The press on BABY:
‘Babies have been captured since the dawn of photography in 1839, and their photographs offer a splendid view of the developments of the medium. Van Erp and Sikking managed to create a presentation that was clearly based on solid scientific research into -principally Western- baby photography. Their selection, however, does not come across as too academic, and at the same time it avoids the pitfall of soft clichés. Which is quite an achievement, as everybody knows how one can see the world in bright pink when babies are involved.’
de Volkskrant, 22 March 2008
‘The curators make clear in a convincing and attractive manner that baby photography includes much more than pink clouds and sugar sweet pics. The valid conclusion of this exhibition is that baby photos are not as innocent as they seem. They tell us something about parents and the society that children will grow up in.’
Trouw, 22 March 2008
‘The exhibition is divided into four themes: Birth, Realism, Madonna and Ideal. The divisions are not chronologically ordered, but devised to have a pleasant stroll, only emphasised by the open atmosphere of the large space, with dividing walls covered in soft pink and white lacework wallpaper and enormous baroque bouquets on columns. Besides extremely sweet ‘roses and moonshine’ advertising photography there is an important share of realistic works. Everything combined offers a beautiful view of the history of the representation of the baby.’
NRC Handelsblad and NRC Next, 25 and 26 March 2008
‘The diversity is enormous and the exhibition seems incredibly complete. (...) The extensive exhibition, however, never becomes tiring. It is extremeley fascinating what we do to children, how we hold them, lovingly or in an alienated manner, like a new sort of accessory. Amazement is followed by emotion.’
Spits, 27 March 2008
‘Virtually all of the images in this exhibition are high quality; the variety is downright incredible and yet there is not one photo too many. (...) The photographs shown derive from collections of an impressive list of lenders. As said, the quality of the images is high, in content as well as technically. The selection of images is well balanced and offers viewers with ambivalent feelings towards babies -including myself- an aesthetic and interesting experience.’
Photoq, 28 March 2008
