Lex van Rossen

Lex van Rossen (foto; Rob Verhorst, 2005)

Lex van Rossen (1950-2007) took his first photo as a schoolboy at a show of Trea Dobbs in in Amstelveen. He used an Agfa Isoli which he had bought with the 50 guilders won at a drawing context. Lex’ first picture has not been preserved, but it certainly can be considered as the starting point of a career that nearly spans thirty years. It gave him the certainty that this was what he wanted most: visualizing pop music, while the specialism of pop photography had yet to be invented.
Lex van Rossen distinguished himself from other photographers with an own style and approach of what a good photograph should be. He became well known for his impressive black-and-white portraits which emphasized form and composition. This also counts for his dynamic live-pictures, which brought him international fame: his 1987 shot of U2 in the Kuip stadium (Rotterdam) is well known. International media like the New York Times and Rolling Stone gave this photo a prominent spot.

U2 (Bono)

Because of his long record of defining pictures, Lex van Rossen can be considered as one of the founders of Dutch pop photography. His engaged, often close at the stage made photo’s also turned him into a chronicler of the changing pop-scene.
From 1978 on, Lex van Rossen worked as a photographer with the legendary journalist Jip Golsteijn (newspaper De Telegraaf) until Gosteijn passed away in 2002. Besides that he also got publications in magazines like OOR (leading music magazine) and papers like Het Parool, De Volkskrant, Haarlems Dagblad and Trouw. With NRC Handelsblad Lex had a special connection; he worked at that newspaper since 1977. International media like NME, Spin and Rolling Stone also used his work on a regular base.
Besides publications for magazines and papers, Lex also did the photography for albums like Chis Isaaks and Tex and the Horseheads’. His work has also been included in books by Jip Golsteijn and Peter Bruijn.
2006 meant a change for Lex van Rossen. He left for Sierra Leone to make photo’s of Refugee All Stars, a band consisting of former refugees. Unfortunately enough, this project has never been finished: Lex passed away in February 2007.
Aside from pop photography, Lex van Rossen also employed activities in the field of people with hearing problems. He photographed stills for filmprojects around sign language, which were published as a book and dvd (‘Bewogen Filmgedichten in Gebarentaal, 2005). The pictures were exhibited at the Rotterdam Film Festival 2005.
Lex van Rossen’s work was exhibited in Galerie Hollandse Hoogte (Amsterdam, 1989), Noorderlicht Fotogalerie (Groningen 1989, 1997, 2005), Fotofestival Naarden (double exposition with Niels van Iperen in 1993), Galerie 2 ½ x 4 ½ (1999), Kunsthal (Rotterdam, 1995), Galerie in Beeld (Vlaardingen, 2002), De Melkweg Galerie (1980, 2002 and 2005), Film Festival Rotterdam (2005) and Kunstcentrum Kunsteijssen (Alkmaar 2005).