De tijd geest

I couple these masters of identity with two portraits of generations, which are set in the so-called counterculture. In THE SPIRIT OF TIME, the spectator will hopefully recognise a predecessor of CRY in the succession of blending faces around the same pair of eyes and appreciate the slight roughness of the execution, which is typical of a prototype. 1968 was a year of upheaval. The camera captures the 'state of mind' of this period of change during which youth, discovering the struggle against social and political violence, gradually redirected this struggle inwards, in order to explore personal perceptions and emotions outside the rigid, utilitarian frameworks provided by society: the hippie movement, the anti-Vietnam-war movement, and so forth. Johan van der Keuken