Spaarnestad Photo

The front and reverse side of photos

Curated by Rob Moorees and published by NRC Handelsblad, this show is an example of the vast possibilities of the Spaarnestad Photo archives. Every photo in its original archive has text and stamps on the backside. The text tells a story about the origin and the whereabouts of the photograph and functions as an provenance of the original print. By scanning both sides it becomes possible to read the photo in more ways then intended by the original maker of the image. All photographs are for sale during the show. Prices ranging from €350,- to €600,- (per two photos).

About SPH:
After its foundation in 1985/1986, Spaarnestad Photo has been working as an independent institution at the preservation of the photographic archives of the former Haarlem based De Spaarnestad publishing company.

From its beginning the task of SPH has been the preservation and disclosure of the abundance of the photographic contents of the archives - a century of Dutch and international documentary photography laid down in ca. 12 million photos at the time of writing - by turning the former company archives into an archive for the public. This is done, among other things, by making the photos available for (photo)historic research and educational purposes, by organizing exhibitions in SPH's own exhibition rooms in Haarlem or those of others and by stimulating photographic publications.

The size and quality of SPH's collections make the archives one of the main photographic memories in the Netherlands.
Nowadays SPH works at being a source of inspiration for contemporary photographers, historians, artists and designers who use the archives for their own work in a way of which the original makers of the pictures and the archives could only dream.The educational possibilities of the archives are being explored and expanded. At the same time the opportunities of making SPH's cultural heritage available owing to recent developments of digitizing create a great challenge for a small organization such as SPH. Together with the preservation of the photos, its task for the public, organizing exhibitions and digital registration and disclosure, rescuing Dutch collections of documentary photography will be the focal point of SPH in the coming years.