Paved roads, railway lines and canals: Friesland has changed a great deal over the past centuries. In the 18th century draughtsmen criss-crossed the province to map these changes as accurately as possible. Photographer Hans Wilschut is inspired by their prints. He documents the Frisian urban landscape of today. Wilschut not only records the cities, but also photographs Drachten and Heerenveen, two places that can hardly be called villages anymore.
The Museum of Friesland commissioned these photographs from Hans Wilschut. He travels through the Frisian countryside with a cherry picker and waits until daylight is perfect before he takes his photos.
Like the 18th-century draughtsmen Wilschut records changes in the landscape. In his photograph of Stavoren, for example, he does not show the famous statue of the Lady of Stavoren, but a burnt-down hotel. The company wants to expand to the vacant land you see in the photo in front of and behind the building. Meanwhile, in the background are houses built in a style typical of this tourist city.
Hans Wilschut photographs urban still lifes. He travels through the landscape as a researcher and records it from unexpected angles. He has had several solo exhibitions at home and abroad, including at Fried Contemporary in Pretoria, Constant Capital Gallery in Lagos, Boijmans van Beuningen Museum and the Museum Rotterdam.
