Rineke Dijkstra

The portraiture of photographer and video artist Rineke Dijkstra can reinforce or confound stereotypes. Dijkstra’s series each focus on one of a plethora of subcultures, from the fringe (Portuguese bull fighters) to the picayune (adolescents at the beach), with a wide and deep range in between. In her works, solitary individuals stand awkwardly, vulnerable before the camera, submitted to a beautiful form of documentary and cataloguing. Typical of her work, Dijkstra’s 1994 series of three photos of new mothers shows individual women shortly after the birth of their child. Each mother stands, clutching her child, brave and unsure of herself.

Dijkstra has had retrospectives at the Guggenheim, New York and MoMA, San Francisco. Her work has been included at several recent biennials. She is a recipient of the Kodak Award.