Photographs from When I Open My Eyes by Wout Berger. © Wout Berger. Courtesy ZIC ZERP GALERIE

In the morning, when I open my eyes, the first thing I look at is the IJsselmeer and the light: always the same, always different.

When I Open My Eyes by Wout Berger, is currently on view at Museum De Pont in Tilburg until January 6, 2013. From January 10 until February 3, 2013 the series will be on view at Gallery ZIC ZERP in Rotterdam. Wout Berger took numerous pictures of the IJsselmeer all from exactly the same view point. The series consists of 60 pictures.

I recently saw three of them at an exhibition at Loods 6, but I believe the magic only happens when they are exhibited as a series, just  like for example Clouds by Sol LeWitt. I haven’t seen the works on view at Museum De Pont yet, but I assume they show the large format photographs (120 x 150 cm) and I think visually it will be absolutely stunning.

The book When I open My Eyes is published by Fotohof.

If you are interested in photography and photo books next weekend (December 14-16, 2012) is a great time to pay Amsterdam a visit as there are a lot of events and exhibitions.

View Weekend Break in Amsterdam in a larger map

For example:

• Take the Friday off and arrive in Amsterdam on Thursday late afternoon.
• Stay in the Eastern Docklands in Amsterdam at the Lloyd Hotel (Oostelijke Handelskade 34). A nice hotel restored and furnished by Dutch architects and designers including MVRDV and Atelier van Lieshout.
• As you arrived early you can join the Thursday Dinner at Foam (Keizersgracht 609), chat with like minded people and visit the blockbuster exhibition Diane Arbus.
• Friday morning start with a visit to the Stedelijk Museum (Museumplein 10). After being closed for 8 years the museum opened again last September. There is also photography including two great series by Rineke Dijkstra. The bookshop is also worth a visit.
• After the Stedelijk go to the Pop-up Persmuseum (Gabriël Metsustraat 2-6) nearby to visit the Censorship Daily exhibition, a project by Jan Dirk van der Burg. The book accompanying the exhibition was selected as one of Photo Eye’s best books of 2012 by Erik Kessels and Rémi Faucheux.
• Then go to the Fotoboekdagen (Photo Book Days) event organized by Athenaeum Bookstore and Van Zoetendaal Publishers at Van Zoetendaal Gallery (Oude Schans 67f). There will be interviews and organizers Van Zoetendaal and Petra Noordkamp selected 50 recently published remarkable photo books than you can flip through and buy. I have no idea what the selection will be, but Van Zoetendaal publishes great photo books by acclaimed artists like Paul Kooiker, Koos Breukel, Marjanna Kella and Diana Scherer. At the Fotoboekendagen there will be interviews with Diana Scherer, Ruth van Beek, Anouk Kruithof and desginers Kummer&Herrman. Read an interview in Dutch with Petra Noordkamp here.
• If you have time, the Nine Streets are a great shopping area and not far away is Galerie Wouter van Leeuwen (Hazenstraat 27). Wouter van Leeuwen is exhibiting A by Gregory Halpern. His book was high on the list of best photo books in 2011.
• At the end of the day have a beer at Café De Pels (Huidenstraat 25), a nice little bar in the Nine Streets that is frequented by artists. If you are still near Van Zoetendaal the Nieuwmarkt neighboorhood nearby also offers nice bars to have a beer. 
• As you will have a lot of photo books to carry, go back to the hotel and have diner at Mercat in the Panama building (Oostelijke Handelskade 4), a nice Spanish restaurant nearby the hotel. You might want to make a reservation.
• On Saturday the main event is a visit to art center De Appel (Prins Hendrikkade 142) to visit the exhibition of the widely acclaimed photographer Dirk Braeckman together with British artist Zarina Bhimji and to buy a Braeckman print for only 45 euro.
• If the program at Van Zoetendaal is interesting enough you can head back to the gallery as it is a two day event. It is only a 5 minutes walk. You can also pay a visit to Eye, the Amsterdam film museum. It is a spectacular building. There are exhibitions, video’s and of course you can watch movies. They also have a popular restaurant with nice views.
• If you want to have dinner at a great location you can visit restaurant REM-eiland offering spectacular views of the West-side harbors. I haven’t been there myself yet, but the views are spectacular and the food should be good and not too expensive.
• Sunday the 16th of December is the day to visit Huis Marseille to attend the fifth edition of the Photo Book Marathon 2012 with lots of great photo books and interviews with Viviane Sassen, Axel Hütte, Rob Hornstra, Anouk Kruithof, Peter Bialobrzeski, Olaf Otto Becker, Eddo Hartmann, David Galjaard, Simone Nieweg and Martin Luijendijk. You can also visit the exhibition In and Out of Fashion with works by the acclaimed Viviane Sassen.
• At Pakhuis De Zwijger there is also the Amsterdam Art & Design Book Fair on Sunday the 16th.

Great list by Oh Top Book blog includes an award for the best photo book overlooked by the Photo-Eye lists…

The best photo books of 2012 chosen by photographers, critics, etc.

On December 14 and 15, Athenaeum Bookshop will be your host at Van Zoetendaal Gallery. Petra Noordkamp and Willem van Zoetendaal have selected 50 of the most remarkable photo books published in recent years. From 12 am to 7 pm, you are invited to view and buy these books to add to your photo book collection.

On both days, at 1 and 4 pm, you will be able to talk to a photographer and/or a graphic designer about their own favourite books or about their recent publications.

Van Zoetendaal, Oude Schans 67-F, Amsterdam.

Ik ben jou (‘I am you’) by Milou Abel

I saw her work at the Dutch Doc Award 2012 in the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam earlier this year among the work of Anouk Kruithof, Bertien van Manen, Paulien Oltheten and other nominees. Milou Abel made an intense portrait of a woman she met in her hometown Utrecht.

There was quite some discussion about the documentary nature of the work of the shortlisted photographers. Pauien Oltheten received the award. I believe she is the most conceptual of the nominees. May be the jury wanted to make a statement.