Dirk Jan van den Berg took up photography in 2003. “The introduction of the digital SLR’s created the opportunity to control the entire workflow from taking the picture to printing the picture. It ended my everlasting frustration with unsatisfactory development and print work of photo laboratories during the analog days.” Living in New York for 5 years and now living in Beijing has provided him with ample inspiration; thousands of photo’s are the fruits of long walks in both cities.
“My camera is the extension of the visual senses. It stills moments of people, objects and structures that otherwise would last seconds or even less. A good picture is not a mere image; it reflects emotion, it tells a story in a split second. I like my photographs to fit a template of diagonals and straights, probably reflecting strive for rationality and order. I am pleasantly surprised to find out that people like my work, it means that my hard drive is no longer its terminal station. It is a great pleasure that some of my work is put on display for other people to enjoy”.
Dirk Jan van den Berg was born in 1953 in Hilversum in the Netherlands. After his studies in econometrics at the State University in Groningen in the Netherlands, he embarked upon a career in the Dutch civil service. He had several positions in the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; he served his country as the ambassador to the United Nations in New York. Currently he is the ambassador to the PR of China. In January 2008 Dirk Jan van den Berg will leave the Dutch foreign service and will assume the position of President of Delft University of Technology.
Beijing, 15th of December 2007.
