Bernard Blasband
PX3 Prix de la Photographie Paris 2025 – State of the World
Curatorial Selection – The Israel-Gaza war in the Netherlands in four “photo diptychs”: #ceasefirenow vs #bringthemhomenow
How has your personal background or life experiences influenced the global issues and stories you choose to capture through your photography?
I am a son of Jewish Holocaust survivors. Both my parents survived the Second World War as children. My mother had to go into hiding in with her parents. The parents, brothers and sisters of my grandparents were all taken to extermination camps like Auschwitz and Sobibor and murdered upon arrival. My fathers family was more lucky. They were able to flee Europe miraculously in the middle of the war. Being a child of Holocaust survivors strongly colored my own upbringing and how I look at life.
Your work highlights some of the most crucial and pressing issues in today’s world. How do you balance technical precision with the raw emotion needed to create a powerful, thought-provoking image?
I look for the people. I want to capture their story. Present-day technology allows for such flexibility that it requires limited attention.
What was the story you aimed to tell, and did any unexpected moments shape the final result?
I photographed protests in the Netherlands in relation to Israel-Gaza war. Both sides tell a story about war and pain. The pro-Gaza/#ceasefire now protesters called for an end of the war in Gaza. The pro-Israel/#bringthemhomenow called for the return of all Israeli hostages taken from Israel during the October 7th, 2023 attack. What struck me during photographing the protests from both sides is the fact that despite the difference in size, the protests show similar scenes. I hope that by showing similarities, a mutual understanding of each other’s pain can be created. This understanding can help reduce the polarization in Dutch society, which leads to painful hate.
Photojournalism often demands vulnerability – from both subject and photographer. How do you approach capturing truth while maintaining empathy and respect?
Key is to not only make the photo but also listen to the stories of the people. While photographing the Israel-Gaza war protests in the Netherlands, I have talked to both sides: Gazan refugees who lost their homes in the current fighting, and Israeli family-members of victims of the October 7th, 2023 attacks. What struck me that those directly impacted by the war, don’t want the fighting. Furthermore, there is also the fact that each side has its own undeniable truth. And so when making a final selection of photos for the series one should realize that each side has its truth, and that that truth should be respected.
What motivates you to continue capturing the world through your lens, and where do you hope to take your work in the future?
As a child of Holocaust survivors I want to continue to show the world the impact of war, not necessarily by photographing directly the horrors, but by showing the aftermath and its effects. I want to show that the hate, that causes wars, still exists in societies, and I want to show the pain this hate causes. I hope that my photos can help to stop the polarization and hate, so that our societies will be livable for all.