From 10 November 2014 through 1 March 2015, Panorama Mesdag in The Hague will be displaying the New Horizons project by artist Bruno van den Elshout (The Hague, 1979). It is a photo project that takes a fresh look at a world-famous view: the horizon of the Dutch North Sea.
In 2012, Bruno van den Elshout took a photo of the North Sea horizon every day and every hour over the course of one year. He took these pictures from a fixed spot: the roof of NH Atlantic Hotel in Kijkduin. The result is a collection of 8785 atmospheric impressions of the sea and sky in all possible variations: moon-lit nights, autumn storms, sunset glows, and winter clouds in a spectre of colours. From this immense collection of horizon photographs, Panorama Mesdag will be presenting a selection of 23 works.
Living and working close to the hustle and bustle of the city, Bruno van den Elshout saw a way to escape the hectic pace of daily life by capturing the intriguing horizon. Working with technical
photographer Roelof de Vries, he converted a singlelens reflex camera positioned on the hotel rooftop into a clever all-weather machine with a heater and a windscreen wiper that can take images as wide as 2 metres, creating breathtakingly beautiful results.
Hendrik Willem Mesdag, too, adored the sea and over the course of 30 years he portrayed the sea and the sky in all their manifestations and moods, also from a fixed spot: his studio in Scheveningen.
So it is an obvious choice for Panorama Mesdag to exhibit the New Horizons project.
The New Horizons exhibition will be accompanied by a 212-page monumental book to be published on 4 December 2014 in a limited edition of 2012 numbered copies.
