On 25 January 2023, PostNL will issue a series of four stamp sheets entitled Jimmy Nelson – Ode to the Netherlands. The personalised stamps feature portraits of women and girls in Dutch national and regional dress, photographed by Jimmy Nelson for his 2022 book Between the Sea and the Sky. The stamps were designed by graphic designer Larissa Rosvaenge of Jimmy Nelson Studio. The denomination on these stamps is ‘1’, the denomination for items weighing up to 20g destined for the Netherlands.
The four Jimmy Nelson – Ode to the Netherlands stamp sheets feature 20 portraits of women and girls in Dutch national and regional dress. National and regional dress is location- and region-specific clothing that is subject to unwritten rules that are known and clear to those who wear it locally. Most Dutch regional dress can be traced back to earlier civic fashions, especially from the 17th and 19th centuries. In some places, elements of that fashion were maintained while the general fashion changed. Many variations emerged throughout the years. In many areas of the Netherlands, regional costume has disappeared; in others, the disappearance is taking longer than predicted. Source: Het Streekdrachten Boek, Adriana Brunsting and Hanneke van Zuthem, Waanders Uitgevers, Zwolle 2007.
Featured locations and regions:
Ode to the Netherlands I Veluwe, Huizen, Schouwen-Duiveland, Volendam, Rijssen
Ode to the Netherlands II Walcheren, Friesland, Leeuwarden, Scheveningen, Arnemuiden
Ode to the Netherlands III Spakenburg, Marken, Urk, Zaanstreek, Kampereiland
Ode to the Netherlands IV Hindeloopen, Staphorst, Katwijk, Enkhuizen, Axel
The photos on the Jimmy Nelson – Ode to the Netherlands stamp sheet are taken from the 2022 book Between the Sea and the Sky by British-Dutch artist Jimmy Nelson. In the book, he portrays 20 Dutch communities in traditional and regional dress in their own environment. The 528-page book features intimate photographic portraits and iconic landscapes, captured with an analogue plate camera. The detailed nature of the images, with plenty of contrast and depth, harks back to the work of the Dutch master painters of the 17th century.
The stamps of the Jimmy Nelson – Ode to the Netherlands issue feature photo portraits of women and girls in Dutch national and regional dress. Most portraits are of the upper body and face. The viewing direction of those portrayed changes. The background is dim and dark, making the bright areas in clothing and headgear stand out more. A collage of other photographic portraits from the locations and regions featured on the stamps is printed at the top of the sheet edge, against an equally dark background. This photomontage also features men in regional dress. On each stamp sheet, a line on the sheet edge serves as a graphic element to connect the photomontage on the sheet edge and the photo portraits on the stamps.
The font used for the denomination 1 and Internationaal was designed in 2018 by type designer Martin Majoor from Arnhem. The remaining typography used the 1991 font Didot by Adrian Frutiger for Linotype of Berlin (based on the Didot fonts of 1784-1811) and the 2010 font Aperçu by Colophon Foundry of London/Los Angeles.
The Jimmy Nelson – Ode to the Netherlands stamps were designed by Larissa Rosvaenge. She is responsible for all designs as a graphic designer within the Jimmy Nelson Studio team. She also designed the book Between the Sea and the Sky from which the photos featured on the stamps were taken.
Human connection
The
Between the Sea and the Sky project was created during the Covid
pandemic. At the time, travelling to faraway places, where Jimmy Nelson
usually takes his photographs, was not possible. ‘As a creative company,
we are always looking for human connection,’ Nelson explains. ‘Thanks
to the Covid measures, we discovered that there is actually a great
wealth of cultural heritage within the Netherlands. A heritage that
creates connections within the conscious community, also through
storytelling and experiencing a collective past together. As a creative
studio, we consider beauty to be an important factor. We are not
anthropologists or regional dress experts. But we delved deep into the
subject and presented it in the most beautiful and balanced way
possible. Both in the book and in the accompanying exhibition and now
also on the stamps.’
Every detail
Larissa
Rosvaenge believes the search for balance was an important starting
point for the design of the stamps. ‘Of course, the source material was
not unknown to me, since I worked on the book for 2 years. I know all
the photos, all the people in them and every detail. The official launch
of the book in September last year took place at a gathering of
hundreds of those who were portrayed in the book on the Museumplein. All
wearing national or regional dress. So that’s when I met everyone in
real life. It was like meeting celebrities.’
