Pim van Os

b. 1910 — d. 1954

Pim van Os Dutch, 1910-1954 Pim van Os (born in Arnheim) became known for his experimental work created during the late 1940s and early 1950s. Van Os began his career as an apprentice in a photography shop in The Hague (1926-27), where he began experimenting with darkroom techniques, and then opened his own portrait studio. A Jew, in 1942 he went into hiding after the Nazi occupation of Holland. After the war van Os reopened his studio and began work as a freelance photographer for newspapers and magazines. He joined the Dutch Union of Art Photographers (nfk) in 1949 and became acquainted with the influential photographer and teacher Otto Steinert. From 1948-52 van Os created the group of experimental images for which he became best known, working with solarization, montage, multiple exposure, and time-lapse photography. In 1951 he won a gold medal at the International Exhibition of Photography in Milan. During the early 1950s van Os wrote a series of articles on creative photography for various European journals and exhibited his work in The Hague (Free Academy, 1951, and Fotoschauw, 1952) and in Amsterdam (Arti & Amiciliae, Nationale Kerstsalon, 1951). During this period he also received photographic commissions from advertising agencies and major corporations in the Netherlands. Following his death in 1954 in a motorcycle accident, van Os's photographs were shown in the important Subjective Photography exhibitions organized by Otto Steinert at the State School for the Arts and Crafts, Saarbrücken, Germany (1954-55, 1957-58). M.M.