't Schot is te boord

The fishermen of Scheveningen set out to sail again. Everything is prepared, the boats are scrubbed by the men and the nets are mended by the women. Craftsmen make the barrels for the fish and the mechanics of the ships are put through a final check. Then they leave port and head for a favourable spot for a fine herring catch: the Dogger Bank, a place where more European fishermen try their luck. With a scrupulous eye, Van der Horst captures the fishermen’s activities while preparing the haul. The night scenes of the catch itself provide a wonderful impression of the exhausting exertions of this labour-intensive profession. The visualisation of toiling labourers, one of Van der Horst’s fortes, is again beautifully depicted when the catch is drawn in. Expressively photographed, this ode to fishermen shows what commercial fishing looked like in the fifties.