Promising Land is an exploration into national identity in the small town of Orange City, Iowa, a distinctly U.S. town founded by Dutch immigrants in 1870. Dutch photographer René Clement, a New York resident, found himself bewitched by the curious juxtaposition of Dutch heritage revivals, like the Tulip Festival, and their context in modern America. The evolution of the community has lead to an emotion of connectedness to their collective Dutch history, yet the manifestations are often anachronistic and cartoonish, a combination of authenticity with the imaginations of “playing dress-up”. Capturing portraits of residents in costume for the celebratory parades, along with some collaborative posed work, creating visionary landscapes like beautiful, bastardized classical Dutch paintings, Clement has put together a body of work that portrays brilliantly the confused identity of a latter-generation immigrant.

Promising Land is a self-published title and is available for sale on René Clement’s web site.

Reviewed by Katherine Oktober Matthews.