In the publication Een andere schoonheid (A Different Kind of Beauty) I report on my search for Eva Besnyö’s passport photos. Through conversations with her daughter, the daughter of a master forger, a young collector of identity cards, archivists and photo detective Hans Aarsman, a world unfolds in which photography is not about beauty, but about function, risk and survival. At the same time a second line runs through the book: the story of my grandmother, who died while I was writing it.

The images in the book are cyanotypes. I placed objects on paper that I had made light-sensitive. Where the light reached the paper, it turned blue. Where objects blocked the light, the paper stayed white. In a cyanotype, objects get a more equal place. They leave a trace, like a footprint in the sand. In this way I look for a different kind of beauty in photography, beyond the hierarchy of distance, focus and framing.

The book was launched on 2 May 2026 at the Torpedotheater in Amsterdam. On 2 June 2026 there was an evening at SPUI25, with a presentation by me, Hans Aarsman on useful photography and a panel discussion moderated by Revka Bijl.

Text and cyanotypes: Roosje Verschoor
Editing: Hans Aarsman
Design: Nina van Tuikwerd
Lithography: Alex Feenstra
Printing: Drukkerij RaddraaierSSP, in three colours
Binding: Binderij J. Voetelink & Zoon
Edition: 250
ISBN 978-90-83089-62-1
The book is in Dutch.