Occupation Soldier
Since the end of the Cold War in 1990 and the planned end of the Uruzgan mission in 2010, almost 90,000 Dutch soldiers have participated in peacekeeping operations. What do we remember about them, what remains in our collective memory? Very little. Peacekeeping does not produce spectacular images. Except when it goes wrong. The fall of Srebrenica is an open wound in Dutch (military) history, yet every day young men and women do their duty, often in a dangerous manner. Attracted by adventure, by the need for camaraderie and sometimes also by idealism and a sense of responsibility. In total, about forty of them have lost their lives, more than half of them in Afghanistan.
As part of their annual photo commission, Document Nederland, the Rijksmuseum and the newspaper NRC Handelsblad asked photographer Ad Van Denderen to put a face to this story. Van Denderen followed the recruits during their training in the Netherlands and during their missions in Chad and Uruzgan: they worked hard, operated prudently and led an often unglamorous existence.
Publisher : NRC Boeken / Paradox
Release Date: January 2009
ISBN : 978-9079985111
Book Size : 19 x 25 cm
Language : Dutch
173 pages
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