‘Field of Play’, the genius (sport) photography of Klaas Jan van der Weij featured on Double Dutch magazine!

Written By Benne van der Velde

We fans!

Intro

Klaas Jan van der Weij is a renowned photojournalist with 38 years of experience. He is regarded as one of the best sports photographers, with countless memorable photos of cycling, athletics, and other sports. In 1992, he won first prize in the Sports category at the World Press Photo for his iconic photo of Greg Lemond after Paris-Roubaix, followed by many national and international awards. Van der Weij has photographed the Olympic Games fifteen times, attended the Tour de France thirty times, and captured many other major events. In addition to his photography, he shares his experiences as a storyteller. His work is praised for a quality that transcends the newspaper, with photos that manage to captivate the public.

Click on this image for measurements + price of this truly iconic piece!

Why feature him?

Simple: you should all go out (or stay in) and buy this art magazine. My wife and I are both huge pro cycling enthousiasts, so for us his work ticks every box possible, but even if you’re not into sport photography per se, there’s no denying this is great art. Period. Here are some examples of other inspired moments (you can acquire!):

‘Sur le Parcour’ - 50 x 150 cm - Click on the image for more info!

‘Solo’ - 120 x 80 cm - Click on the image for more info plz!

‘Kite on Sea’ - 150 cm x 100 cm - Click to find out more!

‘Shadow Run’ - 60 x 80 cm - Click!

‘Launch’ - 65 x 120 cm - You know what to do :)

So. Yeah. Want to see more? Right here to keep on drooling! We (editors) have asked mr. van der Weij if he would allow us to include a work of his in one of our upcoming issues, so hopefully more on that later. Want to get in contact with the artist? You can do so by following this link to his contact page. The art magazine itself is filled to the brim with exceptional pieces showing Max Verstappen, Usain Bolt, Tadej Pogacar, Serena & Venus Williams and many, many others. Go treat yourself! Cheers.

PS: did I mention the art magazine comes signed by the artist himself? Well, it sure does :)

Back
Benne van der Velde

After thoroughly enjoying the Dutch slam poetry scene in the early and mid 2000s (with wins in 7 cities and eventually a place in the Nationals of 2012) and performances at the Lowlands-, Uitmarkt- and Parade festivals a/o, Benne successfully made the transition from the stage to paper by signing his first publishing deal in 2005. Since then 4 publishing houses (kleine Uil, Douane, Nadorst and Stanza) released volumes of his poetry. For a 5th (Passage) he co-edited an anthology of satirical/pamphlet poetry with fellow poets Daniel Dee and Alexis de Roode.

As a member of the artist movement ‘Het Ongeboren Idee’ he helped to organize (and was part of/presented) cultural lo-fi festivals, exhibitions, making a movie, monthly poetry stages in his hometown of Vlaardingen (Poezie in De Steeg), Rotterdam (De Poetsclub) and Nijmegen (Late Letteren Live) + a talent show for bands.

In 2002 and 2003 he studied ‘writing for performance’ at the vocational university of the Arts in the city of Utrecht (HKU) and as a result saw 3 of his theater plays make it to a stage. Writer Hiekelien van den Herik and he co-wrote a knight spectacle play complete with real choreographed sword fights, men in heavy plate armor and more great stuff like that. Theater-/enactment group Ridderspoor performed said play in 2004 and 2005 at Het Archeon, during De Kasteeldagen and at an Elfia-fantasy fair. He also gave numerous poetry and rap workshops at schools and other institutions. There were a lot of collabs too, for example voice-over work for a Rock Opera, a monumental art project for which he partnered up with the artist Erwin Adema and thrice alongside the R.J.S.O (The Rotterdam Youth Symphony Orchestra).

Benne has been an editor for several literary magazines (Krakatau, Renaissance and Op Ruwe Planken), at one time he and his wife owned a secondhand bookstore, he’s been the official poet laureate for his hometown of Vlaardingen and released his first and only Dutch rap-EP in 2011. In 2012 he rapped his way into the finals of Art Rocks. An EP with songs in English followed in 2021. A year later he started translating Dutch musical and lyrical classics from Dutch into English, and vice versa. Some of his short sci-fi and fantasy stories have found their way to medium related websites, magazines and anthology’s.

According to the poet himself rewriting his own poetry, lyrics and prose in English somehow feels like the next logical step in his career, a way to open up to the world at large. Which is both exhilarating and terrifying. So far several of these translations have been published in Bebarbar, Hare’s paw, Festivalforpoetry, Punt Volat, The Dewdrop, The Dillydoun Review and Months to Years a/o.

In everyday (some claim real) life he worked as an industrial tank cleaner, in pest control, on a garbage truck, driving a forklift, in a chemical waste facility, on a Ferry and 10 years as a bartender in a cannabis bar. At the time of writing this resume he can be found at home or in the hospital battling throat cancer. He’s been off the Herb since 2008, has a wife, 2 dogs, mild anxiety issues and likes to read every sci-fi and fantasy classic he can find.

www.linkedin.com/in/benne-van-der-velde-8b17a7296

The poet/lyricist and author Rob Chrispijn: ‘Benne writes sentences that stick; clean, dark and intense. This way a poem lasts!’

The poet Philip Hoorne on the website Poetry rapport: ‘There’s a genius hiding in Benne van der Velde, those are the Good Tidings of today. Amen.’

https://www.doubledutchmagazine.com
Next

Going Dutchtube!, nr. 4 (Lucas Hirsch reads ‘mijn hart, mijn lijf, mijn leger’ in Both Dutch and English)