While looking for small self-build homes to photograph, urbanist Jacqueline Tellinga and I came across the above scene. Three similar-looking big white houses with three almost identical white cars parked in the front. After making the photo, I was curious about whether the vehicles were of the same brand as we had just been talking about how difficult we both find it to see any difference between the car makes. They ranged from a Mercedes, Volkswagon to a Honda.

Anyway, we moved on and just down the street; we found what we were looking for, a cluster of small homes. From an aesthetic point of view, my personal preference is for the smaller houses, but as a photographer, I find the image of big white houses more intriguing. Possibly this is because I am more familiar with the segment of the Dutch population who consciously choose to ‘live small’ than I am with those who have a preference for living large. The next time I’m in the neighborhood, I plan to knock on the big white houses doors and ask if it would be possible to make some interior photos and portraits of the residents. Photography, for me, is also a way of getting to know people!

 

 

For three years, I worked on an assignment for the Dutch city of Almere, covering the BouwEXPO TinyHousing project in the Homeruskwartier.

My photos served as communication material for the city and as illustration material in the book ‘KleinWonen – SmallHomes’, written and compiled by the project manager Jacqueline Tellinga and published in September 2019 by THOTH.

 

 

Related Links:
Website Jacqueline Tellinga