Vintage postcard Little C, Rotterdam

It looks like it has been there for a hundred years, the Little C neighbourhood on Coolhaven harbour in Rotterdam. And yet the project was completed very recently.

The suggestion of age is of course partly caused by the bath of Photoshop, in which I have artificially aged a recent photograph. Through a combination of filters, textures and other effects, it is as if this "old" postcard had been in a box in a damp attic for decades.

But the architecture of Little C also plays a role. It is inspired by old warehouses, in New York, but also in Rotterdam and surroundings. The result is a surprisingly cozy neighborhood. A beautiful piece of urban densification, and that on a site that has been vacant for years.

In the foreground we see Tuschinski Park, which was developed at the same time as Little C. That name, too, takes us back a century. Abraham Tuschinski was a Pole who, on his way to America, stayed on in Rotterdam and made a name for himself as a cinema operator.

This artwork is offered by Frans Blok

My work can be located in the border regions of photography, painting and computer visuals. With my company 3Develop I do work in commission but I use the same techniques, skills and software to make free work. I am originally an architect and I live in Rotterdam; for that reason the architecture of that city is a major (but not the only) source of inspiration. But also travel to countries like Iceland and Britain, or walks in the Netherlands, provide much material. Seeing and showing quality and beauty, that is what my work is about.

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