An air watch tower was a lookout post in the 1950s that was built by the Netherlands Air Force to search in the airspace for Russian planes during the Cold War. The radar equipment of that time was still unsuitable for fast, low-flying aircraft. The 138 watchtowers were part of a huge network.
The towers were always close to the village to enable the observers to reach their vantage point quickly by bicycle. All those years nothing happened. They stoically held on to their posts. They only saw starlings, owls and wild geese.
“Herman van den Boom’s ability to notice details that he then plays against the broader backgrounds of society and culture turn his work into esthetical, intriguing studies in human landscape that should be approached as metaphors questioning the way we are and live as human beings.”
Bruno Chalifour, Editor of Afterimage Magazine and Adjunct Professor MFA, Visual Studies Workshop Woodstock. 2009
see the interview: https://talking-pictures.net.au/2020/01/26/herman-van-den-boom-the-domain-of-domestic-diversity/
Awards Grandprix Photographie Belge du Musée de la Photographie Charleroi 2017
European Architecture photography prize, DAM Deutsches Architektur Museum Frankfurt 2015
Finalist Sony World Photography Awards 2009 and 2014
Prix de la Découverte Bibliothèque National Paris 2012
Honorable mention Roxana Marcoci of the Museum of Modern Art New York Santa Fe Festival 2009
