Adolescents, mothers just after giving birth, bullfighters bloodied from the ring: Dutch photographer Rineke Dijkstra singles out individuals on the cusp of life-changing or dangerous experiences, sometimes following her subjects over the course of years. In one series, the life of a Bosnian refugee in the Netherlands plays out from childhood to motherhood. Another of Dijkstra’s best-known series poses adolescents against seascapes, balancing their awkward beauty against the archetypal and symbolic composition. Look for the artist’s first major US retrospective next year at SFMoMA.
Left to right: Rineke Dijkstra, Hilton Head, South Carolina, USA, 1992. Rineke Dijkstra, Villa Franca, Portugal, May 8, 1994. Courtesy SFMoMA.
Rineke Dijkstra, Hilton Head Island, S.C., USA, June 22, 1992, 1992, chromogenic print. Courtesy SFMoMA.
Rineke Dijkstra, Croatia, July 13, 1996, 1996. Courtesy SFMoMA.
Rineke Dijkstra, Poland, July 26, 1992, 1992. Courtesy SFMoMA.
Rineke Dijkstra, Odessa, Ukraine, August 4, 1993, 1993. Courtesy SFMoMA.
Rineke Dijkstra, Jalta, Ukraine, July 29, 1993, 1993. Courtesy Marian Goodman Gallery.
Rineke Dijkstra, Sefton Park, Liverpool, June 10, 2006, 2006. Courtesy Marian Goodman Gallery.
Rineke Dijkstra, Parque de la Ciudadela, Barcelona, June 4, 2005, 2005. Courtesy Marian Goodman Gallery.
Rineke Dijkstra, Sefton Park, Liverpool, June 10, 2006, 2006. Courtesy Marian Goodman Gallery.
Rineke Dijkstra, Olivier Silva. Camp Raffali, Calvi, Corsica, June 18, 2001, 2001. Courtesy Marian Goodman Gallery.
Rineke Dijkstra, Villa Franca, Portugal, May 8, 1994, 1994. Courtesy SFMoMA
Rineke Dijkstra, Montemor, Portugal, May 1, 1994, 1994. Courtesy SFMoMA.
