Dear supporters of the first hour,

I hope you are enjoying this sunny autumn day. Please let me give you an update on some new things that happened / are happening.

/ Play @ MIMIK, Deventer
Currently, several works from Play - images and texts - are on display at MIMIK, the beautiful new theatre/cinema in Deventer. The exposition will last until 15 November.

/ Photobook award nomination
Maybe the biggest news is that Play got nominated for the 2021 Paris Photo-Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards in the First Photobook Category (!!). I sent the book to the New York jury very last-minute and had already (sort of) forgotten about it, when I suddenly received an email telling me about the nomination. I must have read the email at least a dozen times, but still can't believe it. I'm soooo excited!!! It just feels so good receive a sign of appreciation and recognition like this. Together with the other nominated books, Play will be showcased in the 2021 PhotoBook Awards traveling exhibition that will kick off at the Paris Photo fair in November. I will be there too!

https://aperture.org/editorial/announcing-the-2021-photobook-awards-shortlist/
https://www.parisphoto.com/en-gb/program/photobook-awards-shortlist.html.

/ Fotodok Book Club @ Tivoli, Utrecht
Following the nomination news, Fotodok from Utrecht thought it would be nice to squeeze me in at their Book Club edition earlier this month in Tivoli. Very last minute, but of course I was flexible and happy to join. ;) Rob Hornstra (a documentary photographer) and Sterre Sprengers (from De Correspondent) interviewed me about Play. The other guests were Mafalda Rakoš, Raimond Wouda & Bertien van Manen. I had a blast!

/ new book
Last thing I want to share is that I'm making another book! Don't worry, I'm not running another crowdfunding campaign. It will be a small and simple book this time. For my graduation at Fotoschool Statief we had to make a final series and I just felt like pouring mine into a book again.

Before I made Play, there were lots of ideas for my graduation project. Then Play + a pandemic came in between and I somehow lost my inspiration. Suddenly, I had no idea what to make, where to start. Then I remembered: just begin, it always turns into something. So I took my camera and started photographing things on the street in my neighborhood. Similarly, I started taking things I found there or in my house to my studio to photograph. What started as a random bunch photos slowly transformed into a new series I felt really happy about. One about the insight that I don't need to reach in order to create. Everything is already there, right in front of me. All I have to do is see it. 👁 It's about the beauty in the small, the simple, the everyday. The title of the book is 'alles is er al' / 'everything is already there' (the book will be in Dutch and English).

I am writing this just before heading to Marjolein Heije, who is helping me again with the book design. I wrote some words, Tom Ruben (also from Team Play) also wrote some words. Pascal Libertas from Utrecht will be printing the book. The book will have around 40 pages, under a4 in size, 100 copies will be made. Should anyone be interested in it, it will be available soon in my webshop.

That's it for now. Let me know if you like receiving these updates, if I should make them shorter, any feedback is good!
All the best,
Eva x

Hi everyone,

I hope you are having a good Summer. I am writing this from café De Pomp in Utrecht, where I basically ran my crowdfunding campaign last year. It's been a while since I posted here, but so many things happened since the last time. Here is an update of some of these things!

1/ Play in the media

Last month, there was a 6-page-long feature in FD Persoonlijk (the weekly magazine of our national financial newspaper) and this month, the book is featured in both LINDA. and LFK magazine. In LFK, some images from Play have also been used to illustrate an article about creation - from this you can tell LFK understood the essence of Play, so I'm especially happy with this publication!

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2/ Play exhibited

Other news is that several works from Play are currently being exhibited at Puha Shop at the Voorstraat in Utrecht until mid August. Puha sells the works, as well as sets of postcards and of course the book. It's my first solo exhibition! Since to me, the power of Play aren't the photos but the total concept, I wanted the exhibition to include not just photos. That is why some quotes from the book, printed on colors from the book, have also been included in the selection of works. Come and take a look if you're in the neighborhood!

Starting mid September, Play will be exhibited for 8 weeks at MIMIK, the beautiful new film, theater & café building in Deventer.

Marjolein (the designer of Play) and I are also planning on designing a larger exposition concept, with the idea of splashing our book into an exhibition space. We hope to be pitching it to a museum, but otherwise we'll find a place ourselves to make our dream exposition happen (who said I stopped dreaming after realizing the book?? ;-)).

Ok that's it for now. Thanks so much everyone, again, for supporting me on this trip.

