From Afar (Vanuit de Verte) is the personal blog of Hans van der Kamp, a Dutch photographer, author of Nette Mensen in een Nieuwe Tijd, and independent magazine publisher.
This website presents long-form visual essays, photography projects, and reflections on image, identity, and contemporary culture.
A memory of a bar where conflicting philosophies briefly managed to coexist in perfect peace. I hardly ever go to bars anymore, which is perhaps why I remember one particular bar so clearly. There was even a time when I had what people call a regular place. I was not particularly popular there. The owner … Read more
The year was 1977. The date was September 22. At the time I had just started my first photography studio at Keizerstraat 24 in Utrecht, in a small carriage house next to the building where I had once worked as an assistant photographer. For weeks I had been trying to collect a modest debt from … Read more
A midlife crisis is usually treated as a joke.The cliché involves an aging man, a sports car, and a vague attempt to outrun time.In my case it turned out to be something quite different, and unexpectedly productive. When people talk about men going through a midlife crisis, the tone is often faintly mocking. We picture … Read more
The first issue was called Het Tijdschrift Norden. At the time I had convinced myself that English was becoming the language of censorship, the language in which inconvenient facts quietly disappear. That conviction lasted one issue. Sooner or later every simple Dutch word must apparently be replaced with an English one. The corporate world started … Read more
In 1980 I was asked to photograph and interview the world-famous photographer Art Kane. It was one of my first serious assignments, and the experience left me with exactly one usable photograph and a story I have never forgotten. One of my first important assignments as a young photographer for Zero Magazine was to photograph … Read more
