Rineke Dijkstra

Beach Portraits

+ Marian Goodman Gallery . saatchi gallery

Rineke Dijkstra has gained international acclaim for her portraits, mostly of adolescents, teenagers, and young adults, photographed in various settings around Europe and the United States. In 1992, she began a long-term project called Beaches. Caught in their rites of passage from puberty to adulthood, young girls and boys are photographed full figure in bathing costumes, standing against the sea. The resemblance between teenagers from different countries -the Netherlands, Poland, England, the Ukraine, Croatia, Belgium, and the USA- creates a catalogue of similar types and raises questions about identity and nationality, without necessarily trying to answer them. Each portrait depicts what is both universal and personal within individual experience.
Marian Goodman Gallery