‘The insecure age group of this growing group of youngsters, set against the smooth and outlined background of the planned residential area, fascinates me as a photographer and resident of IJburg.’

The IJburg district in Amsterdam consists of various small islands, each with their own atmosphere and architecture and each with their own group of youngsters aged between 13 and 19 years.

All of them are still searching for their own ‘blueprint’ within the very structured and planned architecture of IJburg. 

Based on this plan, I was given the photo assignment by ‘The City Archive and the Amsterdam Foundation for Arts 2016’. Different locations on IJburg were the decor - each of them for about an hour- of various youth groups. The locations have been carefully selected beforehand. In every group, one person is the main character. In this hour, at these outlined locations, his or her friends will pop round with their scooters, bikes, skateboards and so on. Via their school or social media, they have been instructed to come to this location at a set time. As the photographer, I mainly interact with the main character and let the friends do what they want. My main character is the spindle. The emphasis is on him or her, through the use of light and positioning - away from the group, in the front or at the back etcetera. The locations are places where you wouldn’t expect many people at first sight. I am deliberately looking for this slightly surrealistic effect as a prefiguration of the growth of the youngsters in the district that only really will take effect in the years to come.