Mijn documentaire fotografie weerspiegelt het moderne stadsleven in de Westerse wereld waarbij ik mijn geboortestad Rotterdam als uitgangspunt, maatstaf en referentie neem. Met mijn camera’s onderzoek ik de paradoxen en de ogenschijnlijke chaos in het maatschappelijke leven waarbij mijn voorkeuren uitgaan naar de mensenmassa en stedelijke verstilling.
Detour Rotterdam - From the moment the pandemic occurred, the city seemed to many a hostile place given its deserted streets and squares. In my experience and practice, however, from day one it emerged in its fullness. It felt like an intrusive invitation that had to be accepted without contradiction. During the first weeks, I made almost daily endless trips within her city limits without haste and with an open mind. Not for a moment did I not feel at home in her public space. Patiently and of necessity, the film material remained on the shelf for weeks waiting to be developed. Until then I collected in my memory the afterimages of discoveries I made while strolling. So it was that I began to imagine that the city had something like a face with almost human features.
As normal life resumed, I held my new liaison a little longer. I had not yet completed my explorations and her end would not present itself as abruptly as her beginning.
Dresden in Farbe - The Rotterdam photographer Otto Snoek spent several months in the beautiful Elbe Valley as a resident of the Goethe-Institut as part of the artist exchange program of the Cultural Office of the City of Dresden and during this time he mainly accompanied and photographed the citizens of Dresden during their public demonstration rituals. The result is a highly impressive topology of bodies and faces in public space, which takes an almost pornographic close look at the nature of the people to be found here and provides rare insights into the nature of the angry citizen.
Rotterdam Dresden - In ‘Rotterdam/Dresden’, Otto Snoek places modern-day panoramas of the two cities next to each other. The parallels between them are strong: both cities suffered traumatic bombings during the Second World War, and both have been since rebuilt as powerful and dynamic urban centres. Through his images and their juxtapositions, Snoek interweaves the narrative of these parallel places
Miljonair - 'Millionaire Fair' was an international event invented by the Dutch enterpreneur Yves Gijrath that provided a stage for the rich and famous: from art and antiques, cars, yachts and boats, crafts and design, and so on.
NATION - In the project "NATION" Otto Snoek looks for moments of togetherness in European countries. In his view, national identity shows itself best at those moments, because it is then that people emphasize loyalty to the national community.
Residence - Less than 25 kilometers from my hometown Rotterdam there is The Hague. It is almost as large as Rotterdam and blessed with a long coastline that makes one forget the lack of a significant river like the Nieuwe Maas. Like Rotterdam, it is a very internationally oriented city due to the presence of many embassies, the Dutch government, the royal family and the European Court of Justice. It is this particular facet of The Hague that I showcase in "Residence."
WHY NOT - Snoek's work is derived from an interest for both the perceived and actual social tendencies that bring about friction – nationalism, popular culture, populism and consumption – and a search for elements that unite and divide. For this publication the Dutch photographer presents a new series of colour photographs, alongside previously unpublished work from his long-term photo essay 'Hometown'. Central to the new works is the exploration of the demographic 'mix' of Rotterdam – the 174 cultures and their 'foreign' and 'indigenous' citizens that may or may not have found ways to relate to each other. The result is a portrait of Rotterdam that more than many other cities emerges as heterogeneous in its composition, elusive, restless, full of tension but still hopeful.
Luchtspoor Rotterdam - The Luchtspoor has been a familiar sight in Rotterdam until the mid-1990s. The railroad viaduct runs from the Pompenburg in the center, via the Binnenrotte, across the Maas and the Hef to South.
With the arrival of the Willemsspoortunnel, the Luchtspoor will become obsolete. The Hef is a monument and will remain. The rest of the more than two kilometers long viaduct will be dismantled.
The dismantling in 1993 and 1994 was captured by photographer Otto Snoek.
Luchtspoor Rotterdam shows how the railroad viaduct ran through the center of Rotterdam, how the above-ground Blaak train station is demolished, how the parts of the viaduct are disposed of by water.
Ukrainian Crossroads - Otto Snoek first visited eastern Ukraine in 1989. In six trips between 1991 and 1993, he photographed Ukrainian cities and the countryside in the years after communism. Snoek documented a poor and desperate country and presented the resulting work as his graduation project. During that period of travel and work, he laid the foundations for his continuing career as a photographer. Snoek became especially fascinated by public spaces that function as junctions. The images reveal the candid gaze of a young man, one who not only photographs the Ukrainians in their malaise, but also as a proud nation that is courageously resigned to its fate.
