THE POLICE BAND OF SURINAME - Sara Blokland
Suriname is the only country in South America where Dutch is spoken. Formerly Dutch Guiana, it lies between French Guiana and Guyana, on the northeast coast of the continent, and gained full independence in 1975. If the national police brass band seems an unlikely subject for a photo book, it's only because foreigners don't understand the social and political place it occupies in the fabric of Surinamese society. It provides music for official and private events, and is considered an important part of the cultural scene in a country that has recently acquired an independent identity.
The book can be seen as "the book of the film" of the same name by Afra Jonker, but it is a separate creation by photographer Sara Blokland and designer Willem van Zoetendaal. Like many contemporary photography books, it is a multimedia production, in that Blokland's photographs of the orchestra are combined with historical photographs from their archives. These are combined with his extensive documentation of the current orchestra, which begins with official portraits of the thirty-two members, followed by images of the orchestra playing or rehearsing, and then details of their instruments, uniforms and regalia, photographed in a freer style. In fact, the book presents three or four styles or genres that respond to each other in a typically Dutch way. This is, in fact, the Police Band's "company book", and Van Zoetendaal employs the Dutch techniques of company book design, with blocks of images occupying almost the entire page, as well as numerous smaller images arranged in a grid, which not only enliven the book, but visually capture the rhythm of the music.
Published by Boa Producties, 2010
132 pages
21 x 29.5 cm
ISBN: 978-90-72532-06-0
Suriname is the only country in South America where Dutch is spoken. Formerly Dutch Guiana, it lies between French Guiana and Guyana, on the northeast coast of the continent, and gained full independence in 1975. If the national police brass band seems an unlikely subject for a photo book, it's only because foreigners don't understand the social and political place it occupies in the fabric of Surinamese society. It provides music for official and private events, and is considered an important part of the cultural scene in a country that has recently acquired an independent identity.
The book can be seen as "the book of the film" of the same name by Afra Jonker, but it is a separate creation by photographer Sara Blokland and designer Willem van Zoetendaal. Like many contemporary photography books, it is a multimedia production, in that Blokland's photographs of the orchestra are combined with historical photographs from their archives. These are combined with his extensive documentation of the current orchestra, which begins with official portraits of the thirty-two members, followed by images of the orchestra playing or rehearsing, and then details of their instruments, uniforms and regalia, photographed in a freer style. In fact, the book presents three or four styles or genres that respond to each other in a typically Dutch way. This is, in fact, the Police Band's "company book", and Van Zoetendaal employs the Dutch techniques of company book design, with blocks of images occupying almost the entire page, as well as numerous smaller images arranged in a grid, which not only enliven the book, but visually capture the rhythm of the music.
Published by Boa Producties, 2010
132 pages
21 x 29.5 cm
ISBN: 978-90-72532-06-0
Suriname is the only country in South America where Dutch is spoken. Formerly Dutch Guiana, it lies between French Guiana and Guyana, on the northeast coast of the continent, and gained full independence in 1975. If the national police brass band seems an unlikely subject for a photo book, it's only because foreigners don't understand the social and political place it occupies in the fabric of Surinamese society. It provides music for official and private events, and is considered an important part of the cultural scene in a country that has recently acquired an independent identity.
The book can be seen as "the book of the film" of the same name by Afra Jonker, but it is a separate creation by photographer Sara Blokland and designer Willem van Zoetendaal. Like many contemporary photography books, it is a multimedia production, in that Blokland's photographs of the orchestra are combined with historical photographs from their archives. These are combined with his extensive documentation of the current orchestra, which begins with official portraits of the thirty-two members, followed by images of the orchestra playing or rehearsing, and then details of their instruments, uniforms and regalia, photographed in a freer style. In fact, the book presents three or four styles or genres that respond to each other in a typically Dutch way. This is, in fact, the Police Band's "company book", and Van Zoetendaal employs the Dutch techniques of company book design, with blocks of images occupying almost the entire page, as well as numerous smaller images arranged in a grid, which not only enliven the book, but visually capture the rhythm of the music.
Published by Boa Producties, 2010
132 pages
21 x 29.5 cm
ISBN: 978-90-72532-06-0