“Rineke Dijkstra’s figures are simply ‘there’. Whether full or half-length, frontal or in three-quarter view, whether indoors or outdoors, the figures stand their ground, self-evident, calm, simple, almost everyday. There are no histrionics or wild contortions, no dramatic gestures or expressions – the pictures reject all expressiveness, the figures radiate a basic sober calm in spite of all their individual differences. There they stand, facing or slightly turned away from, but always focused on, the camera; their arms hanging down, their eyes directed, boldly or shyly, towards the camera and towards us as viewers. This simplicity of attitude reinforces the simplicity of the visual composition.“
— Urs Stahel “Afterwards” in Rineke Dijkstra Portraits
Photograph: “Kolobrzeg, Poland. July 26, 1992” © Rineke Dijkstra.