This is my Country is a documentary photo project in which Sjaak Verboom explores the themes of identity and belonging. Every photograph portrays two women, one of Dutch descent and the other of immigrant descent, surrounded by a typically Dutch landscape. Both women have a Dutch passport and are dressed in their own traditional clothing. Clothing does not only cover our nakedness but also reveals our identity. The women express their identity, heritage, and belonging through clothing. By posing alongside someone with a different dress, they break out of the exclusiveness of their group identity.
We all are, as we stand next to each other, human. Our clothing shows where we come from, but our pose highlights something much more important: we are human. Wife. Mother. We are Dutch. The photographs are complemented with interviews about family, relationships, citizenship and religion.

About

Sjaak Verboom (1957, the Netherlands) is a professional photographer specializing in portrait and documentary photography for newspapers and magazines. He also works on long-term documentary projects. In his photography, he focuses on story-telling and addresses philosophical questions, such as what is a human being in relation to his or her history, religion and geographical roots; what drives human beings; and what is a good society? These questions are at the core of his projects: 'Dit is mijn Land' ("This is my Country"),A State of Existence, 'Heilige Plaatsen' ("Sacred Places"), 'Ongezien' ("Unseen") and other photo series. His methodology is slow photography and that is why he sometimes works on projects for years.