Maarten de Jong
In a Nutshell
I was raised as a Third-Culture-Kid: in seven countries; on five continents. I enjoyed the itinerant, peripatetic life. And, after a period of rootedness following graduate school, the need to uproot grew ever-strong.
Returning to the familiar, I now travel and combine my love of politics and the pleasurable pastime of photography by documenting the political processes that shape the world we live in.
I am mainly based in Western Europe, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and in Central America, in San Salvador, El Salvador
Amsterdam? I was born there. San Salvador? My academic background is the study of the politics of Latin America, but more importantly: I have wonderful family there and great friends.
Political Science
A Little Ontology
I have dabbled in international affairs: the politics, economics, and law that shape the world. It is mainly the politics; however, that garners my interest, the politics of Latin America.
I am particularly fascinated by political anthropology. A good summary of what political anthropology is hard to delimit. The Maxwell School at Syracuse University provides a good general introduction, stating that: “it encompasses the analysis of power, leadership, and influence in all their social, cultural, symbolic, ritual, and policy dimensions.” I like to document this with pictures.
Photography
Moments Captured
I became interested in photography when in high school. A girlfriend’s mother had a wonderful camera and took beautiful pictures. As a sophomore, I enrolled in photography electives and as a junior and senior, I became the darkroom manager in a time well-before the ubiquity of digital cameras.
After undergraduate and graduate school, the hobby gradually evolved into a passion that preoccupies my time.