Reflecting the seasons
The
stamps represent every single photographed community, from Axel to the
Zaan region. Rosvaenge: ‘Initially, when I was selecting the images, I
did not restrict myself to anything. I first looked at which people in
the book resonated with me the most and whether the images meshed well
with each other. Then we started to focus more on balance. Balanced
ages, for example: the youngest person portrayed on the stamps is 3
years old, the oldest well into their 80s. But also balance in where
people came from, what colours predominated in the pictures and what
viewing directions there were. Moreover, we tried to avoid repetition as
much as possible. It was interesting to see that a colour scheme that
reflects the seasons emerged almost spontaneously. We ended up with
stamp sheets on which white predominated in winter, light colours
emerged in spring, stronger colours appeared in summer and darker shades
surfaced in autumn.’
Intensity of expressions
The
mood of the portraits is defined by the way Nelson photographs his
subjects. ‘This is always done with the utmost respect,’ he says. ‘In an
environment where silence prevails and where I become fully subservient
to the subject. Technology also plays an important part. I shoot in
natural light with an analogue plate camera, with a wide aperture and a
slow shutter speed. This requires people to sit still for a long period
of time, and you can see that in the intensity of their facial
expressions. It is literally a unique photograph. And they’re all
unedited, unlike today’s polished digital photography. We are always
looking for beauty in imperfection.’
Graphic line
This
imperfection returns in the thin graphic line connecting the photo
collage on the sheet edge with the stamps. ‘They are the real contours
of a negative from the plate camera,’ Rosvaenge explains. ‘We picked the
edges of a different negative for each stamp sheet. This is how they
actually look, we have not edited them to ‘improve’ them. They are real,
the way the people in the images are real individuals.’ The latter is
echoed by Nelson, who does not work with models for his photography.
‘They are real people who are aware of the living heritage within a
culture with its own identity,’ he says. ‘So therefore, these portraits
are not ours. They are not our property. We were only able to create
them thanks to the cooperation of all those people. They not only give
us their portraits, but also their souls and their stories. We package
that – for example, in the shape of a book and, in this case, stamps –
and show it to the world.’
Focal point
On
the stamps, the fixed frame of the personal stamps determines the
framing of the photo portraits. On the sheet border, Rosvaenge gave
herself the freedom to feature the portraits in a different way. ‘The
collage is yet another way of showing that national and regional dress
are still very much alive. This is done by cropping the images whilst
respecting the original image and the recognisability of the people.
Each collage has a single person in the centre who is featured larger
than the others. In a busy collage like this, you need a focal point.
That is purely an aesthetic choice, it has nothing to do with the
person’s position in the community.’
Love letters
Besides
photographic portraits, the collage incorporates particular details of
national and regional dress. According to Larissa, the result was a
strong, layered design. ‘All sorts of things are going on, and you will
have to look several times to get through those layers. That is why I
would love it if people bought two of each stamp sheet: one to keep, the
other for sending mail. Preferably for love letters, of course.’
About the designer
Larissa
Rosvaenge (Munich, 1989) studied Fashion Design in Munich, followed by a
master’s degree in Fashion Strategy in Arnhem. Her interdisciplinary
background and love of art and culture led her to the world of Jimmy
Nelson. She has worked as the Head of Design and Art Curator at the
Jimmy Nelson Studio since 2016. There, she is responsible for all
designs, including books, exhibitions, the website and now the stamps.
About the photographer
Jimmy
Nelson (Sevenoaks, 1967) is a British-Dutch artist working from
Amsterdam. Nelson was already active as a photojournalist in war zones
from an early age and regularly undertook expeditions to photograph
remote cultures. In 2010, Nelson launched the Before They Pass Away
project, a 3-year tour of the world during which he photographed 35
indigenous peoples. The accompanying book, which was published in 2013,
was his big breakthrough. In 2018, Nelson published Homage to Humanity,
featuring more than 400 photographs of 30 indigenous peoples.
Established in 2016, the Jimmy Nelson Foundation is a foundation that
promotes the cultural heritage of indigenous peoples. Nelson's most
recent project is 2022’s Between the Sea and the Sky, in which he
portrays 20 Dutch communities in traditional dress.