Thijs Groot Wassink

Thijs groot Wassink
 (b. 1981)
Lives and works in London

studied at the Utrecht School of Arts in the Netherlands and Central Saint Martins in London, making work described as conceptual documentary photography.

In collaboration with Ruben Lundgren (by the name of WassinkLundgren) he made several books, like the tearbook ‘WassinkLundgren Is Still Searching’ (2006) where the final selection was made after all the books came back from the printer by tearing out the pictures he disliked. The booklet was included in the selection of best books of Het Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam.

Another book, titled ‘Empty Bottles’ (2007), shows Chinese scavengers picking up the bottles the photographers put in front of their cameras. Instead of prints the initial exhibition in Foam Photography Museum (Amsterdam) showed all the pages of the book framed separately. The publication won the prestigious Prix du Livre for Best Contemporary Photobook at the Rencontres d’Arles Photofestival 2007. In 2008 it was included in the exhibition ‘New Typologies’ which Martin Parr curated for the New York Photography Festival.

A new booklet of the series ‘Don’t smile… Save it for later!’ is due in November 2008 and will be published by the Archive of Modern Conflict.


For more information see www.wassinklundgren.com