| |
 |
|
| |
 |
|
| |
Jan van Leeuwen was born in the
Netherlands. |
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
| |
Printer-friendly
PDF (1.2mb)

Who is the artist?
Jan van Leeuwen
What is the name of the artwork?
Es gab einmal 6000000 (Once there were 6000000)
What materials were used?
Cyanotype
Where is the artist from?
The Netherlands
When was the artwork made?
1992

Jan van Leeuwen was born in 1932 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
A salesman, office manager, and buyer for trading companies, his early photos
were pictures of the products he represented. When he started to become serious
about studying photography, he went to a workshop that focused on self-portraits.
Van Leeuwen was very excited about what he had learned and from then on picked self-portraits as
his main subject. He also learned about the cyanotype process from a famous Dutch
photo-collector.

Once there were 6000000 is one of ten photos in a barb-wire series. In this series, van Leeuwen shows his sorrow for the horrible events that happened during World War II. Van Leeuwen is not only the photographer, but he is also the subject for many of his photos. This photo is a way of telling his story about what he saw and what he felt as a young boy in Amsterdam during World War II. He was inspired by poems written by a Jewish Dutch woman, named Ida Vos, and created these works as a response to his emotions.
How does this photo make you feel?
Do the people in the photo look the same or do they look different?
Does this photo remind you of anything?
Why do you think these people are behind barb-wire?

Cyanotype - Also known as Sunprints or photograms. Cyanotypes are made without a camera. Objects are placed on top of a piece of light-sensitive paper and exposed to light. The areas covered by the objects are unexposed and remain light in color, while the areas around the objects are exposed to light and darken in color. Cyanotype refers to images that are produced on specially treated paper that turns a blue (cyan) color.
Self-portrait - a portrait of oneself, made by oneself.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
 |
| |
Jan van Leeuwen
Holland, born 1932
Es gab einmal 6000000 (Once there were 6000000)
Cyanotype, 1992
Collection Museum of Photographic Arts
Gift of the artist
1993.010.001
© Museum of Photographic Arts

|
|
 |
| |
1932
Jan van Leeuwen born in the Netherlands
1939
World War II begins
1945
World War II ends
1959
Russia launches the first space satellite, Sputnik I
1975
First skateboard
1983
CDs begin to replace records and cassette tapes
1992
van Leeuwen creates Es gab einmal 6000000
(Once there were 6000000)
|
|
|