Dutch Photographers since 1938

Strijbos, Jan Pieter (1891-1983)

• 
  Woudaapje; paartje met jongen (z.j.)
• 
  Vogelfotografie van de bovenste plank, Sloten (N.H.) (1933)

Name variations

 

Family relationships

 

Short description

With some fifty ornithological books and magazine articles from the early twenties until the late fifties, over 2000 newspaper articles, and a voluminous legacy of photographs and motion pictures, Jan P. Strijbos - who called himself a “crazy more... »

With some fifty ornithological books and magazine articles from the early twenties until the late fifties, over 2000 newspaper articles, and a voluminous legacy of photographs and motion pictures, Jan P. Strijbos - who called himself a “crazy birdman” - can be counted as one of the most active bird photographers in The Netherlands.

Jan P. Strijbos grew up in Haarlem where, at home, his interest in nature was encouraged and stimulated. The books of Jac. P. Thijsse and Eli Heimans, as well as the little bird guides of Charles Kirk - one of England’s first bird photographers - also contributed to an early awakening of his interest in flora and fauna and birds in particular.
After studying architecture at the Kunstnijverheidsschool (Applied Art School) in Haarlem (1906-1908), he attended the Academie van Beeldende Kunsten (Academy of Visual Arts) in Den Haag.

Around 1913, he made his first attempts at bird photography, using a heavy 18 x 24 cm glass-plate camera. He later owned a smaller 9x12 cm Ica camera with which he photographed not only birds, but also plants, flowers, mushrooms and landscapes. He often made use of a so-called “blind,” which in his case consisted of an umbrella spanned with a linen cloth. He made transparencies of his most successful shots which, in 1917, were screened for his friends and sympathizers. To keep down the costs of the auditorium rental, he sold picture postcards of bird photos.

In 1923, he and his friend Gerard Traanberg jointly made their first black- and white, 35mm motion picture
Kennemer Vogelland (Kennemer Birdland). This 45-minute film was shown, among others, in Haarlem, The Hague, Amsterdam and Zwolle.

During this period Strijbos opted for a career as publicist, after having worked for several years as an architectural draughtsman at his uncle’s architectural office. From 1924 on, using the pen name De Trekvogel (The Migrating Bird), he was a columnist for the Amsterdam daily De Telegraaf.

His first publications were the collection, Waar de stilte spreekt (Where Silence Speaks), with illustrations by the bird artist Sjoerd Kuperus, and the two-part album Hoe heet die vogel? (What’s that Bird Called?, 1927 and 1930). The first printing of part two also contained some drawings by the author.

At the same time he collaborated with authors such as R.J. de Stoppelaar, Rinke Tolman, A. B. Wigman and others in the collections, De roep der velden (The Call of the Fields, 1927), De tooi der getijden (The Trim of Tides, 1928), and De luister van het land (The Luster of the Land, 1930), all published by A. G. Schoonderbeek of Laren (NH). He affected a jaunty style of writing, laced with anecdotes.

In addition, Strijbos did a lot of writing for magazines such as De Wandelaar, In Weer en Wind, Natuur en Techniek, Waterkampioen, Het Vogeljaar, Limosa en Ardea. In 1935, Strijbos’ nature pictures appeared in the social democratic weekly Wij next to the work of, among others, Cas Oorthuys, Eva Besnyö and Cok de Graaff.

In 1936, Strijbos and nature photographer Kees Hana, together, took care of one-third of the pictures in Van Texel tot Walcheren (From Texel to Walcheren), the first part in the series De schoonheid van ons land (Beauty of our Nation, publisher: Contact). Ten years earlier, Strijbos had already agreed with Hana that he would specialize in bird pictures, and Hana would take care of the all other nature photography.

Much of his other photographic work came about during his travels abroad. During his more than 35 voyages to foreign countries, from the South Pole to Spitsbergen, Africa, New Zealand and the Galapagos islands, he photographed a diversity of fauna.

In 1946-1947, in his capacity as nature researcher, he took part in the first post-war whaling expedition with the Willem Barendsz. During this voyage to the South Arctic seas, he primarily wanted to photograph species of birds, but his pictures also portray the whaling itself and the processing of the animals, as well as the crew and their life onboard.

For his contribution to the process of the newly-emerging nature awareness as well as for his research in the protection of birds, Jan P. Strijbos was honored repeatedly, receiving, among other awards, De gouden lepelaar (The Golden Spoonbill, from the Bird Protection Association) in 1975, and the Heimans & Thijsse prize in 1977. He was also Honorary Member of the Bird Protection Association and the Club of Dutch bird experts. « less...

Place/date of birth

Haarlem 1891-03-14 

Place/date of death

1983-05-10 

Nationality

Nederlands 

Discipline

fotograaf, bioloog, cineast, bouwkundig tekenaar 

Subject

natuur, vogels
 

Product

fotoboeken  

Material

ontwikkelgelatinezilverdruk, diapositief, negatieven 

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Copyright is managed by

 

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Go to this photographer in RKD-Artists 

Latest editing

2010-02-12 (lvh) 

Places/periods of working

Nederland
Shetlandeilanden
IJsland
Spitsbergen (eiland)
Zuid-Afrika
Verenigde Staten van Amerika
Canada
Nieuw-Zeeland
Turkije
Groenland
Galapagos Eilanden (archipel)
Seychellen, de (archipel)
Kenia
 

Publications

 

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Additional remarks