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Haven
Sem Langendijk (NL)
Concept and photography:
Sem Langendijk
Text:
Sem Langendijk
Taco Hidde Bakker
Text assistant:
Noa Ben-David
Proofreading:
Hannah Vernier
Design:
Rob van Hoesel
Lithography:
Sebastiaan Hanekroot (Colour&Books)
Production:
Jos Morree (Fine Books)
Print and binding:
Wilco Art Books (NL)
Supported by:
Mondriaan Fonds
Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst
Aedes
To whom does the city belong?
Haven tells the coming of age story of a boy in a rapidly changing environment, based on memories of surroundings that no longer exist. Sem Langendijk (NL) witnessed the unrooting effects of gentrification during his upbringing in the periphery of a large city. After the neighbourhood transformed into a waterfront, Langendijk realised he no longer identified with this area. He lost his connection to the place he lived in for nearly thirty years.
This body of work is the result of a long-term research project into shifting demographics, waterfront development and the dynamics of gentrification. Due to social inequality and urbanisation, people are continuously driven to relocate, particularly within post-industrial cities.
Haven brings together the environments of different port cities in a documentary fiction, highlighting the transformation of disused docklands and the communities that reside there. A second chapter contains the background research, providing context for the personal testimony that makes up the first part.
Sem Langendijk is a Dutch contemporary photographer with an interest in communities and their habitats. His research involves examining the identity of a place and the relation people have with their environment. Choosing to shoot on large and medium format cameras lends a certain tranquility and poeticism to his work, in which he blends visual storytelling with personal documentation. He holds a BA in Photography from the Royal Academy of Arts in The Hague, and works for editorial clients such as WSJ Magazine, Bloomberg Business and The Economist. He is a recipient of the Mondriaan Stipend for Emerging Artists.