Dubrovnik, Croatia, July 13, 1996
Rineke Dijkstra
Rineke Dijkstra
Dubrovnik, Croatia July 13, 1996, 1996
C-Print149.2 x 125.2 x 5 cm (framed)
Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary Collection
Installation view: Oceans. Imagining a Tidalectic Worldview, 1483 Lopud | Monastery of Our Lady of the Cave, Lopud, Croatia, 2018
Photo: TBA21
- Date
- 2002
- Medium
- C-print
- Dimension
- 147.2 x 123.2 cm, 149.8 x 125.2 x 4.8 cm (framed)
- Credit
TBA21 Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary Collection
- This artwork is part of the donation and long-term loan from TBA21 to the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza.
Details
Dutch photographer Rineke Dijkstra’s lauded series “Beach Portraits” (1992–2002) is characteristic of her complex body of photographic and video work. Dubrovnik, Croatia, July 13, 1996, represents just one of the images in this expansive series in which children on beaches in the United States and across Europe were photographed.
The resulting works elicit a penetrating psychological response, highlighting the photographer’s compassionate gaze and talent for capturing her subjects during poignant moments of life transition. In the series, the poses are neutral, as is the background, and the subjects are centrally positioned with the sea creating a horizontal line. While this simple visual treatment is objective, her attention to light, facial expression, and posture reveal a subtle vulnerability in her subjects.
Dijkstra’s prints are nearly life-sized, bringing to light a gaze that elicits both a feeling of empathy and discomfort in the viewer: adulthood is imminent for these young beach-goers, an oft fraught transition the viewer is more cognizant of than the subject.
– Alicia Reuter