To whom does the city belong? In his long-term research project Haven, photographer Sem Langendijk (Amsterdam - 1990) attempts to capture the environment of his youth: a place that no longer exists. Port brings together the former port areas of several major cities in various stages of transition in a documentary project that shows not only a process of urban development, but also of social exclusion.
Langendijk's critique lies not so much in the natural cycle of how cities develop, but in the loss of character and history in the current trend of large-scale redevelopment projects. Having photographed in Amsterdam's ADM, London's Docklands and Red Hook in New York, Langendijk's project reveals how difficult it is to distinguish one place from another in the homogeneous and anonymous architecture of glass, metal and concrete that replaces the original character these places once had.
Sem Langendijk in FOAM
Port, Sem Langendijk's first solo exhibition at FOAM shows the effects of gentrification and the social inequality it generates, at a time when many a metropolitan area is looking for affordable housing and when many city dwellers can no longer afford to live in the neighborhood where they once rooted.
Coffee Table Book
The coffee-table book Haven brings together the environment of several port cities in a documentary fiction and highlights the transformation of disused port areas and the communities that inhabit them.
Specifications
Author: Sem Langendijk
Size: 218 x 298 x 20 mm
Size: 152 pages
Weight: 875 grams
Language: English
Material: Hardback
