“Zeeland” is a popular holiday destination in general. People from various nationalities gather here, at the edge of the North Sea. The coastline still shows so-called natural traces within the cultural landscape, meaning that this land was shaped by two forces, nature and humankind.
This is a multifaceted landscape: harsh, raw, fine, empty, and seemingly endless. This region, which Jeroen Hofman visually describes, represents a bridge between the past and the current era. Its history is reflected in the waves breaking on the sand of its vast beaches. The flat strips of open land reaching all the way to the horizon set a very particular scene for the northern light. A characteristic light depicted perfectly by the 17th century Dutch painters. The current face of the same landscape is marked by ingenious solutions of creative and motivated individuals defying the seasons and the tides to demand compensation from the soil for what the sea has always and continues to reclaim.
The constant confrontation of these opposing forces is barely visible in the visual harmony of the panoramas. All tension and divergences seem to fade under the colourful spectacle of grey clouds and wide blue skies. But a strong impression remains, a light saltiness of the tongue, caused by the wind coming from the north.