{"id":4054,"date":"2016-04-26T11:00:42","date_gmt":"2016-04-26T10:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=50999"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:22:14","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:22:14","slug":"viva-la-folly-photographers-and-erasmus-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2016\/04\/26\/viva-la-folly-photographers-and-erasmus-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Viva la folly! Photographers and Erasmus"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Folly preserves the youth<\/span><\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>

Erasmus wanted to make better persons of people. In his Praise of Folly<\/em>, Erasmus therefore ridiculed the whole of mankind. Eight photographers from Rotterdam show that mankind hasn\u2019t changed a bit in all the hundreds of years that have passed since then. This is part one of eight: Willem de Kam.<\/p>\n

The famous thinker Desiderius Erasmus (whose 550th birth date we celebrate this year in Rotterdam) was quite critical about the behaviour of his fellow man. In his writings, he wanted to put people back on the right track again. He drew on the mental legacy of the Greek and Roman classics. His most stinging critique on society is in his satiric book Praise of Folly<\/em>. A very smart book: by commenting through Folly, instead of writing on his own account, he could express himself much more fully.<\/p>\n

About five hundred years later, eight photographers from Rotterdam pick up where Erasmus\u2019 Praise of Folly<\/em> left off. For you better believe it: folly is still amongst us.<\/p>\n

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A major city means major solitude <\/span><\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>

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I\u2019m a citizen of the world<\/span><\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>

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An ape may wear a band of gold; still it remains an ugly being<\/span><\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>

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Folly preserves the youth<\/span><\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>

Previously in the series about Erasmus<\/h2>