|
Back to dossier
John Fernhout | Groepsportret Amsterdamse arbeidersfotografen
A group portrait of the Amsterdam worker-photographers, around 1932. Seven of them can be named. Squatting: Sini Broerse (on the far left), John Fernhout (in the middle), Joris Ivens (second from the right). Standing: C.A.J. van Angelbeek (on the far left), Ms Peeters (second from the left), G.H. Böver (third from the right), Cas Oorthuys (second from the right).
John (Ferno) Fernhout | Slachtoffer tijdens het jordaanoproer, Amsterdam (juli
1934)
VAF
In 1932, Fernhout, together with others from Studio Ivens, becomes active within the Association of Worker-Photographers (VAF), which is closely associated with the Dutch Communist Party. The VAF – modelled after German and Russian associations – is the result of a course in photography given by Joris Ivens in late 1930. Via his Capi shop, Ivens provides equipment and photographic material.
The Photographic Camera as a Weapon
The Worker-Photographers want to use photography in the struggle against capitalism, striving for a proletarian culture as opposed to so-called ‘bourgeois culture’. They regard the photographic camera as a weapon in the class struggle, inspired by the developments in the young Soviet Union. Although some real workers (such as the unemployed Amsterdam worker C.A.J. van Angelbeek) are members of the VAF, left-wing artists and intellectuals play an important role.
John (Ferno) Fernhout | Een agent tijdens het jordaanoproer, Amsterdam (juli
1934)
Kiserdö
When Fernhout returns to Amsterdam from Berlin in 1932 together with Eva Besnyö, they both become active in the VAF. They marry on 25 July 1932 and travel to Hungary for a photoreportage about the Kiserdö slum in Budapest. The series later appears in the weekly magazine Het Leven Geïllustreerd (Life Illustrated).
A Victim of Brutality
In contrast with his aesthetic and primarily personal photographs in the New Photography style, Fernhout makes reportages for the VAF that are socially committed. During the ‘Jordaanoproer’ (a riot in a well-known Amsterdam neighbourhood) of July 1934, he takes his first photograph of a victim of police brutality. In later years, the battlefields of Spain and China will become important spheres of activity for him.
The End of Workers’ Photography
After Hitler comes to power in Germany in 1933, hopes for a new social structure gradually die within the international avant-garde and the movement of worker-photographers. In the mid 1930s the VAF disbands. There are only a few photographs left by John Fernhout from this period of the workers’ photography.
Back to dossier |