Have a nice Summer!!

xx Eva

Dear everyone,

I hope you are all doing well, given the lockdown and everything. Personally I find it challenging to stay positive sometimes. I want to move forward (!!!!!!) but feel a little stuck from time to time. Of course there are always little steps to take, so that is my goal: to always keep moving, even if it's at snail's pace. ;)

Anyhow. It's been a while since I posted an update here. Some of you told me you'd like to stay informed of what happens with Play, so I thought I'd share a bit about the latest developments.

Play is currently sold at De Utrechtse Boekenbar, The Village Coffee & Music (Utrecht) + in my webshop. More shops will follow depending on the course of the shopping restrictions. I knew getting shops to sell my book might be a bit of a challenge because of self-publishing + the fact that I'm not a well-known photographer (yet! :)). Adding the lockdown to that hasn't helped, but I'm sure things will get better with time.

In the meantime, Play got featured in the media, which is so nice! Below are some of the published articles.

Next project: my end series for Fotoschool Statief, so that I can finally graduate. I have a lot of ideas. The first step is to just begin. We all know by now that beginning always leads to something. So let's get going!

x Eva

Hi everyone,

Just a quick update to inform you that all books have been sent now! (Except for a few, the people concerned know about it.) Books have even arrived in the UK, France, so if you haven't received yours yet or won't later this week, please send me a message, so I can check the status of your package. I can't trace postcards and prints that were sent, but of course if you haven't received yours by now, also please let me know.

Again: everyone thank you so so much for your support. The fact that the book is here is partly thanks to you.

x Eva

Hi everyone,

Just a quick update on the shipping of the books:
The shipping materials for the books only arrived yesterday. In addition to that, PostNL has put the shipping of parcels (in bulk) on hold until 11 January. So unfortunately the books will be sent to you with some further delay.

The good news is that I already delivered quite some book to you in Utrecht myself! I will try to personally deliver some more books, perhaps also in Amsterdam. Also, I will try to see if I can drop off little bits of books at various PostNL drop-off stations. But for expectation management: please keep in mind that you might receive your book order only in 2021. Of course it will be worth the wait. ;-)

Merry Christmas to you all!

x Eva

Yesterday, I visited Stronkhorst Boekbinders in Groningen, the binder of my book. After making some last decisions (bye cold glue, hello hot glue!), the book got glued, bound, cut and then.... all of a sudden, it was ready! It's sooo beautiful and I'm so so happy and excited.

I'm sorry the book took a little longer to get ready, but I'm happy we took the extra time to finetune. Now, it's exactly how it should be.

The book will be delivered later today, together with the postcards that some of you ordered. I already received the photo prints from Fotolab Kiekie that are also really nice. I will send everything to you as soon as possible and hope things will arrive at your place before Christmas (fingers crossed!). After everything has been sent I will contact the donors who opted for a shoot.

Last thing: my webshop is almost going live (in case anyone wants to post-order ;)). Also, to start with, the book will be sold by De Utrechtse Boekenbar, starting this weekend. They are closed, but you can place orders (see https://www.deutrechtseboekenbar.nl/boeken/) and if you live in Utrecht, they deliver to you for free.

Take care!

x Eva

Hi everyone,

I wanted to let you know that the book will be ready a little bit later than expected. Some photos had to be reprinted, which has caused some delay.

The book is now expected to be ready end of next week. If PostNL is on our side (and if you live in the Netherlands), you can still expect to receive the book before Christmas. 🥳

Everyone who has opted for a photo print: last week I sent you an email with some images to choose from. If you haven't seen my email or replied to it yet, could you do so you sometime this week? Thanks a lot.

All the best,
Eva x

Just a quick update to let you know that the printing has begun!

Yesterday, half of the book got printed. Today I will go back to Lenoirschuring - this time with Daan and the kids - when they will be printing the rest of the book.

It gave me such a big feeling of JOY to see my vision/idea appear on paper. It's real now. And it's so much prettier than from a computer screen!

Tomorrow, when everything (except for the cover, which is done later) is printed, the book will go to the binder (Stronkhorst Bookbinders in Groningen, apparently the only company in NL that does cold glue binding). If everything goes right, I will have the book in my hands on 11 December...

All the best!
Eva x

A lot has happened since my last update. The design of the book is almost final now. The cover is still a work in progress, but we're almost there and it is going to be so cool. Lenoirschuring (the printing house) has made several proofs, which already looked very promising. Some important decisions were made about the book binding etc. And also: all the texts have been finalized now. So much progress!

