Old Stuff – The Photography of Harm Botman
These photographs were scanned in from a fairly unassuming book about Dutch photography made sometime in the 80s. The book itself isn’t particular amazing – but these blurry, half-frame shots have always stuck in my head as a prime example of how photographs should look.
According to the book, they were taken by a man named Harm Botman, but no explanation or blurb is given apart from this vague sentence…
“Harm Botman has registered in a succession of different images, a part of his youth which has left a particular impression upon him.”
A browse around the internet doesn’t give much away either. I managed to find out that Harm’s brother Machiel is also an esteemed photographer (with a similar penchant for loose black and white action) and that he died in 2012 at the age of 60 – but beyond that, information is sparse.
To be honest I’m not really sure what more I need to know anyway. These mysterious shots stand up perfectly fine on their own.
Roman Candle Magazine 