Egmond photographer honors his Derp with a portrait of a quarter of a century

The ‘Blue Post’ refers to the border post at the coastal village: “I also stay on the Egmond side,” says Jongejan when the photo is taken at the post. “That pole is very important to us; the border of Egmond aan Zee and the rest of the world,” he smiles.

“Change is also beautiful”

Jongejan was out and about with his camera for a year and a half, behind that pole in his Derp, as Egmonders call their village. “In 1996 I made my first photo book ‘Egmond village portraits’, and after corona I decided that I wanted to make a follow-up. To record the changes; as a snapshot of my village.”

“A lot has changed, but change is not always negative. It is also good and beautiful. Of course: people have died. The SRV truck and the fish cart are no longer there and shops are disappearing. Time does not stand still. And That’s why I want to capture my living environment and the Derpers in a photo report.”

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Armando Jongejan ultimately took a hundred photos that were collected in his book ‘Tot de Blauwe Paal’, all of which can be seen until November 5 in the Museum of Egmond, opposite his birthplace on Zuiderstraat.

Storytelling

He photographed people at sea, on the beach, in the dunes and in the village: a picture of the times in black and white. “I started looking for people who have something to say and that I can tell it in my photos. Take Peter Groen.”

“Peter is a well-known, jovial Egmonder, always in clogs. And his living room is like a museum; he is crazy about everything that has to do with offshore channels. Radio Veronica is his favorite. So I wanted it for that wall. he added the scale model himself. That also completes the photo.”

But not only ‘well-known’ Egmonders have been recorded. Jongejan points to a photo of a lady painting a devil figure.

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“This is Namaisa, she was still at school with my daughters. She is a make-up artist that not everyone here knows. She is very good at her work and even gives workshops and demonstrations in America. So she just lives here in Egmond. That’s a wonderful thing to be able to show.”

Photogenic Egmond

Jongejan’s photos are full of details: of Egmond, of the daily lives of the people in the photos and also tells something about what they are like. “And that’s what I like to show in a photo. For example, how precise someone is, because all their tools hang perfectly straight.”

Furthermore, the pictures take you to the typical Egmond dunelands, the football club and the rescue brigade. “At people’s homes, at work, with their passion, hobby or craft.” But what makes Egmond so suitable for Egmond photographers?

Because in addition to Jongejan’s work, the photos are also by Egmonders Cor Mooij, Rob Glass and Chief Kenniphaas loved. “Each of us captures our village in a different way, and Egmond aan Zee is of course very special.”

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The exhibition, which has been on display in the museum for over a month, has been very well attended, the museum said. But not only by Egmonders, Jongejan knows. “For them it is of course a celebration of recognition. Then you hear them talking and pointing: ‘hey, there is so and so’.”

Once a week he is in the museum to explain or sign his book. “And then you also speak to tourists and day trippers who like it. But fellow photographers also come along. They of course look with a technical eye. I also get compliments from that.”

It’s special that I ‘hang’ here

“You know, I have been able to exhibit in so many beautiful places, all over the world. But I think it is special that I am ‘hanging’ here in the museum. 15 meters from where I was born. That is super cool, an honor.”

And then there is his photo book. Immediately upon opening you read a quote from Hans Aarsman, who analyzes press photos in the Volkskrant every week, which Jongejan attaches great importance to:

‘There is a world that is very interesting,
for which you don’t have to get into your car,
don’t have to take the plane.
A world right in front of you,
under the paving stone in front of your door.’

De Derper continues leafing through the book. “I have lived here for over sixty years now, and it is sometimes difficult to recognize things anymore. Hence that quote. This project also forces me to look at my own environment with new eyes. But quite honestly: in every city or village You can take beautiful pictures, it’s right on your doorstep. But Egmond of course has a plus.”