A bicycle accident ironically had a fruitful outcome for Dutch artist Rineke Djikstra. After graduating from the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam, she dedicated herself to portrait photography, working for fashion and business magazines. In 1990, she experienced a serious accident that resulted in a broken hip, and her recovery involved daily swimming. One day, she decided to photograph herself after a swim, creating Self-portrait, Marnixbad, Amsterdam (1991). This experience led her to realize that taking a picture after a physical or emotional moment allows for a more natural pose—a discovery that transformed her photographic technique.
Dijkstra’s breakthrough resulted in her first body of mature work, the acclaimed Beach Portraits (1992–2002). This series reflects Dijkstra’s quest for an authentic form of portraiture. Adolescent boys and girls from Belgium, Croatia, England, the Netherlands, Poland, the Ukraine, and the United States are depicted standing in their swimsuits, centered and frontally posed against a minimal background of sea, sand, and sky. The subjects appear vulnerable and awkward, yet their expressions are honest and unguarded. In a 2007 interview, Dijkstra explained, “I like it when everything is reduced to its essence. You try to get things to reach a climax. A moment of truth.”
Her photographic subjects look directly at the camera, acutely aware of its presence. Thus, the images are studies in self-presentation with the camera as an interlocutor. Dijkstra’s portraits convey the nature of being captured on film and our relationship with being viewed. She isolates her subjects from their environments, typically placing them against neutral or minimal (usually white) backgrounds, allowing them the freedom to decide how to present themselves. Dijkstra has said about her work: "It is about the interaction between what [the subjects] chose to reveal and what they reveal in spite of themselves. I give them the space to express themselves." She focuses on pose and expression, capturing the interiority or soul of her subjects that lie underneath the surface.
The Beach Portraits also established Dijkstra’s preference for adolescents, particularly girls and young women, as her subjects. Interested in the psychology of her subjects, she focuses on individuals whose personas are not yet fully formed. The mental and physical armor they use to protect themselves and project who they are has not yet been constructed; thus, her portraits present individuals in vulnerable states of transition from childhood to adulthood. Dijkstra’s camera captures moments of identity construction that resonate universally, reminding viewers of the awkwardness of puberty and the realization of becoming an object of attention based on your appearance. In Dijkstra’s words, “You become aware that people can judge you.”
She has also used video to further explore adolescence. In Buzzclub, Liverpool, UK/Mysteryworld, Zaandam, NL (1996–97), Dijkstra juxtaposes the teenage patrons of two distinct nightclubs—a Liverpool disco and a Dutch techno club. She created multichannel videos of the clubgoers dancing alone to music in front of a temporary white studio backdrop, all while the clubs operated. Watching these young adults dance—their spontaneous gestures and movements, along with their choices in dress and hairstyles—provides insight into their personalities, revealing far more than could be communicated through still images.
The video Annemiek (I wanna be with you) (1997) also illustrates the influence of pop music and youth culture via another, albeit less animated, teenage subject. In 1997, Dijkstra planned to make portraits of students at a Dutch school. To help the teenagers feel more relaxed for the session, she asked them to bring their favorite music. In the process, she recorded thirteen-year-old Annemiek lip-syncing to “I Wanna Be With You” by the Backstreet Boys, a hit at the time in Germany and the Netherlands. Dijkstra captured Annemiek against a white background with a single fixed camera, framing only her head and shoulders. As the music begins, Annemiek displays a range of emotions. She appears shy and nervous, smiling bashfully to reveal her braces. She then becomes momentarily lost in the melody and lyrics of the intro before feeling self-conscious again during the instrumental break. As the song plays on, Annemiek exhibits confidence in her knowledge of the song and memorization of the lyrics, yet she also sits motionless, her eyes darting around the room—anywhere but the camera, of which she is keenly aware. Throughout the video, Dijkstra captures moments of both earnestness and embarrassment, reflecting the fluid and uncomfortable nature of teenage identity construction in the context of a four-minute pop song.
—Kanitra Fletcher