“Memory does not make film, it makes photographs.” — Milan Kundera

Contact

Rob Severein stories. Visual arts and photography

Based in Noardeast Fryslân, the Netherlands

Rob   +31 (0)6 481 857 46

Email    info@robseverein.com

Insta instagram.com/robseverein/

Linkedin linkedin.com/in/rob-severein

WhatsApp, Telegram or Signal.

Artist statement

I am an independent, autonomously working photographer, living in Noardeast Fryslân, the Netherlands. For many years, I’ve been drawing my inspiration from nature and the landscape of the North. These landscapes allow me to express more of my personal vision and feelings, to slow down and notice details. Early memories and a lifelong fascination for silence play a major role in this.

The work I make is mostly a reaction to the neglect and decline of nature in our country. And consequently, to the impending loss of values such as silence, darkness and openness. 

My stories primarily consist of black-and-white images, supplemented here and there by an image in colour. Misty landscapes, dark places and structures and a single intimate portrait alternate in these. I cherish the melancholy of autumn and winter light through which time does not seem to pass.

I look for the real and sincere. The intimate. The image in which silence is tangible.

Exhibitions

2022 | Group exhibition ‘Fotografie voor Oekraïne’, De Balie Amsterdam, the Netherlands, This Autumn Eve

2021 | Group exhibition ‘Ne me quitte pas’, Rietveld Paviljoen Amersfoort, the Netherlands, Foorbij Nij Altoenae

2020 | Group exhibition ‘100 years Jan Mankes’, Eerbeek, the Netherlands, A River Flooded

2015 | Group exhibition 'Wall of Fame', the private collection of Marcel de Cnock, Photo Gallery Amsterdam, the Netherlands

2013 | Group exhibition at Museum Catharijne Convent, Utrecht, the Netherlands, The open doors of Tuol Sleng

2013 | Participant of '1000 Photos. Inside/Outside'. Group exhibition in Melkweg Gallery, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

2012  |  Group exhibition at Photo Gallery, Eindhoven,  the Netherlands, Everything, something and nothing

2012  |  Group exhibition at Photo Academy, Amsterdam,  the Netherlands, Everything, something and nothing

Buying prints

Prints of all the images shown on this website are available for sale. More information on prices, sizes, paper quality and ordering? You’ll find it here.

Biography

Rob Severein (Amsterdam—NL, 1964)

After a long and prosperous career as a creative director in the field of advertising, Rob Severein found himself irresistibly drawn to visual storytelling and photography. He left his own agency in 2011 and signed up for a 3-year master programme at the Amsterdam Photo Academy.

In 2015 his first two major series about the Exclusion Zone around Chernobyl and the right wing AZOV battalion in Ukraine were published in Dutch national daily newspaper NRC Handelsblad and VICE Magazine. The work also received an honourable mention in the SO Dutch Photography Awards that same year.

In 2017/2018 Rob participated in the Northern Lights Photography Masterclass (Noorderlicht Photography Masterclass) with HE SECRETLY CARRIED HER PICTURE. A family story about his late grandfather who escaped from a German forced labour camp in WW2 and returned home on foot.

He started a new photography project about an unruly land tucked away in the far Northwest of Dutch province Friesland in 2018. FOORBIJ NIJ ALTOENAE (Past Nij Altoenae), his first monograph, was published in October 2020.

Today, things are slowly taking shape in THIS AUTUMN EVE. A project about the decline of nature in our country and the consequent loss of values such as silence, openness and darkness.

Related activities

2023 | Artist talk, doarpshûs De Fjouwer, Reitsum

2023 | Artist talk, Bildtse Ferhale Avend, The Friezinn, Westhoek

2022 | Artist talk, De Bres theatre, Leeuwarden

2022 | Fotofabryk, guest lecturer, Leeuwarden

2021 - 2022 | Fresh eyes, coaching photo project, Amsterdam

2021 | Fotovakschool, mentor candidate’s final exam, Rotterdam

2021 | Nederlandse Filmacademie, coaching candidate’s entrance exam, Amsterdam

2021 | Fotofabryk, guest lecturer, Leeuwarden

2019 | VEA, guest lecturer, Amsterdam

2017 | VEA, guest lecturer, Amsterdam

2016 | Fotocoaches, guest lecturer, Den Haag

2015 | VEA, guest lecturer, Amsterdam

Your privacy

Only functional and analytical cookies are used on this website. More information on your privacy can be found in this privacy statement.

Client information

I work professionally according to the terms and conditions formulated and drafted by the Dutch Association of Professional Photographers. These terms and conditions can be found here:

General terms and conditions | Algemene voorwaarden

Disclaimer

All images on this website belong to me, unless otherwise specified.

Copyright © Rob Severein 2024. All rights reserved. No part of this website and its content may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without prior permission in writing from the photographer.

In case you would like to use any of my images for press publications, commercial or non-commercial activities just give me a call or send an email. Thank you!

Publications

2022 | Publication in PF Fotografie Magazine, the Netherlands, Foorbij Nij Altoenae (Past Nij Altoenae)

2022 | Interview in Natuurfotografie Magazine, the Netherlands, This Autumn Eve

2021 | Publication in Natuurfotografie Magazine, the Netherlands, Foorbij Nij Altoenae (Past Nij Altoenae)

2021 | Publication in Noorderbreedte, the Netherlands, Foorbij Nij Altoenae (Past Nij Altoenae)

2021 | Publication in Focus Magazine, the Netherlands, Foorbij Nij Altoenae (Past Nij Altoenae)

2021 | Publication in Kiekie Tabloid, the Netherlands, Foorbij Nij Altoenae (Past Nij Altoenae)

2020 | The publication of ‘Foorbij Nij Altoenae’ (Past Nij Altoenae), photobook

2020  |  Publication in Leeuwarder Courant, the Netherlands, Foorbij Nij Altoenae (Past Nij Altoenae)

2020  |  Publication on lc.nl, the Netherlands, Foorbij Nij Altoenae (Past Nij Altoenae)

2020 | Publication in local newspaper de Bildtse Post, the Netherlands, Foorbij Nij Altoenae (Past Nij Altoenae)

2020 | Publication in arts and culture magazine de Moanne, the Netherlands, Foorbij Nij Altoenae (Past Nij Altoenae)

2020 | Editors’ pick in the LensCulture Portrait Awards, Foorbij Nij Altoenae (Past Nij Altoenae) - The portraits

2019  |  Publication in NRC Handelsblad, the Netherlands, Foorbij Nij Altoenae (Past Nij Altoenae)

2019  |  Publication in NRC.next, the Netherlands,  Foorbij Nij Altoenae (Past Nij Altoenae)                                

2019  |  Publication on nrc.nl, the Netherlands, Foorbij Nij Altoenae (Past Nij Altoenae) 

2016  |  Publication in NRC Handelsblad, the Netherlands, Pripyat, the forest grounds

2016  |  Publication in NRC.next, the Netherlands,  Pripyat, the forest grounds

2016  |  Publication on nrc.nl, the Netherlands,  Pripyat, the forest grounds

2015  |  Publication on P3 Fotografia, Portugal,  Chernobyl : exposed

2015  |  Publication in VICE Magazine, International,  The AZOV battalion. Right wing nationalists in Ukraine 

2014  |  Publication in 'De Reis van de Heldin' magazine,  the Netherlands, Portrait of Yolanda van Zuijlen 

2013  |  Publication in Inspired Eye Magazine, USA,  Fading Doel

Press

A selection of interviews and newspaper articles. Just click …