Issue: The Netherlands from the Air
Appearance: 12 sheets of five different personal stamps marked ‘Nederland 1’, the denomination for post weighing up to 20g sent to an address within the Netherlands
Design: studio026, Velp
Photography: Karel Tomeï, Eindhoven
In 2022, PostNL will be issuing a series of 12 personal stamps entitled Kijk op Nederland (The Netherlands from the Air). Each stamp in the series features an aerial photograph of a prominent site in the Netherlands, based on the themes of architecture, buildings, infrastructure, nature and water. The themes are shown at the top of each stamp sheet. Each theme was assigned its own colour, which in turn corresponds to the colour of the typography on the stamps. Each stamp states where the picture was taken, what we are looking at and what the title of the series is. The bottom edge of the sheet features an enlargement of one of the aerial photos as a background image.
The top of the sheet edge features a graphic representation of a fictitious Dutch subdivision pattern. By colouring in parts of it, the letters of the title of the series have been made visible on top of the subdivision pattern: KIJK OP NEDERLAND. The title becomes visible when all the stamp sheets are placed side by side. [Click to see a much, much bigger image.]
On the left edge of the sheet, under the provincial name, is a map of the Netherlands depicting the provincial boundaries. The relevant province is picked out in colour.
The sheets will be issued on four dates, as follows:
Item number: 820031 Groningen 22 March
Item number: 820032 Friesland, 22 March
Item number: 820033 Drenthe, 22 March
Item number: 820034 Overijssel, 14 June
Item number: 820035 Flevoland, 14 June
Item number: 820036 Gelderland, 14 June
Item number: 820037 Utrecht, 13 September
Item number: 820038 Noord-Holland, 13 September
Item number: 820039 Zuid-Holland, 13 September
Item number: 820040 Zeeland, 15 November
Item number: 820041 Noord-Brabant, 15 November
Item number: 820042 Limburg, 15 November
Details on the 22 March set are posted here.
Details on the 14 June set will be posted here.
Details on the 13 September set will be posted here.
Details on the 15 November set will be posted.
In addition to the usual stamp release schedule, PostNL also has an annual personal stamp release schedule. This programme is flexible. It allows PostNL to respond to topical 
developments and requests. Each issue is designed based on a fixed layout with a fixed number of personal stamps. The stamps are available while stocks last on the webshop.
The design of the personal stamps for the The Netherlands from the Air series was created by Huub de Lang and Anne Schaufeli of studio26 in Velp. They designed stamps for PostNL before, but this was the first commission for a series. ‘With a huge topic this time,’ says Anne Schaufeli. ‘The brief was to depict the Netherlands from above on 12 stamp sheets using existing photographic material. One province per stamp sheet – that was our starting point. Then we developed our concept, as usual. The main thing that struck us is that if you look at the Netherlands from above, you notice that everything is cultivated down to the square metre. This malleability of the landscape is reflected in the subdivision patterns that you can often only see clearly from the air. The land was divided and delimited through subdivision, revealing the intervention of man. This is really characteristic of the Netherlands. We found the balance between man and nature to be an excellent theme to pursue further. This is typical of our approach: first we plan, 
then we work it out. This way, we could also find images that could represent the Netherlands in the same way on all stamp sheets.’
Based on the concept they had drawn up, Schaufeli and De Lang established the selection criteria for the photos. ‘We decided to use the themes of architecture, buildings, infrastructure, nature and water,’ Schaufeli explains. ‘As these are pretty broad terms, we were able to use a large variety of images. For each province, we first looked at which landmarks would qualify. This included logical candidates such as the Afsluitdijk, for example, plus the Delta Works, the windmills at Kinderdijk and the Ridderkerk intersection, of course. But the search for images also threw up all kinds of surprises. Like the Natte Ogen art installation in the Haringvliet near Winschoten and the green cathedral at Almere.’
Dutch photographer Karel Tomeï specialises in aerial photography. Schaufeli: Following our advice, PostNL contacted Tomeï to ask if he would like to participate in this series of 
stamps. So he started looking for images with the concept and themes as guidelines. Sometimes the image we were looking for could not be found, other times he came up with pictures we were not expecting. Or he would send us a beautiful image, but the content just didn’t fit the concept. And vice versa. We ended up looking at masses of pictures.’
According to Schaufeli, other criteria also played a part in the selection of the 60 photos for the 12 stamp sheets. ‘We didn’t want too much repetition. Like 12 bridges, for example. And each stamp sheet had to give an equivalent overall picture. That was a bit of a puzzle, to say the least. The angle at which the photos were taken is important. We would have preferred them all to be taken straight from above, but that does not work in all cases. For example, if you want to feature a tall building. However, our aim to get as many pictures taken straight from above sometimes ended up with amazing results. Take the Groninger Museum, for example, which makes a very different impression from the air than it does from the side.’
Technical Details:
Sheet size: 102 x 148 mm (wxh)
Stamp size: 40 x 30mm (wxh)
Paper: normal with phosphor print
Gum: gummed
Printing technique: offset
Printing colours: cyan, magenta, yellow, black and blue
Print run: 5,000 sheets per issue
