Dirk-Jan Visser

Studio tutor (MAPS), Commissioned Work (BA Photography)

Dirk-Jan Visser (Assen – the Netherlands, 1978) is a committed documentary photographer with a fascination for the human dimension within the consequence of (geo)political decision-making. His photographic themes are society in conflict and more recently, using walking as a research method he focuses on landscape in conflict.

In collaborating with creative minds from different backgrounds, he tells independent stories with a strong visual narrative. His publishing platforms vary – from mainstream media to books; interactive documentaries to exhibitions – as long as the form serves the story.

Collaborative productions include the publication ‘OFFSIDE’ (2012), a book and traveling exhibition on the situation in the war-torn region of Nagorno Karabach; Refugee Republic (2014), an interactive multimedia platform showcasing daily life in a refugee camp in Northern Iraq which was awarded the Dutch Design Award and was on display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York; De Asielzoekmachine. (The Asylum Seekers Machine, 2016), an interactive documentary that examined Dutch policy on asylum seekers in the Netherlands. De Asielzoekmachine was nominated for a Gouden Kalf at the Dutch Film Festival as well The Holy Road (2017), an interactive web documentary about the people who live – with and alongside each other – along the ‘holiest’ but also most contested road through Israel and the occupied Palestinian Territories: Route 60. Mid 2020 his project ‘Voorland, walking in the Anthropocene in Groningen’ will be launched.

Besides his photographic practice he is a lecturer at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague, he holds a position in the Supervisory Board of World Press Photo and he is one of the initiators and curators of 'Atelier aan de Middendijk', a small farmhouse in Groningen, which serves as a base for artists to create new work in relation to the inspiring surroundings.