioned documentary series by The Council of Public Health & Society

2021 outdoor expo Out of Office, Breedbeeld, Noordduinen, Koksijde, Belgium

2020 guest speaker on Pakhuis de Zwijger talkshow about Town Country

2020 article about Town Country, NRC

2020 article about Town Country, Het Parool

2020 live interview Radio Televisie Noord Holland

2020 live interview Salto Radio

2020 NRC in beeld online

2020  Solo exhibition Town Country - Van Eesteren Museum

2020 publication of paper - Town Country

2020 documentary Town Country- the making off

2019  preview Solo Town Country exhibition Van Eesteren Museum

2019   exhibition Rotterdam Photo City Limits

2018 publication De monsterkamer.nl

2018   graduation Fotoacademie Amsterdam

2018   group exhibition FRANK, Pastorie Diemen, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

2018 publication book - A box of roses, a tree and a plastic chair

2017   publication New Dutch Photography Talent 2018

2017   group exhibition New Dutch Photography Talent 2018, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Photography/Videography

2001 - 2022 director and videographer of international and national television programmes. multiple clients such as Discovery Channel, RTE (Ierland), Unicef, KRO, NRCV, BNN/VARA, EO, RTL, Paradiso, Humanitas, Gemeente Amsterdam

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If you like to buy a copy of Town Country, A box of roses, a tree and a plastic chair, or a print please sent me a message.