Men in their 40's, 50's and 60's....

A quick glance through Mont Purgatoire. from Habbekrats on Vimeo.

...cycling up the steepest mountains. Photographer Adriaan van der Ploeg zooms in on the faces of the nameless peloton of aged men. At first glance his work looks like classical sports-photography, but on a closer look it reveils this aren't cycling idols, but anti-heroes looking for their individual experience. The exposition of Adriaan's photo-project Montpurgatoire opens tomorrow in the Kunsthal Rotterdam.
What a timing: this middle aged men is on the road tomorrow for his own sporting challenge: the Alpe d'Huez: just for fun ;-)

Completely different, but no less interesting photo-expositions:

Wild Wonders of Europe, until August, 30th in the city of the Hague: top-nature photography in an unique 24 hrs a day open outdoor exposition. I jumped by at the opening last week - one of the little priviliges of working in the Dutch residence...

De Ontdekking van Japan - exposition of the Japan-project of the iconic Dutch Photographer Ed van der Elsken in the new Gallery "Fotogalerie in de Gewelven" in the castle of Woerden. Fabulous!

Voordelta: 80 new information panels for 16 million people

Last week I was invited for the official inauguration of the new information panels in the Voordelta. On 80 different locations in the Voordelta brand new information panels now offer the visitor information about the characteristics of this unique natural habitat and about the regulations. The maps look good and the text is clear. They are no substitute for a nautical map (to navigate), but the information panels offer a (far more) detailed overview of the restricted area's and do also explain in detail about the rules in force for every part of this area.

The now finished project with the information panels was one of the final steps in the implementation of the "beheerplan Voordelta". I've written about the impact the new rules have for seakayaking in this area 2 years ago - click here. The Dutch seakayak-associations were consulted and the interests of the seakayakers are really taken in account: compared to the situation some years ago there are restrictions, but the Voordelta still is a very attractive area for seakayaking!

8o new signs: it's a lot. The necessity to illustrates how crowded the Netherlands are: 16 million people living here. In 1995 Guus Meeuwis sang his song about a relaxed and tolerant Dutch society: "15 million people living on a tiny strip of earth". Much has changed since then: we've lost our innocence...