Cuny Janssen: Whatever Works

Twenty years ago I set out to photograph children all around the world. My first trip was to the south of India. I started in the province of Tamil Nadu, first living in a Church Women Centre in the city of Chennai, then in Mugaiyur, a small village. For six months I took pictures and had conversa­tions with roommates, guides, and members of the families who had taken me in as a guest. I had very many questions, as did they. After children, the main subject was always love. Everything I heard from them and saw around me there filled me with both surprise and doubt, but above all with admiration. I admired their courage and faith. Their arranged marriages were a fascinating mystery to me. One way to understand arranged marriages was to make portraits. I photographed women and men various ages, engaged or planned couples and married couples.

Cuny Janssen (born 1975) lives in Amsterdam. She has published several photobooks, six volumes together with Snoeck. Cuny Janssen is always organizing and composing her books thematically. She is doing a very special combination of photographic genres. Cuny Janssen exhibited her work worldwide, amongst others at Photographers’ Gallery in London (2005), Johannesburg Art Gallery (2008), and FOAM Photo Museum in Amsterdam (2010).