The Institute acquired a large collection of black-and-white photographs and negative prints by Ewald Vanvugt (Den Bosch, The Netherlands 1943), a socially oriented writer and photographer. From 1963 Vanvugt published a series of novels, short stories, and poems. Later on he also wrote books and articles on work ethics, slavery, opium traffic, and colonial history. During the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, he traveled through India, the United States of America, South America, Indonesia, and Iran. In 1983 he lived for six months on the Indonesian island of Bali. At the end of the 1980s he traveled through the Soviet Union. In 2003 he toured South Africa and Namibia. He wrote countless travel stories about his adventures on his trips. Vanvugt also took many photographs that illustrated social issues: the called these "the wonderful everyday world of" beggars, pot smokers, drinkers, child labour, lepers, women's labour, transvestites, and a lot more. Some photos were published in several Dutch magazines and papers, such as Vrij Nederland, the VPRO-gids, and de Volkskrant.
Many photos by Vanvugt have been posted to Flickr.
Posted: February 2010
