“What art does — maybe what it does most completely — is tell us, make us feel that what we think we know, we don’t. There are whole worlds around us that we’ve never glimpsed.” Greil Marcus — Tuesday December 22nd — —

The idea is to die young as late as possible. — Ashley Montagu — Tuesday December 22nd — —

I love listening. It is one of the only spaces where you can be still and moved at the same time. — Nayyirah Waheed — Tuesday December 22nd — —

Europeans

During the last couple of years – all the way back to the very beginning of Another Something in 2009 – we have mentioned our good friend, photographer Yamandú Roos and his remarkable photographic journey which took him all over the European continent. After having made a name for himself photographing the (international) hiphop scene in Amsterdam from the end of the last century, the photographer decided to start his artistic quest at the age of 27, trying to capture Europe in all its rich- and ugliness. Always as honest as possible. Ten years later, 15 separate trips under his belt, over 65.000 kilometers driven in his notorious ride ‘The Eagle’, having crossed through 40 different European countries; in October of this year Yamandú finally presented the essence of his extraordinary project to the world when the elegant ‘Europeans’ was published by Red Lebanese. A tremendous conclusion of a tremendous project.  

Yamandú in an interview with Bento on the inspirations for the project:

I wanted to discover my backyard, my continent. Initially, I was fascinated by the European football culture, but at some point I just wanted to be in the project. That’s what usually happens: I have a rough idea in my head and then just start to draw with my camera, following the “trial and error” principle.

The career of Yamandú started with his interest in photography at a very young age, which eventually led to an extraordinary internship at the age of 17 with Mario Marotta at Diario El Pais in Montevideo. The photographer mentions Marotta as an essential cook of curiosity, who taught him about the magic in photography. After returning back to The Netherlands he would deepen his love for the medium in art school and subsequently by just going out there as much as possible shooting the Amsterdam hip hop scene, work in portrait and landscape photography – always maintaining a curiosity for people and his surroundings, wherever that was at a particular moment.

I was looking for something that can not be described. I’ve noticed that it feels very liberating to do things I can’t foresee. That’s why, early on, I made ‘aimlessness’ the ground rule in my method of the project. I wanted to play, and Europe was my playground – camera and car my toys.

For more information and to order the book see here