Whatever the Weather - Book

It has been quite a challenge: to convert the invitation to a meaninful encounter into a shareable and tangible form. In collaboration with designer Sybren Kuiper and book binder Wytze Fopma, I dedicated 4 years of loving attention to eventually come to the book-object-structure that met all our wishes.

This page will take you on the journey we took ourselves on, between 2018 and 2022.


Whatever the Weather als boek, unopened

Whatever the Weather Herfsttour (September - December 2018)

While I was still walking on the beach for three days a week, I thought it would be a good idea to start travelling around with the portraits that I had been able to print up to that moment. The journey took me along the 12 provincial capitals of The Netherlands. People who were interested could join me and meet the portraits. We observed them to see what happened, and what that would tell us.


Announcement of the Herfsttour, with photos from The Hague and Den Bosch.

The book design (2019-2020)

Shortly after completing the 144 walks and encounters, I started exploring possible book designs. To come to the right form, we first had to find out how important it is for a viewer to be able to meet only one person at the time. At eye-level and in true size, so that there is no hierarchical difference between the viewer and the portrait. So that you can meet each others as equals, and see each other straight in the eyes.

The form we found, is a book of which every single portrait can lean on the construction that arises after unfolding the first page. Subsequently, you can view all portraits one by one, and meet them for as long as you like.

If you like, this blogpost describes the design process in more detail, including all iterations that didn't make it into the final form:

Blogpost: Translating encounters to paper

The book as an exhibition #1 (October and November 2020)

The final design actually serves as the best possible form of a physical exhibition of the project's essence, too. So and exhibition we organised, in the autumn of 2020 at my shared studio Kunstzaal De Bron. The first copy of the book was on display, and it was accompanied and surrounded by art prints from my previous project NEW HORIZONS. The horizons contributed a sense of abundance in space in time. It was a pleasure to see Whatever the Weather get so much more attention than ever before - and see how it served as an extension of the essence of the project in how it invited people to slow down and have meaningful encounters.


Whatever the Weather viewed by one of the 145 participants

Living room encounters (Spring of 2022)

A 'Leap through a time window'. That's how I felt about the crowdfunding campaign that I initiated in 2022. It was bound to take from Easter to Pentecoast, and bring the financial coverage of the project to the final € 50,000, following initial pre-order that already accumulated to € 25,000 over coverage.

During those 50 days, I invited myself to het invited at people's homes, together organise a gathering and then talk about meaningful encounter. The sessions led to many new encounters, and help a great deal in completing the campaign successfully.

Join a book viewing!


Whatever the Weather during various encounters

Printing the book (April 2022)

Whether or not the campaign succeeded, I thought it would be a good idea to start printing the book anyway. The printing session generated a beautiful ocean of faces.


Whatever the Weather at the printing house

Financing € 50,000 (June 2022)

Thanks to a total of 127 contributors, the counter of the crowdfunding campaign halted not at € 25,000. Instead, during the 50 days of its duration, it generated a total of € 31,180 worth of contribution. During the Second Day of Pentecoast, we celebrated the successful completion of the campaign during a gathering on the beach. If you can like, you can view the promo video here.


Contributions to the crowdfunding campaign with Voordekunst

The book binding week in Friesland (Augustus 2022)

Just like in any book binding process, the first step in binding the book was to put all of its pages in the right order. Which is a considerable effort, knowing that we were talking about 70,000 indidividual pages. We could fortunately count on the support of 12 contributors, who helped us get this job done in one week time. After that week, Wytze completed the assignment by manufacturing all the covers by hand, and joining them with the book blocks.

Read the travel report of the book binding week

Book as an exhibition #2 (August - November 2022)

Almost directly after the book binding week, two of the books were on display at the Photomuseum of The Hague. One was installed on a table, the other one was spread out over the walls as 18 full-size printing sheets. This was a beautiful way of marking the size and weight of the project. Also, it managed to share a bit of the 'making of', as the sheets would otherwise just have served as an intermediate stage in the manufacturing process, never to be seen.


Whatever the Weather in Photo Museum The Hague

The book presentation (19 November 2022)

The book presentation took place on 19 November 2022 - as anticipated per the start of the crowdfunding campaign - at Kunstzaal De Bron in Den Haag.


The book presentation Kunstzaal De Bron

Voor meer informatie:

Lees 'Why meaningful encounter is so important'

Order your copy of Whatever the Weather

Technical specifications

Print run: 432 copies
Size: 145 pages, printed single-sided
Page format: 24.2 x 35 x 6.7cm
Paper: Lessebo Design Smooth 300gr/m2
Binding: By hand, hard cover, pages glued individually
Weight: 4,000gr

Project partners

Image processing: Sipke Visser, Frisian.co.uk
Lithography: Sebastiaan Hanekroot, Colour & Books
Design: Sybren Kuiper, SYB Design
Paper: Guido Vermeer, IGEPA Nederland BV
Print: Stefano van der Knaap, ZwaanLenoir
Binding and finishing Wytze Fopma, Fopma Wier

Wytze Fopma (left) en Sybren Kuiper (right) in Kunstzaal de Bron