Johan van der Keuken
Johan van der Keuken (1938–2001, Amsterdam) was a Dutch photographer, documentary filmmaker and author. Launching his first photo book at age 17, he published nine books and created 55 documentaries over a four‑decade career, many of which focused on outsiders, disability, labor and daily life. Van der Keuken’s work, defined by a poetic essayistic style, blurs the boundaries between artistic expression social documentary.
Johan van der Keuken’s formally distinct essay film navigates the politics of vision across Europe, but also experiments with cinematic portraiture in wild ways. Through a mosaic of vignettes—of faces, places, and voices—this classic essay film explores the desire and fear of being seen, the struggle for self-perception, and the tensions within shifting cultural landscapes. A prescient film in many ways.
