"With this publication the chain is not broken - in other words: this chain is no more than a link..."

With these words we ended the publication of the first chain, initiated by the USVA Photogallery in 1992. Now, three years later, two new chains are presented here in this book. A publication to coincide with the exhibition at the USVA Noorderlicht Photogallery, on the occasion of the photofestival Noorderlicht 1995.

A chain consists of a series of photos, in which each time a photographer forms a link in the chain, with one photograph. We ask the first photographer to start by selecting a picture in his or her own oevre. Then, he or she selects the next photographer and hands out an invitation to react to the first picture. This photographer can then freely associate with a picture of his or her own, and passes that one along to the next photographer. The next one responds again, etcetera. The photographers only know the names of their direct predecessor and successor. They can only associate on the picture they just received. So, the endresult is a surprise, for the photographers as well as for us.

Contrary to the previous chain, this time we gave the photographers a theme to work with. On the occasion of the main exhibition of Noorderlicht 1995 - 'Common Lives' - one chain was themed 'The Multicultural Society'. It turned out as an investigation into the possibilities of photography to put forward the ever growing cultural richness of our society. The other chain revolved around 'Hands', an abstract visualization of working to build a society, helping, loving.

The result is an intriguing image of the thoughtpatterns of the participating photographers, and indirectly also of the social circles in which they move, and the photographic form they appreciate.

In the end, we can only repeat our statement from 1992:

"With this publication the chain is not broken - in other words: this chain is no more than a link..."

Wim Melis