From July 29 to September 13, 2015, photographs by Jan van Breda were on display at the Jan van der Togt Museum. The exhibition presented an overview of Van Breda's oeuvre: recognizable, picturesque, with a beautiful balance between light and dark and sometimes a raw edge.

Jan van Breda (1958) began his career as a photographer at the FotoAcademie in Amsterdam. Shortly before his final exams in 2006, he dropped out of his studies to start working as an intern photographer at Het Parool, where he had previously worked as a picture editor.

In the same year, Van Breda won second prize at the Zilveren Camera in the category 'Documentary single image' with a photo of the annual Canal Parade during Gay Pride. After his internship, he worked for a year as a staff photographer for designer Marcel Wanders. In his spare time, Van Breda created the series 'Bewogen' (Moved), about the last residents of the Amstelhof nursing home (now the Hermitage museum). Since the museum opened, fifty images from this documentary have been part of its permanent collection.

After a year, Van Breda decided to become a freelance photographer. Or, as he once described it: "I want people in front of my camera, not chairs and lamps. Wanders' designs are beautiful, but while photographing in the Amstelhof, the penny dropped." In the years that followed, Van Breda took countless portraits for Het Parool and other newspapers and magazines. He also created covers for various books and CDs, including the book by Arie Boomsma and Stephan Sanders about men and their bodies. In 2008, his work—a photo of a beaten Jewish boy—was awarded first prize in the "Portraits, single image" category at the Zilveren Camera awards.

Van Breda, born in Amstelveen, has fond memories of the location of the Jan van der Togt Museum. Almost 40 years ago, he began his working life there in the offices of Amstelland Pers, in the subscriptions department of the Amstelveens Weekblad newspaper. Van Breda therefore regards this exhibition as the return of the prodigal son, or perhaps more fittingly for his oeuvre: The Homecoming Queen.