John

Another fisherman for my collection.
This morning, driving back from a shoot, I saw John Meeuws near the bridge on the IJssel in Zutphen. He was fishing for barbel, a fish that can be found in deeper waters of the river.
He lives nearby but was originally from Zeeland and had lived all over Holland and in Indonesia. His dad was in the KNIL army so they moved there in 1948. In 1953 the KNIL army had to flee the country, so they went back to Holland, leaving their home and stuff behind. They arrived in Rotterdam with nothing and went back to Zeeland to live with their family.
But they were unlucky: about 1 month after they got back there was a big flood that destroyed a great part of the province Zeeland. They lost all their belongings again. His dad decided to write a letter to ask for help to prince Bernhard, the husband of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands. Which worked out good: he personally arranged a new house for them.


© photography: Martin Hogeboom