Occupation Soldier
2008-2009
© Ad van Denderen
Occupation Soldier is a documentary on the Dutch armed forces. Since the end of the Cold War in 1990 and the expected conclusion of the Uruzgan mission in 2010, almost 90,000 Dutch soldiers have been involved in peacekeeping operations.
As part of their annual photo commission, Document Nederland, the Rijksmuseum and NRC Handelsblad newspaper asked photographer Ad van Denderen to give this history a face
What do we remember of them, what remains in our collective visual memory? Precious little. Peacekeeping does not produce spectacular images. Except when it goes wrong. The fall of Sebrenica is an open wound in Dutch (military) history. Even so, every day young men and women do their often dangerous duty, drawn by adventure, by a need for camaraderie and sometimes also out of idealism and a sense of responsibility. In total, around 40 of them have lost their lives, more than half in Afghanistan.
publication:
Occupation Soldier
Oranje Barracks, Schaarsbergen, The Netherlands, 2008
Registration of the new recruits for the airborne brigade, Oranje Barracks, Schaarsbergen, The Netherlands, 2008
Registration of the new recruits for the airborne brigade, Oranje Barracks, Schaarsbergen, The Netherlands, 2008
Registration of the new recruits for the airborne brigade, Oranje Barracks, Schaarsbergen, The Netherlands, 2008
Unlatching the weapons after target practice, Harskamp, The Netherlands, 2009
Visit by the JSD/LSD to the Dyanet mosque, Harderwijk, The Netherlands, 2009
Search, Baluchi valley, Afghanistan, 2009
Search, Baluchi valley, Afghanistan, 2009
IED (improvised explosive device), Afghanistan, 2009
Registration of the Afghan National Police, Uruzgan, Afghanistan, 2009
Training of the Afghan National Police, Afghanistan, Uruzgan, 2009
The bedroom of Tim Hoogland, who was killed in Afghanistan, Vroomshoop, The Netherlands, 2009
