Parool Dierenrijk - Best of 2023
Coco for Parool, Christmas edition 2023
Op jacht – Out now!
My Dutch writing debut Op jacht is out now!
Available in local book stores, signed copies available through my webshop.
Published by Atlas/Contact, Op jacht is a detailed, personal non-fiction account of my time following hunters across three continents, as well as a deep dive into the origins of modern hunting culture and the motivations behind this controversial practice. Each chapter is followed by a themed recipe.
Op jacht is een beschouwing op jachtcultuur door Isabella Rozendaal. De moderne mens houdt van dieren. We organiseren protestmarsen als herten en paarden in natuurgebieden verhongeren, en beschouwen onze huisdieren als volwaardige gezinsleden. Toch eten we massaal vlees, en accepteren we het bestaan van de bio-industrie. Schrijver en fotograaf Isabella Rozendaal is sinds jaar en dag gefascineerd door de ambivalente relatie tussen mens en dier. Zou onze omgang met dieren anders zijn als we zelf ons voedsel moesten bejagen en dieren moesten doden? Om dit te onderzoeken volgt Rozendaal sinds 2007 jagers in uiteenlopende culturen. Ze schuwt hierbij geen enkele confrontatie. Met de dood, met het menselijk vermogen tot vernietiging, met de harde realiteit van de natuur en met haar eigen moraal. Ze is niet alleen toeschouwer, maar ook deelnemer: Rozendaal volgde een jachtopleiding, leerde hoe ze moet slachten en hoe ze wild moet bereiden.
Op jacht is een indrukwekkend verslag van een reis die Rozendaal van de Hoeksche Waard naar Duitsland, de Verenigde Staten en de Braziliaanse Amazone dreef. In Op jacht confronteert ze ons in woord en beeld met onze dubbelhartige relatie met dieren.
ISABELLA HUNTS AT FOTOMUSEUM DEN HAAG
Isabella Hunts is a comprehensive, multimedia exhibition showing a decade of work. Photographic prints, visual documentation of research and a short film are set in an immersive, print-covered space designed by Michiel Schuurman.
On view at Fotomuseum Den Haag / February 9 - May 12, 2019.
ANIMALIA AMSTERDAM PHOTO BOOK / OUT NOW
Order Animalia Amsterdam
Animalia Amsterdam Radio Interview
Animalia Amsterdam radio interview by Patricia Nagelkerke on NH Lunchroom.
Animalia Amsterdam
It's official! This coming year, I will be Amsterdam's dedicated animal photographer.
The Amsterdam City Archive has commissioned me to continue my most recent project, Animalia Amsterdam, in their name. For one full year, my efforts will be dedicated to photographing companion animals and their caretakers from all walks of life.
It's a pleasure to reconnect with my hometown and the creatures that live here, and I take great pride in seeing this project become part of our local history. The animals that live alongside people in this city have been grossly underrepresented in our annals, and I will be working hard to change that.
If you have a pet and would like to participate in this project, please click here for more info.
T-REX TRIX / NATURALIS
Naturalis, Natural History Museum in Leiden, commissioned me to document the preparation of the Tyrannosaurus Rex they recently acquired for the exhibition's catalog. Meet Trix: an impressive old female who, from the looks of her bones, lived a turbulent life. She is one of the three most complete T. Rexes ever found, and the first one to be owned outside the United States.
In Hill City, South Dakota, I documented the preparation of her massive skeleton, and with Marijke Besselink, the book's writer, I drove out to the middle of nowhere, Montana, to see where she was found. Along the way, we met and talked with all the people involved in getting her out of the ground—it was an incredible privilege to see this operation up close.
TRIX will be on display at Naturalis natural history museum in Leiden from September 10.
This slideshow shows the preparation of the bones at the Black Hill geological institute in Hill City, South Dakota. Spending time with the paleontologists, I learned so much, and dinosaur bones forever earned a place in my heart. As it turns out, finding dino bones is a lot less straightforward than I thought: through erosion, bones come to the surface all the time. All of a sudden, skeletons kept in perfect condition for millions of years are once again exposed to the elements. Getting wet, freezing, and thawing, cause fragile bones to shatter. One day, you might walk on the land and find nothing at all. The next, you might find one of the biggest T. Rexes ever found. Get there too late, and she's gone. Hunting dinos is a slow but true thrill ride.
Trix is preserved with care: after taking samples for research, her bones are cleaned, saturated with protective glue and mounted for display. Replicas are made to fill in the gaps. 3D scans are made of each bone to ensure that everyone in the world can have access to the information: schools across the world could make 3D-printed replicas, and scientists everywhere can do further research.
The slideshow below shows our travels to Jordan, Montana, and further inland to the remote Black Angus ranch where TRIX was found. Never did I feel so far removed from the rest of the world, not even in the depths of the Amazon. Walking around the site, it was surreal to imagine the dinosaurs that roamed here in great numbers 66 million years ago. Within minutes, we stumbled upon bone fragments. Blaine Lunstad, who found TRIX, can be seen digging: he couldn't go five minutes without getting down in the dirt, and quickly came up with a shard of a Triceratops neck frill. He has a love/hate relationship with the cows when it comes to fossil hunting: cows love to chew on the bones, so their trails can lead you to great sites, but they're just as likely to trample them. Also featured are lucky land owner Lige Murray, and local bone hunter Clayton Phipps, also known as the Dino Cowboy.
VOLKSKRANT MAGAZINE
Today in Volkskrant Magazine, these and many more images from my recent trip to the Amazon. Over the next few days, the stories behind these photos will be published here. I'll tell the incredible story of Joana, who exchanged a life in the city for the jungle, give you a blow-by-blow of a proper jungle diet, take you along on a mind-bending drug trip, and explain how enjoying the hospitality of kind-hearted strangers changed my perspective on life. Stay tuned!
Interview
A nice interview by Anna Lillioja about photography, awkwardness, and almond milk.
MRS. ROSEHIP
Campaign image for Mrs. Rosehip custom leather bags.
Ben Moser for De Correspondent
Marlijn Weerdenburg for Volkskrant Magazine
VRIJ NEDERLAND SUMMER SPECIAL
For Vrij Nederland's summer issue we shot a series about the recent efforts that are made to save the black-tailed godwit, or grutto. This famous Dutch meadow bird's numbers have been dwindling at an alarming rate due to the destruction of their habitat. Scientists, government, businesses, and farmers are coming together to reverse the process, but the task ahead is daunting at best.
EXHIBITION: EN MASSE
Work from my book En Masse: How Holland Holidays is currently on view at filmfestival Pluk de Nacht in Utrecht.
Martine Bijl for Volkskrant Magazine
HAPPY NATIONAL DOG DAY!
Isabella Hunts Goes Amazon
In all my life as a half-Brazilian, I have never visited the jungle proper. But now, I have the unique opportunity to live with a tribe of natives for three weeks in the Amazonian state Acre, near the Peruvian border, where I will spend day-to-day life with them, and go on as many hunts as I can to create the next chapter of my project Isabella Hunts.
After five flights and a 7 to 20-hour boat ride—depending on water levels—and without electricity or running water, I'll be as offline as can be, so no new posts til I come out the other end! So what does one pack for such an adventure? Only the bare necessities of course. Plus plenty of nail polish. Haux!
Jeugd van Tegenwoordig
For the occasion of the tenth anniversary of Dutch hip-hop group De Jeugd van Tegenwoordig, they published a book, which features photos I took of them while I followed them on the road.
Quote Magazine
Quote sent me out to cover the gatherings of young supporters of the arts, at the classical ballet and a private viewing of the Rembrandt exhibit at the Rijksmuseum.
