-beep-beep! (text-message): I'm going to do an orange day on Saturday, interested?
-Uhm, "orange day"?
-Yes, orange day! I'm going to photograph some of the orange in town.
-Sure?!

As some of you may know, orange is *the* dutch color. It comes from our royal family, the house of Orange-Nassau. It is used, not too sparsely, whenever there is something going on that somehow relates to the Netherlands, like on the national holiday queensday or when the dutch soccer team is playing in the European Championship. People can go quite nuts, dressing in orange and decorating pretty much everything they can think of in orange. Yesterday the dutch soccer team was playing in the European Championship (I'll leave out the final score )

So, the idea: Photograph the orange-craziness. This type of shooting was quite new to me. We visited two districts in Utrecht (the Netherlands) that mainly house the working-class. A little bird told us that the orange madness had hit there. The weather, unfortunately, wasn't great but that didn't stop us from having fun. All shots minor processing in LR only.


We started out in this street:

Not bad, for a start It is a car-free street, so lots of kids riding the little bicycles, people sitting in front of their houses and quite some orange.

We were walking around there, both of us carrying dSLRs which grabbed some people's attention and it didn't take long for us to strike up a conversation. 2 minutes later we were invited to join them, and if we would like to have something to drink?

We accepted the invitation and ended up sitting with this awesome guy:


Also present, a girl from down the street:


and his wife, wearing a 'roar-shirt'.

A roar shirt is an orange shirt that you can purchase for a few dollars when you spend a certain amount at a store. It has the head of a lion (another dutch thing) on it, and a 'flap'. You can lift up the flap as in the photo above and see inside the lion's mouth. Not something I would consider fashionable really, but hey, it's orange

The guy was friendly enough to give us directions to another part of town where the orange madness had also hit;

We walked around a bit, and found this little girl:


that lived here:


Now, this was already pretty extreme for us. The amount of time and effort that was put in to that, made us wonder what went through those people's mind.

We also found a grandmother outside with her grand-daughter:


I did get her to smile, but unfortunately not in any of the shots with her grandmother;


Now, for one of the omg-moments:

We were a bit in awe, because of the time that must have gone in it to not only put that all up, but also to collect everything.

Around the corner, more orange madness;


If there were no flags, there were balloons:


The streetlights weren't untouched, either:

The tape said "hup Holland" which means "go Holland".


One of the biggest supermarket-chain was giving out 'welpies' (pronounce: well-pee) with every 15 Euros worth of groceries. Welpies are little lions with a lot of hair (mainly orange, but also red, white and blue which are the colors of the dutch flag). The have sticky feet:


and some people used them to decorate their car:


Another omg-moment;
My friend saw one of the women in the next shot just about to get in a car, and asked her quickly if she could take her photo. Not only could she take her photo, but the other women were ordered out of the car to join


It turns out it were daughter-mother-grandmother. When commented on their outfit, the daughter said "Great, isn't it? we just got them at a sex-shop"

The extremely interesting thing I found was that usually when people see you carrying a camera, they hide in the bushes. All the people we found Saturday were pretty much throwing themselves in front of the camera


So there you have it, some orange-madness. Disclaimer for potential tourists: No, the Netherlands is not always like this, and no, not everyone is like this

The dream is over now isn't it...

Great series though. That last photo: the grandmother appears to have chest hair.

Sad football result, but fabulous national spirit! Great photo essay. I'd love to get ahold of one of the welpies. So. who to cheer for now?

ann

Nice shooting Ivar.
Sorry about the soccer thingie...

Nice shooting.

There are some advantages to losing...Spain beat Italy last night and the honking horns went on for half the night.

Lovely shots thanks for sharing !

What a trip!

Nice series, Ivar!

Ivar, it just occurred to me you've been posting here for years... dutch spirit for football is one thing, but when are you going to photograph a cyclocross race or a spring classic for us and show us some really fanatical dutch folks? (Euro Cup is great, but it's almost July, cycling madness is thick in my blood this time of year)


Hup hup hup hup!!!

That is too funny. Anyway I'm glad you got a lot of shooting in and got to talk to a lot of great people. Then again, you're good at that!

at the lion shirt. OMG the lion shirt in action!

Enough smilies. Great set and it certainly made me, well, smile.

Originally Posted by Ann McRae Sad football result, but fabulous national spirit! Great photo essay. I'd love to get ahold of one of the welpies. So. who to cheer for now? ann

PM me your address and I'll make sure you get some

I am not sure who to cheer for, I don't watch soccer

Originally Posted by Jeroen The dream is over now isn't it... Great series though. That last photo: the grandmother appears to have chest hair.

Heh, I never looked at the image like that. It's wrinkles, and not chest-hair (I'm pretty sure )

And yep, dream gone

Originally Posted by Nikolai Nice shooting Ivar. Sorry about the soccer thingie...

Thanks!

Originally Posted by Awais Yaqub Lovely shots thanks for sharing !

Thank you, for looking and commenting, Awais

Originally Posted by DavidTO What a trip! Nice series, Ivar!

It was an awesome trip in my own city, which I will not forget anytime soon

Thanks!

Originally Posted by Richard Nice shooting. There are some advantages to losing...Spain beat Italy last night and the honking horns went on for half the night.

Hehe, we had that when Turkey won. There are quite a few turkish people over here.

Originally Posted by DoctorIt Ivar, it just occurred to me you've been posting here for years... dutch spirit for football is one thing, but when are you going to photograph a cyclocross race or a spring classic for us and show us some really fanatical dutch folks? (Euro Cup is great, but it's almost July, cycling madness is thick in my blood this time of year) Hup hup hup hup!!!

I don't think there is anything that get's people going as much as soccer does. I'll see if I can get you some cycling stuff some time

Originally Posted by schmoo That is too funny. Anyway I'm glad you got a lot of shooting in and got to talk to a lot of great people. Then again, you're good at that! at the lion shirt. OMG the lion shirt in action! Enough smilies. Great set and it certainly made me, well, smile.

Thank you, Schmoo Yeah that lion shirt was great. Actually, I don't know if you remember it, but we saw an ad for that when you were in the NL.

It made me smile, also

Orange madness for sure! Looks like you had a fun day and got some interesting images for sure! Love the car with all the welpies! So tell us, did you dress in orange that day - do you have some secret orange accessories you wear ? Terrific to see such enthusiasm for one's country. Hup Holland!!!! (Sorry you lost!)

I love it when people get into the spirit and just have fun for the sake of it. What a great share, thanks