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The world of an

Photographer Cor Jaring (Amsterdam, 1938) was not exactly born in the port, but was certainly bred there. In 1956, Cor Jaring was called up for military duty “to do his bit”. In this environment he became acquain-ted with photography. The moment Jaring returned to the civil world, his father recog-nized something of his son’s dawning love for the camera. This is why he was presented with a Leica camera. In 1957, Cor started working as a fire watchman in the port. He tells the story of how he led the ‘life of Riley’, walking about whilst photographing dockers, vessels and activities in the port. And that is exactly what he does today.

This is not surprising when you know he is from a family of seafarers. “Yet, I wanted to become an artist”, he tells Navigator NL. “But I was not particularly successful as a painter. My photographs were not particularly artistic at the start, but they gradually became more appreciated because of the way I developed the films. It was in the style of how pictures were taken and developed in the fifties.

I was a trainee with (the then famous Amsterdam-based photographer) Carel Blazer, and became successful. I was lucky over the years. It is a matter of being true to yourself and your work. The work has been simplicity all along, no play acting.”

“I photograph what I like and I am bold enough to approach people straightaway. Mohammed El Fayed (owner of Harrod’s), John Inman (Mr Humphreys from the tv series ‘Are You Being Served’) and the comedian Benny Hill were kind enough to sit for me. But my heart is where ports are. The moment I am in a foreign country, I go to a port to be part of the mixture of odd people; seafarers, dockers and their bosses alike.”

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port photographer

Amsterdam