Jacqueline Hassink was born in Enschede in 1966. She photographs boardroom
tables, car girls at motor shows, chic fitting rooms and Kyoto temples. Early
this year, her series were on display at two Dutch galleries at once. A book
has also recently been published, summarizing her projects. The book was
called 'The Power Book,' while the parallel exhibitions, staged at the Huis
Marseille in Amsterdam and the Dutch Photographic Museum in Rotterdam, were
entitled 'The Power Show'. Two series from her Power Show – 'Haute Couture
Fitting Rooms' and 'Arab Domains,' can be seen at DSM's Heerlen headquarters
until the end of May.
Hassink lives and works in New York. Economic power interests her, especially
its trappings - the ambience which endorses power and actually allows it to be
exercised. A number of her photographic projects reveal what image
corporations assume and how and when it emerges. One project dealing with the
theme was 'Arab Domains' (2005-2006), for which she gained access to the
private and working rooms of 36 high-ranking women in Arabic corporate life.
'Haute Couture Fitting Rooms, Paris' (2004 - not yet concluded) looks at the
highly exclusive fitting rooms of French fashion houses.
The core subject-matter of Jacqueline Hassink's photography is the dichotomy
between public and private, or external and internal. The boundaries between
the public and private spheres are perhaps highlighted most clearly in her
'Arab Domains' series, for which she portrayed Arab businesswomen in the
settings of their conference and dining rooms.
What makes Hassink's method of working distinctive is her meticulous and
systematic approach to taking, describing and displaying her photographs. She
sees the research, interviews and travel which precede a photograph as
integral parts of the finished work. It is not just the result that counts,
but also the idea and the discussion with which she broaches her theme. As a
photographer, she tries to make the rooms and portraits as visible and
palpable as possible, while color and compositions set the mood.
Arab Domains
Jacqueline Hassink's project Arab Domains
(2005-2006) follows on directly from her highly praised Female Power Stations:
Queen Bees (1996-2000). For the Queen Bees project, she photographed fifteen
top female managers at their boardroom tables at work and at their dining
tables at home. Through the good offices of Mrs Al-Kaylani, chair of the
London-based Arab International Women’s Forum (AIWF), she was able to pursue
the project in the Arab world.
But the Arab world is hard for an outsider to comprehend, precisely because it
embraces many countries of disparate culture, having only religion and
language in common - and these to a limited degree. Women's position in
corporate life differs sharply from Western countries such as the United
States and Japan, where Hassink photographed her 'Queen Bees.' The main
difference is that an Arab woman can only start her own business with the
support of all male members of her family. Through the AIWF network,
Jacqueline Hassink was able to approach 50 of the most powerful and successful
businesswomen in the Arab world for her project.
Of these, 36 co-operated with Jacqueline. They represented 18 different
countries - Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya,
Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the
United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
Between 2005 and 2006, Jacqueline Hassink made eight journeys to photograph
these women's boardroom and dining tables. She prepared for the photo sessions
by sending the women an extensive questionnaire (including questions about
their education and career paths). 13 'portraits' have been selected for the
exhibition. They are presented as diptyches, with the boardroom table on the
left and the dining table on the right. Where she was not granted permission
to photograph the dining table at home, the right half of the work consists of
a white surface. Information on nationality, position and company turnover is
an integral part of her work. Thus Jacqueline Hassink endeavors positively to
give a more positive picture of the Arab woman than that laden with
stereotypes in the West.
Haute Couture Fitting Rooms, Paris
The series Haute Couture
Fitting Rooms, Paris (2003-) is a continuation of an earlier project, VIP
Fitting Rooms, USA & Japan (2001-2003). For this series, Jacqueline Hassink
photographed the special fitting rooms in world-famous fashion houses, where
VIPs can try on their clothes. The interior of an ordinary fitting room is
usually nondescript and, at best, functional. VIP fitting rooms give the
client a nice sense of finding themselves in a room created exclusively for
them. The series Haute Couture Fitting Rooms, Paris (2003-) portrays the even
more exclusive and secluded fitting rooms of the Paris haute couture fashion
houses, such as Chanel, Givenchy, Jean-Louis Scherrer, Emanuel Ungaro and
Valentino. Accessible only to the elite, these special chambers are set up to
reflect the image that the fashion house wishes to convey. Moreover, the often
famous ladies who visit these fitting rooms create and perfect their own
images in them. So the design of these rooms represents a precious opportunity
for the 'maison' concerned. In the monumental photographs which Hassink was
able to take in them, the rooms seem dominated by large mirrors, further
blurring the borders between public and private.
Jacqueline Hassink attended Fashion Design at the Art Academy of Rotterdam.
She lives and works in New York. Her work appears in several museum and
business collections.
Source text by Huis Marseille
