Vuur aan Zee

Vuur aan Zee (Fire at Sea) is a Dutch-language corporate commission published in 1962 by De Koninklijke Nederlandsche Hoogovens en Staalfabrieken NV to commemorate the retirement of chairman Arnold Hugo Ingenhousz. The book provides a comprehensive photo-impression of the Hoogovens steelworks in IJmuiden, capturing the industrial site, its landscape, and its workers. It features a diverse range of photographic styles, including industrial reportage, worker portraits, and documentary imagery, contributed by a collective of prominent photographers: Ed van der Elsken, Ata Kando, Cas Oorthuys, Violette Cornelius, and Paul Huf. The 1962 second edition is distinguished by the inclusion of a fold-out schematic map showing the location of the Hoogovens on the North Sea Canal (De IJmond). The publication also contains historical text on the firm’s history by G.S.K. Blaauw and an essay by Paul Rodenko. A first edition was produced in 1958 with a circulation of 3,500 copies, while an English translation titled 'Fire beside the sea' was released in 1961.