Exhibition of the work of Elmer Spaargaren, UG ‘court photographer’

GRID, Printing Museum Groningen is organizing an exhibition called ‘Elmers fotoboek. Hoe stadsfotograaf Elmer Spaargaren een fotoboek maakte. En jij dat ook kan!’ [Elmer’s photo book. How city photographer Elmer Spaargaren created a photo book. And you can make one too!] The exhibition opens on 18 February. Spaargaren started taking photos in the late 1960s, and has always taken many photos of and for the University of Groningen (UG). He has been the unofficial ‘court photographer’ for the UG for decades. The exhibition was opened by the presentation of the book related to the exhibition, Stad & Universiteit – Academiestad Groningen in beeld [City & University – Images of Groningen, City of Academia], to Rector Magnificus Elmer Sterken of the UG and to Spaargaren’s wife Els de Bruin.

Elmer Spaargaren has been capturing images of the city of Groningen in all its facets for decades. Commissioned by the University, the municipality, local and national media, he has been taking photographs of all sorts of events and people in the city since the late 1960s. He has also created an archive of images taken on his own initiative. These photos reveal the changes the city of Groningen has gone through since the 60s. Spaargaren has now compiled a chronicle from this huge archive, comprising images of a changing city, photo reports of important events and portraits of administrators, academics and well-known and unknown Groningers.

UG History

Spaargaren has a huge number of photos that together form a wonderful overview of the recent history of the UG. The demolition of the Broerkerk opposite the Academy Building, the construction of the University Library on the same site, the transformation of the Zernike Campus, student protests in the 1970s and 80s, student life, information events, the press conference in honour of Ben Feringa’s Nobel Prize – Elmer Spaargaren was there to record them all. The exhibition devotes a lot of space to Spaargaren’s work for and about the University, alongside his images of the city of Groningen.

Visitors’ challenge: My Groningen, City of Academia

Visitors can set to work in the small studio that forms part of the exhibition. Using their own or Spaargaren’s photos, they can create a 30x30 cm collage of their Groningen, City of Academia, via an online editor made available by Fotofabriek. Fotofabriek will create a professional print of the final result for free, which can be entered into the ‘My Groningen, City of Academia’ competition. The prize for the winner is a copy of Spaargaren’s photo book.

The exhibition in the Printing Museum runs from 18 February to 4 June. The Museum is open on Tuesdays to Sundays, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

More information

• GRID Printing Museum Groningen
• The book ‘Stad & Universiteit – Academiestad Groningen in beeld’ by Elmer Spaargaren is on sale in the Museum shop.