For this series, I set out to handbind a book that functions not only as a presentation of the work, but as a form of artistic research, connecting the subject matter to my personal and spatial relationship with it. Having grown up on the apple orchard Landgoed de Olmenhorst, I have been closely embedded in agricultural heritage, which has shaped both my worldview and my photographic approach. The book translates this embedded perspective into a material form, using a vintage apple crate from the orchard as the cover, allowing the object itself to carry historical and contextual meaning.

The publication extends beyond imagery by incorporating contextual and archival elements. It includes written reflections on the series alongside a historical map of Haarlemmermeer, used as a research tool to position the work within its spatial origins. When the polder was first reclaimed, the land was divided into measured plots, forming the rational grid that still defines the landscape today. By locating each photograph within this system and referencing its original plot designation, the work situates visual observations within a historical and geographic framework. The Olmenhorst, for example, is located in plot “Q”, anchoring the project in both personal memory and mapped territory.

Technical details:

• Handbound open spine

• 34 x 25 cm

• Wooden cover made from a 1960s vintage apple crate

• 64 pages

Protective transportation bag by Mare from Maakplaats
Binding, photography, and design by M G de Clercq.