In three extensive series, Rob Hornstra addresses the generation gap in Russia, the everyday life of the Dutch middle class, or the struggle of the Icelandic fishing industry against globalisation. To better understand history and tradition, he combines portraits, still lifes and architecture to create a sensitive, contemporary social documentary.
Hornstra belongs to a generation of young photo artists who see themselves as photojournalists, but who are not prepared to sacrifice their strict, personal visual language. The result is a very direct form of social documentation. Hornstra works with a large-format camera, controlled lighting conditions and a personal relationship with the subject; the images, whether still life, portrait or landscape, never seem aggressive, but direct and familiar.

“Communism and Cowgirls” documents the stories of two generations. The older ones, who led a secure life under communism, and the western-oriented younger ones, who value freedom above all. In “The Dutch, a work in progress” he shows pictures of the everyday life of his compatriots. “Roots of the Rúntur” depicts the drastic changes in Icelandic culture and fishing industry due to the pressure of having to adapt to a modern, global system.