Reinout van den Bergh (born 1957 in Wageningen, the Netherlands) is a Dutch photographer, artist, and curator. He studied photography and audiovisual design at the St. Joost School of Fine Art and Design in Breda. Since 1982, he has worked independently as a freelance photographer and audiovisual designer, combining commercial commissions with personal artistic projects. Although based in the Netherlands, his professional activity has an international dimension, particularly through his long association with BredaPhoto, the international photography festival in Breda.

Van den Bergh’s visual language is shaped by a dual concern: the conceptual possibilities of photography and the social or environmental contexts in which images function. His training in audiovisual design contributes to a layered, often narrative approach, while photography becomes a means of examining relationships between people, places, and systems. He has worked across documentary, conceptual, and landscape-based projects rather than developing a narrowly defined signature style. Collaboration is central to this practice, and he has worked with scientists, institutions, and other artists. His approach places inquiry before stylistic consistency, allowing the subject and its context to determine the form of a project.

Among his documented bodies of work, the photobook Living Apart Together is particularly notable. It examines intensive cooperation between the Netherlands and neighboring regions, with attention to environmental protection and the development of political and cultural climate. The project demonstrates his ability to translate complex geopolitical and ecological questions into photographic narratives. His broader practice also includes numerous self-published and collaborative publications, often developed in close dialogue with the printed page. Although a complete account of his oeuvre is not readily accessible, available materials point to a sustained engagement with sustainability, cross-border relations, and the human footprint on the landscape.

Van den Bergh’s curatorial activity is an equally important part of his contribution. Since 2006, he has served as curator of BredaPhoto. Over more than eighteen years, he has helped shape the festival’s growth and professionalization, determining thematic directions and bringing documentary and artistic photography from around the world to its programme. His combined role as practicing photographer and curator places him within a significant network of Dutch photography culture. While he is less widely known to the general public than some contemporaries, his curatorial work has arguably extended beyond the reach of his own images, helping define BredaPhoto’s identity within the European photography scene.

For photobook collectors, Van den Bergh offers a compelling example of how a photographer-curator approaches sequencing, collaboration, and design. Publications such as Living Apart Together are produced with careful attention to the materiality of the book and to the conversation between images, structure, and printing. His reputation is stronger within institutional and festival networks than in the commercial market, so his books may be encountered through European second-hand channels, although availability varies. His website, which lists publications, and BredaPhoto festival catalogues provide useful entry points. Collectors interested in Dutch documentary traditions, environmental subjects, and cross-border perspectives will find his work a meaningful complement to better-known practitioners.

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