A Resistible Force - Vanessa Everts

Long lines of oak trunks mark the south-western beaches of the Netherlands. Since the Middle Ages they have witnessed much trial and error in our struggle to defend our land from erosion. Rediscovering the wooden breakwaters she had known since childhood, Pauline van Lynden began by drawing and photographing these 'dark sentinels' and ended up exploring 'what happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object' and a culture marked by its relationship to the sea. Gathering a wealth of documents from private and public collections and illustrating these with her own photographs and artwork, Van Lynden tells a personal story of discovery through the history of an ancient system of coastal protection, its role in a nation's character, and our ongoing search to find a balance between man and nature.

Thanks to Van Lynden's work, the breakwaters of Walcheren are now an officially protected heritage site.

288 pp

ISBN978 90 811850 4 2 English
 ISBN978 90 811850 1 1 Dutch

Buy A Resistible Force here

'Three books were nominated in the history category, but Pauline van Lynden's book, A Resistible Force, published by the Visual Legacy Foundation, would not have misstood in the art section due to the beautiful photography which gives a solid bedding to the captivating text on this overlooked subject. Her work has forever anchored the beach pilings between us and the horizon. The jury came together in Veere where it was decided to give the Zeeland Book Prize 2008 to a book which reveals the essence, the heart of Zeeland. It is a personal quest into a deeply Dutch subject: the fight against water. Personal observations and conversations with the dyke workers form the starting point of her research. Step by step one gets to know almost everything about coastal defence techniques, breakwaters, the local people and their surroundings. The book gives a moving portrait of the province and the complex relationship of its inhabitants with the sea. The simultaneously businesslike and personal text finds further expression in a breathtaking photo reportage of the life of the breakwaters.'
– Literatuurplein