Carel blazer

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Carel Blazer (left) in September 1945 at the trial of Max Blokzijl

Carel Adriaan Blazer (born June 16, 1911 in Amsterdam , † January 16, 1980 in Nijmegen ) was a Dutch photographer and resistance fighter during the Second World War . Along with Éva Besnyő , Emmy Andriesse and Cas Oorthuys , he is considered to be one of the most important representatives of the so-called “ New Seeing ” ( Dutch Nieuwe Photography ).

biography

Youth and education

Blazer was born in 1911 to an Amsterdam accountant. His youth was characterized by frequent moves within the Netherlands, among other things because his father accepted a post as associate professor at the Nederlandsche Economische Hoogeschool in Rotterdam after the First World War . After completing his schooling, Blazer began training as a mechanical engineer, but soon ended it again to pursue a career as a photographer. To this end, he went to Switzerland for around a year at the Zurich School of Applied Arts , where he studied under Hans Finsler , one of the most important representatives of the " New Objectivity ". In addition, he received lessons from the typographer and graphic artist Piet Zwart during this time . After his return to Amsterdam in 1935, he opened a photo studio together with Éva Besnyő, in which he mainly made commercial portraits and advertising photographs. Politically he turned to communism at this time and also became a member of the communist party CPN . Furthermore, he became a member of the so-called "Association of Workers Photographers " (Dutch Vereniging van Arbeidersfotografen ), a movement founded in 1931 with the aim of documenting the working conditions of the Dutch workforce with photographs. Blazer also joined the “Association of Artists for the Defense of Cultural Rights” (Dutch Bond van Kunstenaars ter Verdediging van de Kulturele Rechten ) and became a board member in the photography department.

Spanish Civil War

Kolenmijnen Limburg (November 21, 1945); Part of a series of images from the field of "Social Documentary Photography"

After a year-long stay in Paris , Blazer went to Spain in March 1937 , where he joined the International Brigades and fought on the Republican side in the civil war there for about three months . During this time he documented the life of soldiers at the front with his photographs, but also tried to show that normal life in Spain went on apart from the fighting. The pictures created there were published in various newspapers and shown at the Foto '37 exhibition in the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. This exhibition, in which not only blazers but also photographers such as John Fernhout , Robert Capa and Gerda Taro were represented, received a lot of attention in the press of the time. His time in Spain disaffected Blazer with communism, which is why he soon ended his membership in the CPN.

In 1938 Blazer was the only foreign photographer who accompanied the annexation of the German-speaking areas of Czechoslovakia to the German Empire in the course of the Munich Agreement . In doing so, he concentrated on documenting the flow of refugees from Sudeten Germans . He was arrested and had to return to the Netherlands, where he accepted a chair at the Nieuwe Kunstschool in Amsterdam that same year .

Second World War

After the surrender of the Netherlands, Blazer joined the resistance group De Ondergedoken Camera (German for example: "The submerged / hidden camera"), which tried to capture the circumstances of the German occupation photographically. He also participated with the resistance organization Persoonsbewijzencentrale in the forgery and distribution of identity documents for resistance fighters and people in hiding . Blazer was picked up by the Germans in April 1943, together with his sister, his husband and two other people and charged with espionage. Although he was initially sentenced to death, he and his lawyers managed to obtain his release in February 1944. Blazer's sister and brother-in-law were less fortunate, however, and later died in Auschwitz-Birkenau . Blazer's photos from 1945 have occasionally been published under the pseudonym Carel Corza.

post war period

Man met bijl (October 1948); Example of a photograph of blazers in the style of "New Seeing"

Immediately after the liberation of the Netherlands, Blazer photographed the capture of German soldiers and the subsequent reconstruction work in different parts of the country. During this time, he earned his living primarily with advertising shots and as a process photographer. Furthermore, shortly after the end of the war, he took part in the development of the artists' association Gebonden Kunsten federatie . One of his photos, an aerial view of the closure of the Flevopolders, was enlarged to a 580 m² mural for the Dutch pavilion at the 1958 World Exhibition in Brussels . In the following decades Blazer worked as a teacher for young photographers like Paul Huf and Krijn Taconis and traveled to Europe and East Asia. He only gave up photography in 1974 after an accident in which he suffered a hip damage. Afterwards he lived in the old Swiss forest for a few years . Blazer finally died in Nijmegen in 1980, leaving behind a daughter.

plant

Paard en wagen in ondergelopen straat (October 1945); Part of the Walcheren series , which reflects Blazer's interest in "fighting the water"

Carel Blazer is considered to be a representative of the “New Seeing”, a style of photography that is characterized by unusual angles and sometimes very shady parts of the image. When choosing his motifs, Blazer was particularly interested in the Dutch Strijd tegen het water , the centuries-old flood protection efforts of the Dutch . Among other things, he captured the flood disaster of 1953 and the subsequent construction of the Delta Works in detail. Furthermore, many of his picture series can be assigned to so-called social documentary photography , which is dedicated to the documentation of the living conditions of the working class.

Illustrated books (selection)

  • Jan Derks (introduction), Carel Blazer (photos): Rome . Uitgeverij Contact, Amsterdam / Antwerp 1950.
  • Willem Frederik Hermans (introduction), Carel Blazer (photos): Carel Blazer fotograaf: Anderland . Uitgeverij Contact, Amsterdam 1979, ISBN 90-254-6505-6 .
  • Jan Brokken (introduction), Carel Blazer (photos): Photos from Carel Blazer GKf . In: Holland zonder haast . tape 5 . Uitgeverij Voetnoot, 2013, ISBN 90-71877-59-0 .

Exhibitions (selection)

Awards and honors

Photography (selection)

  • Gold medal of the Prima Biennale di Fotografia , Venice (1957)
  • Prize of the Gerrit Jan Thieme Foundation (1959, 1965)
  • GKf-prijs der Gebonden Kunsten federatie (1968)

Others

Blazer was awarded the Verzetsherdenkingskruis ("Resistance Memorial Cross ") for his services in the Dutch resistance .

Web links

Commons : Carel Blazer  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Josephine van Bennekom: photography. In: trouw.nl. September 21, 1995, accessed January 11, 2019 (Dutch).
  2. ↑ De arbeider wordt zichtbaar. In: gehugenvannederland.nl. Retrieved January 11, 2019 (Dutch).
  3. ↑ Carel Blazer. In: depthoffield.eu. Retrieved January 11, 2019 (Dutch).
  4. ↑ Blazer, Carel Adriaan. In: tracesofwar.nl. Retrieved January 11, 2019 (Dutch).
personal data
SURNAME Blazer, Carel
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Blazer, Carel Adriaan (full name); Corza, Carel (pseudonym)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Dutch photographer and resistance fighter
DATE OF BIRTH June 16, 1911
PLACE OF BIRTH Amsterdam
DATE OF DEATH January 16, 1980
Place of death Nijmegen