BETWEEN TWO LIVES

Jury report Best Dutch Book Designs 2009

The jury of the best designed book saw various projects concerning the history of a family or a house where time had stood still. The book in which Annelou van Griensven immersed herself in the life of Anneke de Bruijn from her native village Asten was appreciated the most. Van Griensven, a Master's student at the Sandberg Institute, discovered a treasure trove of clothes and household items from the last century in De Bruijn's abandoned village shop. She immersed herself in the lifestyle of bygone days by living in seclusion for a fortnight, without modern means of communication such as the internet or mobile phones, and reported on it. She brought Anneke de Bruijn's history and that of the shop back to life, mainly through photographs that show the house, the shop and its contents, including cash books and the pedigree of the keeshond Jasper. Time literally stands still, with a decaying garden and dusty things.

Van Griensven recorded and inventoried everything down to the tights in their packaging. With the clothing she found, she and Hans Mooijer made a series of stylish fashion photographs. In a contemporary setting, these clothes took on a different meaning: what would otherwise have been dismissed as old junk now became beauty and, as 'vintage', evoked a desire. The jury found it exceptional that a Master's student was able to realize this project and produce a publication of it that, like Anneke de Bruijn, testifies to simplicity and silence, but is at the same time full of meaning. (source: Best Dutch Book Designs 2009)

Between two lives was self-published and can be ordered with ISBN: 978908149723 and at our webshop