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John (Ferno) Fernhout
John (Ferno) Fernhout
Film
His photographic activities notwithstanding, John Fernhout’s heart is with film. After his involvement with the Association of Worker-Photographers he focuses more and more on filmmaking, using his photo camera mainly to record subjects associated with his films.
Travelling with Storck
Shortly after the 1934 Jordaan riots, Fernhout, who has just turned 21, undertakes a voyage to Easter Island on board the Belgian training vessel Mercator. The Belgian cinematographer and friend of Ivens, Henri Storck, has approached him to make a few films of his own, with Storck taking care of production and editing. For the first time, Fernhout is fully in charge of both camerawork and directing. The voyage lasts for months, resulting in three films: Driemaster Mercator, Steven naar het Zuiden and Paascheiland (respectively: The Three-Master Mercator, Prow to the South and Easter Island).
The Mercator
This three-masted ship was built in 1932 as a training vessel for the Belgian Navy. Nowadays, the Mercator is open to the public as a museum ship in the harbour of Oostende and is one of the most famous Belgian ships.
John (Ferno) Fernhout
Pou Hakanononga
Besides his film camera, Fernhout also brings his Rolleiflex on his voyage with the Mercator. Among other things, he takes a few pictures of a lepers’ colony. His photos also show how one of the spectacular, immensely huge, local statues is brought on board the Mercator to be taken to Belgium. This statue, called Pou Hakanononga, has been ‘traded’ for a few Egyptian antiques with the government of faraway Chile. To this day, the Pou Hakanononga remains the showpiece of the Oceania collection of the Royal Museums for Art and History in Brussels.
Further Work with Storck
John (Ferno) Fernhout | Moai sculpture on board of sailboat Mercator, Easter Island (1934-1935)
During this voyage, Fernhout also makes reportages about Gauguin's grave, about Pitcairn (Mutiny on the Bounty) and the Panama Canal. Henri Stork is very content with his collaboration with young Fernhout, and after this voyage they will make seven more public information films together in Belgium.
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