In this series, I portray six elderly people wearing traditional Dutch costume. I photographed them with a medium-format Bronica camera on 6 × 6 cm black-and-white film. The negatives were later scanned and printed on heavyweight photographic paper.
In the Netherlands, traditional dress varies from one region to another, and many communities have special costumes reserved for Sundays. The people I photographed no longer live in their own homes but reside in care facilities where every morning nursing staff help them dress in their traditional clothing. Without these familiar garments, they feel naked, as though they would lose their identity.
I was unable to visit all care homes and therefore chose a small number of people to photograph. My intention was not so much to document the variety of traditional costumes, but rather to explore the sense of alienation that develops between elderly people and their surroundings.
The carefully preserved fabrics, lace caps and distinctive details carry the traces of a lifetime. In their faces and posture, I see a remarkable combination of pride, strength and vulnerability. The richness of their traditional attire stands in striking contrast to the modern work environment of the care facility.
Through these portraits, I seek to capture the tension between a deeply rooted sense of identity and a present-day world that looks unrelated to the people in it.
