FROM 5 SEP–11 OCT '26 | Fifty years of North Sea Jazz are coming together in a new photography exhibition at Kunsthal Rotterdam. From 5 September to 11 October, 50 Years North Sea Jazz Photography brings iconic performances and behind-the-scenes festival moments into Hall 7 through the work of photographers Paul Bergen, Rico D'Rozario and Andreas Terlaak.
Image: Ray Charles performing at North Sea Jazz in 1983. Photo: Rico D'Rozario.
The exhibition follows this summer's anniversary edition of NN North Sea Jazz, held at Rotterdam Ahoy on 10, 11 and 12 July. Queen Máxima opened the 50th anniversary edition, marking half a century since the festival began with six concert halls, 300 musicians and around 9,000 visitors in The Hague.
Fifty years through the camera lens
North Sea Jazz has grown considerably since that first edition at the Nederlands Congresgebouw in 1976. Its stages have welcomed major figures from jazz including Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, Herbie Hancock and Wynton Marsalis, alongside artists such as James Brown, Ray Charles, B.B. King, Prince, Erykah Badu and Alicia Keys.
The festival has also frequently caught artists earlier in their careers. Roy Hargrove, Jacob Collier, Ibrahim Maalouf, Gregory Porter and Amy Winehouse all made early North Sea Jazz appearances on smaller stages, while Adele and D'Angelo also made their festival debuts there.
Rather than attempting to tell that history through posters and statistics alone, the Kunsthal exhibition approaches it through the photographers who were standing beside the stages. Expect live photography alongside images from behind the scenes, showing both the performances audiences remember and moments that would normally have remained out of sight.
The three photographers bring different generations and perspectives to that archive, but all have spent significant parts of their careers photographing musicians at work.
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Paul Bergen, Rico D'Rozario and Andreas Terlaak
Paul Bergen, born in 1957, began as a general press photographer before becoming one of the Netherlands' best-known music photographers. His archive includes artists ranging from Nirvana, David Bowie, The Rolling Stones and U2 to jazz musicians such as Herbie Hancock and Sonny Rollins. His photographs have appeared in newspapers, magazines, documentaries and books including Nineties Spirit and Zero's Heroes.
Rico D'Rozario, born in 1944, arrived at photography by a slightly different route. He originally played music himself before deciding he was better suited to being behind the camera than behind the drums. Over the years, his subjects have included Miles Davis, Mick Jagger, Prince and Beyoncé, while his work has appeared in OOR, numerous photography books and hundreds of record and CD covers.
Andreas Terlaak, born in 1976, combined his interest in photography with a love of music and built his career around concert photography. He became Neil Diamond's regular tour photographer and worked with Prince during shows at Paradiso, later expanding into Formula 1 and dance photography.
Terlaak has twice won first prize at the Zilveren Camera awards, including for his photographs of Amy Winehouse and Rotterdam dance company Conny Janssen Danst. His work is regularly published by NRC and concert organiser MOJO.
From The Hague to Rotterdam
There is an interesting bit of geography behind the anniversary. North Sea Jazz may now feel inseparable from Rotterdam, but the festival spent its first three decades in The Hague before moving to Rotterdam Ahoy in 2006.
Twenty years later, the Rotterdam era has become a substantial part of the festival's history in its own right. That gives the Kunsthal exhibition a fitting location: a few kilometres from Ahoy, but in a museum setting where the performances can be revisited without having to choose between fifteen stages at once.
The exhibition has been created by Kunsthal Rotterdam in collaboration with North Sea Jazz and Nationale-Nederlanden, which is a main partner of both organisations.
Among the images highlighted by Kunsthal ahead of the opening are Rico D'Rozario's photograph of Ray Charles at North Sea Jazz in 1983, Paul Bergen's image of Dee Dee Bridgewater from 2002 and Andreas Terlaak's photograph of Gregory Porter in 2011.
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Visit the North Sea Jazz photography exhibition
50 Years North Sea Jazz Photography is on view in Hall 7 at Kunsthal Rotterdam from Saturday 5 September until Sunday 11 October 2026. The Kunsthal is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 17:00.
There is no separate surcharge for the exhibition. A regular Kunsthal ticket gives access to all exhibitions on the day of your visit. Until 30 September, adult admission is €19 and students and CJP holders up to age 26 pay €12. Admission is free up to and including age 18, and Museumkaart and Rotterdampas are accepted. From 1 October, the regular adult price rises to €20.
Kunsthal requires all visitors to reserve an online ticket with a start time in advance, including visitors using a Museumkaart, Rotterdampas or free youth ticket.
How to get there
Kunsthal Rotterdam is located in Museumpark, close to Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen, Nieuwe Instituut and Het Park. Eendrachtsplein metro station is within walking distance, and the museum is also easy to reach by tram, bike or on foot from Rotterdam Centraal and the city centre.
