What does a vehicle say about the person driving it? From 27 September 2025, Kunsthal Rotterdam will be presenting the exhibition Homo Mobilis, a photographic project by Martin Roemers (1962, Oldenhove). For years, Roemers has been photographing people and their vehicles – from compact city cars to throbbing trucks, and from tuktuks to motor scooters. At the Kunsthal, over thirty photographs show that these vehicles are not just a means to travel from A to B, but also reveal something about the status, identity, and culture they originate from .
For this project, Roemers has travelled to cities in the Netherlands, Germany, China, Ukraine, India, Senegal, and the United States. There, right in the middle of the street, he set up his mobile photo studio, complete with a white backdrop to take away all visual distractions. Due to this neutral setting, the focus lies on human and vehicle, thereby allowing the tiniest details, like posture, expression, and materials, to speak for themselves. In Dakar, Senegal, Roemers photographed car sales employees Aïcha, Yvonne, Fatimata, and Becaya with a bright red Mini Cooper. In Shanghai, Zu’en and her little son posed on a motor scooter, and in Bengaluru, India, Hariom and Vinoth were photographed in their ice-cream truck.
The colourful and diverse images show how mobility is different around the world, but at the same time touch on universal themes like the environment, gender, class, and individuality. To some a vehicle is purely practical, but to others it is an extension of their identity. The portraits contain information about only three things: name, occupation, and vehicle type – a simple combination that leaves room for the imagination and the individual interpretation of the spectator.
About Martin Roemers
Martin Roemers (1962, Oldehove) studied at the AKI Academy of Arts & Design in Enschede. For many years he has been working on long-term projects that result in exhibitions and photo books, including Kabul, Relics of the Cold War, The Eyes of War (shown at the Kunsthal between 3 May and 24 August 2012), and Metropolis. His work has been exhibited in Europe, North and South America, Asia, and Australia and is included in the collections of institutes like the Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam), the Museum of Fine Arts (Houston), and the Getty Research Institute (Los Angeles). Roemers has won two World Press Photo Awards, alongside a variety of other prizes.
Publication
On 7 October 2025, the photo book Homo Mobilis will be launched by Lannoo publishers, 208 pages, EAN: 9789020992359. Available from the Kunsthal Shop and Kunsthal Webshop for € 49.99.
