Diana Blok
fotografie
Blood ties and other bonds
Blood ties and other Bonds was initiated in 1986 and published as a book in 1990. I was then questioning the concept of family and other forms of relationships. This subject continues to develop through other projects related to relationships, identity and roots. The family institution has been going thou enormous transformation during the past 10 years. Today many individuals have a family during a period of time, and then migrate into another physical geological space or/and form a new nucleus of individuals. We may even form several families in one lifetime.
Beyond the institutional family model and the transformation of it, is the search for a better understanding of the world and of one another. Our needs today are not what they were 10 years ago. We have become more and more aware that millions of us are rootless and that our identity can change many more times than once in a lifetime.
In the last part of the introduction to the book, Elena Poniatowska writes:
"Diana Blok describes herself as a studio photographer, always working inside without anything to distract her, within the protection of the studio with its lights and shadows, its enclosing walls, an empty concave in which the subjects stand out. Through the eye of the camera she explores not only her inner self but also her genealogical background. That she loves her subjects, understands them and knows how they walk and work one can see in her dedication. In the confindence with which they allow themselves to be portrayed, they put themselves in the hands of Diana Blok as if they were saying : "Take my soul, take my nudity." Blood ties and other Bonds, 1990
This project was supported by the > FoundationfortheVisualArts, DesignandArchitecture, Amsterdam
Het werk van Diana Blok is opgenomen in de navolgende belangrijke kuntcollecties:
Rijksdienst Beeldende Kunst, Den Haag (Holland),Polaroid Collection, Boston, (USA)
Photography Museum, Charleroi (Belgium),Biblioteque National, Paris (France)
Tokyo Metropolitan Museum, Tokyo (Japan),Collection Bert Hartkamp (Holland)
Museum Het Domein, Sittard (Holland),Dunhill Dutch Photography (Holland)
Uwe Schmidt Collection, Cologne (Germany),Horbach Collection (Germany)
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (Holland)Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires (Argentina)
Holly Solomon ( New York)