'Born in a Diamond Mine'

‘Born in a Diamond Mine’ is an ongoing project by photographer Isa de Jong. Her visual research is about her generation; a generation born in a crisis. The interconnected crisis of capitalism, social and political unrest, environmental disasters, and technological transformations is becoming increasingly urgent and tangible.

In short: With this project, Isa wants to create a time capsule about and together with her contemporaries (Gen Z). Therefore, she is currently speaking with peers about their vision of the world and (personal) future. Within the time capsule, Isa wants to archive this generation’s fears and dreams for the future using photography, handwritten notes, and drawings.

Who is Isa de Jong?
Isa de Jong (b. 1998) is a twenty-five-year-old portrait photographer based in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. With her photography, she aims to create time capsules about her generation. Through “collaborative portraits,” she tells personal and in-depth stories together with peers. These stories reveal not only the anxiety, uncertainty, and emotional state of her subjects but also the things they learned together while making the time capsules.

How did this project begin?
Isa regularly talked with her friends about their ideas for the future. They told each other about their fears of today’s society; the capitalist system, social and political injustice, environmental disasters, and technological developments. Some thought it was a hopeless situation others thought very positively about it.

These kinds of conversations became a daily occurrence. Turn on the TV? Then you are flooded with images of natural disasters and the violation of human rights. This has the effect of making us all more aware of the crises we find ourselves in. But this also causes a kind of overarching ecological depression. The lack of stability is something everyone recognizes. Isa became curious about how other contemporaries thought about the future. Therefore, she is speaking with several peers about their dreams for the future. With this project, Isa wants to archive all the strong feelings of this generation. The project has been running for almost a year now and now has a diverse group of participants.

FOTODOK Talent Embassy
FOTODOK has launched a new program: the FOTODOK TALENT EMBASSY! Thanks to the Pictoright Fund, for the next three years FOTODOK can annually support 10 emerging photographers in their development and take them to international photography festivals. For the first edition, 10 creators have been selected.

Isa de Jong is one of them! Five went to Rencontres d’Arles in Arles, France. Together with four other photographers, Isa is going to Encontros da Imagem in Braga, Portugal.
Fujifilm helped her with the preparations and prints.

Encontros da Imagem
Encontros da Imagem returns to Braga this year between September 15 and October 28, with an approach that looks forward, using the past as a guide. For the 33rd edition of Encontros da Imagem, the theme is; Essay for the Future. The festival celebrates classic and contemporary photography and visual arts in general by highlighting emerging and established artists.

Pop-up exhibition
During the photo festival, Isa de Jong will show her project ‘Born in a Diamond Mine’ during a pop-up presentation at Palácio do Raio in Braga. A selection of portraits and handwritten texts will be on display.
Fujifilm Original Photographic Paper is sponsoring the prints for this presentation.

The pop-up will also feature the ongoing processes of the other selected photographers; Ilias Bardaa, Yara Jimmink, Michelle Piergoelam & Remco de Vries.

The works will be on display from Sept. 15 to Sept. 18. Don’t miss it!

https://www.isadejong.com/born-in-a-diamond-mine
http://encontrosdaimagem.com/2022/en/
https://www.fotodok.org