Every photo essay requires certain shots. One of those is the scene/location shot. What better for Kingsday in Amsterdam then the canals with flag and boats full of people celebrating. The full essay is here.

Protester who is convinced in the end he will be victorious.

A true royalist fan showing his admiration for the new king.

People cannot wait to get to sell their stuff in the Vondelpark. 'Burgerlijke ongehoorzaamheid' i.e. citizens not accepting the finer points of the law...

Kingsday frenzy starting up on Dam Square....

Amsterdam is getting ready for Kingsday. The full set is here

An interesting afternoon at Mediamatic with artist Tinkebell reviewing her save the world projects (her nude calender did not sell well at all...) and the wild man of Dutch cinema Cyrus Frisch talking about his films. Intense happening. The full set can be found here.

Flashmob celebrating the opening of the Rijksmuseum with Wim Pijbes overlooking the crowds.

Last week I had the unique opportunity to visit Fukushima with the volunteers of Safecast, an organisation that measures radiation. For the first time in two years the area has been given a better access, allowing us to come deeper into the wasteland it has become. The radiation in the accessible area is though still much much higher as in Tokyo.

It is unbelievable how the Tsunami has created havoc and as a side effect caused the nuclear disaster as collateral damage that came with it. The area is mostly depopulated with complete empty villages and is being cleaned by liquidators. All over you see big ‘garbage bags’ full of contaminated material, obviously not even the tip of the iceberg... It will take many many years before everything will be cleaned, if ever. A second Chernobyl has been created. An area where only old people are still willing to live combined with a standstill of economic activity.

My pictures can be found here.