Ginza Six is an upscale department store in Tokyo. Most stores are uninteresting unless you are interested in luxury clothing and accessories. But on the top floor of this mall, you will find Tsutaya Books, an excellent bookstore with a great selection of photo books.
I only had an hour before we had to travel to the airport, but I found many unusual books and zones by Japanese photographers. There was even an original Les Americains by Robert Frank behind glass.
I Will Be Wolf – Bertien van Manen’s Debut Masterpiece
Published in 1975, I Will Be Wolf marks the remarkable debut of Dutch photographer Bertien van Manen. This photobook offers an intimate glimpse into everyday life through Van Manen’s distinctive lens.
A European Answer to The Americans
Van Manen’s work in I Will Be Wolf clearly shows the influence of Robert Frank’s iconic The Americans, yet it carves out its own unique territory. Where Frank’s vision was often critical and confrontational, Van Manen approaches her subjects with warmth and gentleness. Her photographs reveal a more compassionate eye, one that observes rather than judges.
The book exudes a wonderful freshness that remains striking nearly five decades later. Van Manen’s street photography demonstrates she had studied not only Robert Frank but also William Eggleston’s groundbreaking color work. Like Eggleston, she possesses a certain shyness in her approach to photography.
The Art of Subtle Observation
What makes I Will Be Wolf particularly compelling is Van Manen’s technique of maintaining distance. Many photographs capture people from behind, often taken from afar with views deliberately obstructed by poles, window frames, and architectural elements. This aesthetic choice creates layers of meaning – the viewer becomes a quiet observer, much like the photographer herself.
This restrained approach doesn’t diminish the power of the images. Instead, it adds an layer of intimacy and authenticity. Van Manen’s subjects inhabit their own worlds, unaware or unconcerned with the camera’s presence. The result is photography that feels genuine and unforced.
Why I Will Be Wolf Matters
For collectors and students of photobooks, I Will Be Wolf represents an essential piece of Dutch photography history. It showcases Van Manen’s early vision before she went on to create celebrated works like East Wind West Wind and A Hundred Summers, A Hundred Winters.
The book demonstrates that European street photography in the 1970s could be both influenced by American masters and distinctly its own. Van Manen found her voice early, and this debut remains as relevant and engaging today as when it first appeared.
Conclusion
I Will Be Wolf is a photobook that rewards careful attention, revealing more with each viewing. For anyone interested in documentary photography, Dutch photography, or the evolution of the photobook as an art form, Bertien van Manen’s debut is essential viewing.
I visited Ed van der Elsken’s retrospective at the Stedelijk Museum. Van der Elsken is chaotic and distinctly extroverted, an expressionist. His films are messy and experimental. The exhibition was impressive, but mostly, it was a lot.
I came down the stairs with a full head. The book De Verliefde Camera is the catalog of this retrospective. In the introduction, Hripsimé Visser, the catalog’s compiler, calls the work vibrant and dynamic. Surely that seems like an understatement. The book gives an overview of Van der Elsken’s work chronologically.
Paris, street photographs. Then, a series called A Love Story: Love on the Left Bank. The photographs in this series are large areas of black, little light, and stark—more lust than love.
Then Africa. Again, rather dark photos. Where the story is anthropological, in my opinion, Van der Elsken was much more interested in the aesthetics of black people. Close-ups of Negroes and Negresses, and I don’t mean that as a swear word, but as an indication of the style of the photographs. Photographs that are not about life in Africa as their subject but much more about the anatomy of the African man.
Sweet Life. Van der Elsken at his best: street photographs of everything that comes in front of the camera that he finds interesting. Here, Van der Elsken measures up to William Klein and Robert Frank.
Amsterdam. There are street photos, reportage-style photos, and portraits. Again, the individual photos are the strongest. The street photos are of everyday things.
Eye Love You. Color for the first time. Everyday scenes. Topper: a photo of elderly ladies with sunglasses and in neat dresses photographing two Negro children as if they were at the zoo. The vicarious blush comes to your cheeks.
Japan. Again, the street photos of someone who takes unfettered pictures of everyday subjects.
Ultimately, Ed van der Elsken was primarily an excellent street photographer who tried to make ends meet through his photography. His street photographs are world-class.
