Groningen-based photographer wins prestigious Zilveren Camera prize

The Groningen photographer Kees van de Veen has won the Zilveren Camera prize for a photo series about Piet Franssen from Tegelen, Limburg, who died in intensive care at the Wilhelmina Hospital in Assen due to the Coronavirus. The Silver Camera is the most prestigious Dutch prize for photojournalists, reports the GIC.

Kees van de Veen received permission from the family to follow the Piet Franssen when he became critically ill. He was in the Wilhelmina hospital in Assen in March and April during the first wave of the virus. On April 16, after daughter Monique and son Martin said goodbye in the IC unit, Piet Franssen died aged 73.

“This was what the past year was all about: saying goodbye to loved ones too early”, says the jury report. “Photographer Kees van de Veen has photographed this honestly and intimately. It is a beautiful, comprehensive series of which the images will still be on our retina for years to come. The image of the daughter holding a telephone to her father’s ear with his grandson on the other end of the line, just before her father’s death, made a deep impression on the jury. The grief we know from the weekly figures is made personal here. ”

Van de Veen, who lives in Haren, also won the talent prize of the Canon Silver Camera twelve years ago. This year he receives the highest honour. Van de Veen works as a freelance photographer for various media.

Image: the 1950 award being given to winner Ben van Meerendonk (left) by B. Merk and A.F.C. de Casembroot. Via the Dutch National Archive on Wikimedia. License here.