Rees Diepen
photographer
Rees Diepen (1925–2012) was a Dutch photographer who became renowned for her modern approach to children's photography. Unlike the posed, glamorous portraits common in the mid-20th century, Diepen focused on capturing children in their natural environment at their own eye level, often making herself invisible to ensure candid expressions. She established herself as an independent photographer in Tilburg in 1956 and gained national recognition for her reportage work. In the 1960s, she broke a significant social taboo by photographing children with mental disabilities for the Stichting voor het Kind, producing the influential book 'Dit kind' (1966). Her work is characterized by humanism, focusing on universal emotions like joy and sadness rather than individual identities. She also collected and photographed African sculptures later in her career.[1,2,3]
Themes
- children's photography
- mental disabilities
- humanism
- African sculpture
Books
Works by Rees Diepen
- Argeloos begin 1961 · Uitgeverij De Toorts · book · Dutch Collaboration with Nanny Snijders-Oomen; Diepen provided the photographs.
- Dit kind, een confrontatie met ernstige zwakzinnigheid 1966 · Roelofs van Goor · book · Dutch Co-authored with G. van der Most and J. Fennis.
- Oog voor mensen 2008 · book · Dutch Collection of nostalgic photographs.
Exhibitions
- 1960 Kinderfoto's Brabantse Stichting voor Beeldende Kunst en Edelambacht, Tilburg solo
- Het kind (preview) Pennings Foundation group

