EXHIBITION:
In search of stillness
An exhibition at De Drvkkery, Middelburg.
27 July to 7 September 2026.
Middelburg is not a tourist destination for me. I have a small chalet on Walcheren and have been coming here for years. That is exactly why I see the town differently: not as something to record, but as a place where I come to rest and only then begin to look.
That way of looking is now on the wall. In the corridor beside the brasserie of De Drvkkery hangs my work from around the world; in the other corridor hangs the work of Annelie Willemijn Stroo. Together we call it In search of stillness.
Stillness is a big word for something small. It is the moment you stop looking for the perfect image and simply stand and look. Someone waiting for a moment. Light sliding across a facade. A street ordering itself without your having to do anything about it.
I mostly photograph on the street, often from the hip, usually without a plan. But the images that stay with me are rarely the busy ones. They are the quiet ones. This exhibition is a collection of exactly those moments.
Annelie Willemijn works from Middelburg and has a view of silence and space entirely her own. Our work does not look alike, but it certainly touches. And that is what makes it good to hang together. Walk both corridors and you see two ways of looking for the same thing.
De Drvkkery is one of the busiest places in Middelburg. On a Monday afternoon in high season the stream of people walking past you never ends. Looking for stillness in a bookshop full of visitors is not the most logical place.
But do not let yourself be hurried. Nobody will stop you taking your time. And perhaps that is exactly the exercise.
In search of stillness - Michiel Heijmans + Annelie Willemijn Stroo
Anyone who visits the exhibition gets 50 euro extra discount on this site with the code:
drvkkery
It applies to:
all workshops and masterclasses, including REFRESH
all prints from 200 euro
You will find everything in the shop. Enter the code at checkout and the discount is applied automatically.
For purchases through this website only
My photography friend Annelie Willemijn lives and works in Middelburg. You can see her work at annewil-stroo.nl and on Instagram at @annewilstroo.
Wij zijn De Stad Middelburg wrote a good piece about the exhibition. Read it here.
On 13 August we walk a photo walk through Middelburg. We start at the exhibition and then head into the town, looking for exactly what hangs on the wall. Details to follow.
De Drvkkery
Markt 51, 4331 LK Middelburg
drukkerijmiddelburg.nl
Entry is free, you simply walk into the shop.
Monday: 11:00 to 18:00
Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday: 09:30 to 18:00
Thursday: 09:30 to 21:00
Saturday: 09:30 to 17:30
First Sunday of the month: 13:00 to 17:00
De Drvkkery in Middelburg is also the only place outside this website where my book The Observer is still for sale. You will of course find it at the exhibition.
