Rineke Dijkstra is a female Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 photographer.

Life and work

Dijkstra concentrates on single portraits, and usually works in series, looking at groups such as adolescents, clubbers, and soldiers. Her subjects are often shown standing, facing the camera, against a minimal background. This compositional style is perhaps most notable in her well-known beach portraits, which generally feature one or more adolescents against a seascape. This style is again seen in her work of women who have just given birth.

One of her works is entitled, Daniel, Adi, Shira, and Keren, Rishonim High School, Herzliya, Israel (1999/2000) and consists of two photographs taken 20 months apart. It evokes questions about the youths' futures and whether they were, are, or will be in uniform.

Her works are held in numerous museum collections, including the Tate

Tate

-Places:*Tate, Georgia, a town in the United States*Tate County, Mississippi, a county in the United States*Táté, the Hungarian name for Totoi village, Sântimbru Commune, Alba County, Romania*Tate, Filipino word for States...

 and the Museum of Modern Art

Museum of Modern Art

The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...

.

Links

• Rineke Dijkstra photos on artnet.com
• What makes a great portrait? Includes the comments of many photographers on photographic portraiture, prominently including Dijkstra's work