I am so thankful for all the work people are doing and have done for the book. Marjolein's design, the writings of Hannah, Tom & Annika - it's all so beautiful. I already can't believe my eyes sometimes when looking at the book design on my computer - imagine my excitement when I'll finally have the book printed in my hands! :-)

Given the current circumstances, a 'normal' launch event will be a little difficult to organize. I am thinking of alternative ways to celebrate the publication of the book. I'll keep you posted on this.

In the meantime: a little more patience for everyone who ordered a book, postcards and/or a photo print - it will arrive in your mailboxes in December (most likely in the week of 14 December)! For those of you who opted for a still life shoot: I will contact you around the same time to make a plan.

Talk to you later!

x Eva

Dear people,

Here is a short update again on where I'm currently at with the book.

The design process is in full swing now and the last poems for the book have been finalized. As it looks like now, the book will contain the words of three different writers, every piece beautiful and fitting in its own way. I'm so excited, because I can see my vision for this book slowly unfold in Marjolein's designs. There are still decisions to be made, but ideas are taking shape more and more and that is a really nice thing to experience.

This week the printing process is officially starting. Which means that Marjolein and I will be visiting Lenoirschuring again, to select and decide on paper and binding technique (I talked about this before, but really, time is needed for these kind of decisions!).

Below are some preliminary spread designs (including the final part of Hannah Aukes' essay on play - a sneak peek :)).

I hope you are all doing well in this uncertain time.
Talk to you later and take care!

x Eva

Wow.

I almost can't believe the success of this crowdfunding campaign!
For those of you who haven't seen it yet: with the campaign ending yesterday, a total amount of € 10.487,- has been collected (104% of the target amount!).

The making of a book is not always an easy process. There is the part of imagining, dreaming, visualizing, which I love. There is also the part of execution, of doing, putting your ideas - and with that, yourself - out there, asking for help. I like this part too, but it surely comes with challenges. Will other people like my idea? Will I be able to collect all this money? What if I don't? And then, of course, there are all the decisions to be taken in the creative process that is still going on (what paper to use? Where to put which text? Should we put this photo in or leave it out? Etc. etc.).

Still, since the start of this process I have felt trust (ahhh such a nice feeling to have!). Don't ask me why, but ever since this concept of play got planted in my head, I just knew I had to make this book. And so I started. And step by step, with trial and error, I am getting closer and closer to my end goal. And so this book is becoming more and more real.

The fact that, along the way, 204 (!) people decided to support me in this project, means way more than just financial help. Because of your support, I feel encouraged to continue trusting my instincts (this whole project started with this, a tingle inside that told me to go for it) + working on personal art projects, like this one.

So. Thank you all so much!! 🙏🙏🙏

For those who wonder what will happen next: the last texts for the book are being finalized + Marjolein Heije is currently working on the book design. In the meantime, I'm also talking to the printing house, discussing the different possibilities of paper, binding techniques, etc. etc. (so many options!!!). If everything goes well, the book can be expected in December. Around that time (or perhaps earlier), people opting for postcards/photo prints/still life shoots can also expect to hear from me. I will post regular updates - not too many, don't worry - here (if you don't like to be notified of this by email, you can of course opt out for this).

To be continued!

xx Eva

After today, the crowdfunding campaign will be over. I want to let you know that, to me, this campaign is already a huge success. I mean, right now 195 people are supporting my project and € 9.672 has been raised!!! I am thankful for this and will spend every euro carefully, so that everyone who ordered the book will eventually receive a beautiful work of art, hopefully to be cherished and picked up for inspiration again and again.

Of course I still hope to raise the remaining 4% as well. Let's see what today will bring. :)

x Eva

Hi everyone!

Since there are some non-Dutch speaking people who made a donation, I'll be posting updates in English.

So. Where do I stand? First of all, thank you all so much - again - for supporting my project. I appreciate that A LOT. Almost 60% has been reached now and I'm choosing to stay confident (yes, that is a choice!) that the remaining 40% will be reached as well. :)

Last week Marjolein (the designer) and I visited printing house Lenoirschuring (now: Zwaan Lenoir) in Wormerveer for the first time. We got a tour of the building (including the printing hall) and talked about the various printing and binding options. We were both impressed by their knowledge and dedication to deliver the most beautiful books (ok some name dropping: did you know that Rijksmuseum has its books printed there as well? So does Irma Boom...). Anyhow, one thing is for sure: this book is going to be beautiful.

In the meantime, Marjolein is now working on the book design and the last writings for the book are being finalized. There are still a lot of decisions to be made, but the book is getting real more and more now. Sometimes I can't believe I'm doing this. The book is happening - also thanks to you!

xx Eva