Document Netherlands 2026: New Energy
Kadir van Lohuizen photographs and films the energy transition
Publication date: 21 September 2026 - 10:54
Document Netherlands is the Rijksmuseum’s annual photographic commission, which this year takes new energy as its subject. In nine panoramic photographs and a video installation, photographer and filmmaker Kadir van Lohuizen shows how the North Sea and surrounding countries are changing at breakneck speed as a result of the rising demand for energy. New Energy explores places which largely remain beyond our view, such as an offshore wind farm under construction and the server room of a hermetically sealed data centre. The exhibition runs from 9 October 2026 to 17 January 2027.
I really had no idea of the scale and complexity of what is taking place behind the scenes around wind and solar energy, hydrogen, CO₂ storage, hydropower and data centres. Bringing it all to light took patience and time. I had to complete offshore training before I was allowed to go along – and no matter how high-tech it all is, the weather still determines everything.
Kadir van Lohuizen, photographer and filmmaker
Van Lohuizen’s powerful photographs and video installation reveal with striking clarity the enormous scale and speed at which the energy transition is taking place. He draws our attention to a transformation that is progressing at tremendous speed and is largely taking place outside our field of vision.
Taco Dibbits, General Director of the Rijksmuseum
Exclusive access
Especially for the New Energy project, Van Lohuizen gained exclusive access to special sites, some of them offshore. To photograph the construction of wind farms and the laying of undersea power cables, he obtained multiple qualifications required to board installation vessels and platforms. He was also permitted to photograph at a data centre, hydroelectric power stations and lignite mines. By making these inaccessible places visible, Van Lohuizen offers a unique perspective on the hardware of our new energy system and the people building the infrastructure of the future.
Kadir van Lohuizen
Kadir van Lohuizen is one of the Netherlands’ leading photographers and documentary filmmakers. He has won numerous prizes, including the Dutch Silver Camera award and multiple World Press Photo awards, including first prize in the 2018 Environment Stories category for his series on waste in major cities around the world. His work often focuses on large-scale projects taking place outside public view; the way human beings interact with the Earth and the malleability of the living environment are recurring themes in his work. Van Lohuizen’s photographic projects are always preceded by extensive research, something that is reflected in the facts and figures he presents alongside his photographs, relating to physical characteristics such as dimensions, quantities and masses.
Document Netherlands
Every year since 1975, the Rijksmuseum has invited a Dutch photographer to investigate and photograph a current social topic. Photographers who have previously contributed to Document Netherlands include Ed van der Elsken, Hans Aarsman, Céline van Balen, Dana Lixenberg, Mounir Raji and Tina Farifteh.
Document Nederland Junior
At the same time as Document Netherlands, the Rijksmuseum’s photography gallery also presents Document Netherlands Junior, an annual photography competition and exhibition open to students at secondary schools and vocational colleges. Each year, the theme is the same as that of the photographic commission. Eleven young people were selected to take part in a masterclass given by Kadir van Lohuizen and experts from the Rijksmuseum. Their photographs will be displayed in the second room of the photography gallery.
Book and television series
A book by Kadir van Lohuizen, also titled New Energy, will be published by Lannoo on November 25 to coincide with the exhibition. Starting in early January 2027, public broadcaster VPRO will air a four-part series made by Van Lohuizen on this topic.
Document Nederland and Document Nederland Junior are made possible in part by Floor Fonds / Rijksmuseum Fonds and Rijksmuseum NEXT.
