NL Nederlands

Bertus Gerssen

Portraits

Antoine D’Agata, the French photographer was in the Hague for the world premiere opening of his exhibition ‘Anticorps’. He allowed me to take a portrait.
The Ridge, California, USA is a place in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada where early in the ’70s poet Gary Snyder, descended with a few followers. Matthew O ‘Malley came there in 2007 to live a very primitive life, in an American schoolbus.
I photographed Patti Smith at the Crossing Border festival 2007. She was there attending a lecture by Salman Rushdie (who I unfortunately could not photograph).
I photographed Noam Chomsky at a lecture in Leiden. He is 83 years old here, but still ready for action!
Richel Hersisia attended Food Fight Music All Night in 2009 and defeated Frank Kary Roth.
I made a photo series about people from Urk who still wear traditional costumes, a dying breed. I called the series ‘Pride’.
At ‘De Illusie’, the ‘avant la lettre’ cultural breeding gound in the center of The Hague, I photographed a performance by The Dwarves. Also, I portrayed Hadas in one of the kitchens.
At The Roadburn festival Bobby Liebling came walking by, the singer of the legendary rock band Pentagram. Roadburn is a world famous small festival, big in specific subgenres of metal, stoner, sludge, psychedelic rock and other variants of hard rock music. At State-X I caught Glenn Branca in an ‘off moment’.
Pengamen are artists traveling on the public transport in Indonesia’s big cities trying to make a buck. This young man I photographed in Bogor.
Igor and Galina are lacking papers to give them a nationality and are therefore called stateless.
For the band ‘The Molars’ I recorded a video. Right after I finished filming I photographed Jens, the singer/guitarist.

Antoine d'Agata. The Hague, 2012

Matthew 'O Malley, poet, The Ridge, CA, 2008

Patti Smith, Crossing Border festival. Den Haag, 2007

Noam Chomsky. Amsterdam, 2011

Richel Hersisia, boxer, The Hague, 2010

Koos Rouss (L) and Karel Klijnoot (R), Referees for over 58 years at boxing matches

Tiemetje Kramer-Snoek. From the series 'Pride'. Urk, 2007

Jan (of Naat) Bakker, From the series 'Pride'. Urk, 2007

The Dwarves performing in 'The White Space, at De Illusie. The Hague, 2008

Hadas, De Illusie. The Hague, 2009

Glenn Branca at State-X Festival. Den Haag, 2011

Bobby Liebling, Lead singer of Pentagram; Roadburn. Tilburg, 2011

Nicole 'Mooncraft' Zonderhuis. Utrecht, 2012

A Pengamen singer on the streets of Bogor. Indonesia, 2014

Tinus, De Illusie. Den Haag, 2010

Igor and Galina, stateless people. Apeldoorn, 2013

Jens van Dongen of 'The Molars'. Den Haag, 2015