in almost every picture 7-erik kessels, joep eijkens

in almost every picture.

Tilburg, September 5, 1936

Tilburg, 1938

Tilburg, 1949

Tilburg, 1951

Breda, July, 1953

Brussels, July 25, 1954

Tilburg, August 7, 1958

Groningen, September, 1961

Oisterwijk, July, 1962

Tilburg, August 6, 1962

Tilburg, August 8, 1962

Tilburg, August 6, 1964

Den Bosch, September 13, 1964

Den Bosch, September 18, 1964

Tilburg, September 31, 1965

Tilburg, August 1, 1965

Tilburg, 1967

Goirle, 1969

Tilburg, July 18, 1969

Tilburg, 1970

Tilburg, 1973

Oisterwijk, July 13, 1975

Oisterwijk, July 13, 1975 (out of film during the shot)

Oisterwijk, July 19, 1976

Baarle-Nassau, October 3, 1976

Tilburg, July 25, 1977

Geldrop, August, 1977

Oosterhout, August 22, 1978

Tilburg, 1979

Tilburg, July 23, 1980

Tilburg, July 24, 1980

Tilburg, 1982

Loon op Zand, May 14, 1983

Tilburg, July 26, 1984

Tilburg, July 21, 1987

Tilburg, July 23, 1989

Tilburg, July 26, 1989

Tilburg, July 27, 1990

Tilburg, 1991

Tilburg, 1992

Tilburg, 1993

Tilburg, 1994

Tilburg, 1997

Hummelo, September 9, 1997

Tilburg, July 1998

Tilburg, 2003

Tilburg, 2005

Tilburg, July 21, 2006

Tilburg, July 25, 2006

Tilburg, July 28, 2006

Tilburg, 2007

Tilburg, 2008

Ria van Dijk was sixteen when she shot her first photo at a fair. It’s striking enough that a girl should do

that, certainly if you take into account that it was in 1936. What’s even more striking though, is that Ria continued to shoot away on her own accord, year in and year out. She shot pictures of her native city, Tilburg, and she shot pictures of other places that had fairs. And the nice thing is she has kept all these pictures as if they were hunting trophies.

The only real interruption was caused by the outbreak of actual shooting during the war. Oh, and of

course the year when she ended up in hospital during the week of the fair. No big deal, by the way, at least not as far as shooting is concerned, because a friend of hers rented a rifle that Ria then used – with the surgeon’s permission – to shoot at a target from her bed.

Pictures were taken of that too, but they don’t fit in the album she put together, a collection that spans

more than seventy years. ‘Most of the people are dead now,’ says Ria, while she leafs through her cherished album.

In a way, pictures of people shooting resemble self-portraits. But they record more than just the

marksman- usually there are eyewitnesses in the picture too. And although most people standing next to the shooter know that with a bit of luck they’ll end up on the picture too, they still seem barely aware of it. Rather, it seems as if they too are mainly concentrating on that one spot the shooter is supposed to hit that will activate the hidden camera. In that sense, they are more like group portraits.

In this case, the group definitely consists of more than just anonymous fair visitors who wait with

anticipation for the lucky shot. For example, Ria’s father is in several of the pictures, the last one being taken in 1964. Often, there are friends present as well. Or family members, like that one picture from 1954, in which a niece is covering her ears because aunt Ria insists on firing away again.

While the sturdy woman with the short rifle starts to age – and the clothes and haircuts of the people

behind her become more and more modern – her shooting stance barely seems to change. Determined, quite selfassured, she looks through the sight. Watch out, this lady is not leaving without a new trophy for her collection. ‘But I never used up more than a tenner,’ she muses.

Last summer, she gave it another shot at the fair in Tilburg. The same old routine: shoot first, eat

pancakes later. Two friends, one with a rollator, the other standing a bit more firmly on her legs, escorted her to the shooting booth. Sadly, she took aim ten times and missed ten times. ‘The eyes are starting to give up on me.’ She was about to put down the rifle for good and pick up her walking stick when the owner showed her mercy. ‘Since today is senior citizen’s day, I’ll hit the button.’ And thus Ria van Dijk once again managed to walk away with a beautiful picture of herself, flanked by her deputies, rifle at the ready. A KesselsKramer book. December 2008. Collected and edited by Erik Kessels and Joep Eijkens. Designed by Erik Kessels. Words by Joep Eijkens. Published by KesselsKramer Publishing, Lauriergracht 39, 1016 RG Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Publisher contact: Kyra Müller, kyra@kesselskramer.nl Distributed by Idea Books, idea@ideabooks.nl Pre-press and printing Calff & Meischke Amsterdam, binding Hexpoor in an edition of 2,000 copies. ISBN 978-90-70478-23-0 www.kesselskramerpublishing.com Many thanks to Ria van Dijk.

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in almost every picture 7-erik kessels, joep eijkens

Published on Dec 9, 2008

erik kessels

In almost every picture #7 continues with the story of a Dutch woman whose life is seen from the point of view of a fairground shooting gallery.The chronological series begins in 1936, when a16 year old girl from Tilburg in Holland picks up a gun and shoots at the target in a shooting gallery. Every time she hits the target, it triggers the shutter of a camera and a portrait of the girl in firing pose is taken and given as a prize. And so a lifelong love affair with the shooting gallery begins. This series documents almost every year of the woman's life (there is a conspicuous pause from 1939 to 1945) up until present times. At the age of 90 Ria van Dijk still makes her pilgrimage to the Shooting Gallery.