Exhibition ESTRANGED at De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB)
We know that every person is different, but we don't often stop to consider how others experience the world. For Diversity Week and Coming-Out Day 2022, DNB Pride, in collaboration with the DNB Art Committee, presents the work of photographer Arjan Spannenburg. Under the title ESTRANGED, Spannenburg depicts the search for identity.
ESTRANGED shows LGBT+ youth in search of their individuality. They move in a society where they find it difficult to express themselves freely and to be themselves. Although the people portrayed stand out in the image, they are partially in the background. As in everyday life, they show part of themselves, but also keep a part hidden.
With this series, photographer Arjan Spannenburg (Texel, 1978) wants to create awareness about the experiences of LGBT+ young people, in the hope of creating a society where everyone is allowed to be themselves.
Selection of portraits as seen in the DNB Pride (De Nederlandsche Bank) exhibition
Arjan Spannenburg
Central to the photography of Arjan Spannenburg (Texel, 1978) is the search for identity and self-expression. In powerful compositions, mostly in black and white, portrays Spannenburg young people on the threshold of adulthood.
We see adolescents at an uncertain time in their lives, searching for their own identity. It produces sensitive portraits of young people who are alone with their thoughts. At the same time, those portrayed seem to have a strong need to communicate with the outside world, looking for support, understanding and love.
Although Arjan takes his own coming-of-age as an autobiographical starting point, his work transcends both his personal story and that of the young people he portrays. The photographs depict universal feelings of loneliness, vulnerability and uncertainty and capture the poetic beauty of adolescence.