My thoughts as photographer after Harvey Weinstein: #IHave

Belangrijke blogs, English, Nieuws & Interessant /

 The last few days have been very busy. I’ve been shooting on location all over Holland and Belgium. While I was running around with my camera, the media storm regarding Harvey Weinstein raged across the world. I have had little opportunity to post anything on social media, but of course I have seen the #MeToo and #IHave hashtags all over. I’d like to share a few responses.

You better believe I have been doing a lot of soul-searching and remembering

You may wonder why I want to respond also. The media storm seems to be dying down, so why wade into the water now? There are a couple of reasons.

First of all, I photograph women every day. Most of the time there’s nothing sexual or sensual about a shoot, but every now and then there is. Sometimes these women wear few clothes; sometimes they are naked all together. In other words, my line of work frequently places women in a vulnerable position with me. I want to say I am aware of this.

I also want to say I have been absolutely shocked by the amount of women who have now found the courage to share their story of abuse under the #metoo hashtag and by the pain they convey. Shocked — and heartbroken. I have heard and read stories from women in my direct vicinity, and these stories are horrific. I want to say: to the extent that I can as a man, I hear and feel the pain.

I am also aware that I recently wrote a blog post about the role Hugh Hefner played in the sexual revolution. By all accounts Hugh Hefner, like Harvey Weinstein, was a sexual predator. My piece drew quite a few responses, many quite critical of my positive affirmation of Hugh Hefner for his contribution to the sexual revolution. I stand by what I wrote, but don’t want to be quiet on this important issue now: in no way do I want to make excuses for bad behavior.

We judge ourselves by our intentions, but others by their actions.

Digging deep!

You better believe I have been doing a lot of soul-searching and remembering. I have been wondering if there is a woman in my past who felt less than safe with me? Is there a women who has negative memories of our working together, because she felt inappropriately touched, taken advantage of, treated as object, manipulated or overpowered?

I can’t think of anyone. But I am quite aware that’s part of the problem: we judge ourselves by our intentions, and others by their actions.

So, here’s what I want to do. I am going to post this invitation on my blog: if you at some point feel I did not treat you right, I invite you to email me and tell me about it. I want to hear your perspective, and promise not to be defensive. I will apologize.

Such an apology may not be worth much. I understand that. It won’t change what happened. But here’s what it will do: it will help me understand what I did wrong, and where I can relate to women better. It will help to understand even more how my set can be a safe place for women. And for such an insight I will thank you.

I want to learn

I am going to use the #Ihave hashtag. I will not hide behind my own sense of innocence. I am not going to assume that all women have always felt safe around me. Instead, I am going to assume that, at one or more points, I crossed the line. I will own my stuff and learn how to do things better.

Because to this I am absolutely committed: that all women are safe in my presence, in my studio, in front of my camera, or on my set.

My email address is ro@rogierbos.com.

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Exhibition photography: Offshore Energy in the RAI, AMsterdam

Events & Evenementen / / , , , , , , ,
Overview of the exhibition and conference.
Overview of the exhibition and conference.

Just thought I’d show you some images of a tradeshow I photographed this week: the Offshore Energy exhibition and event in the RAI, Amsterdam. I always enjoy exhibition photography: there is so much going on at the same time. You meet a ton of people; it’s colourful; and I get to know a whole new industry. It’s like a new world opening itself up to you!

Here are some things that stand out to me as I think about exhibition photography in general.

Do you want really good pictures of your exhibition? Give me a number of assignments, but allow for plenty of space in the schedule also.

The right blend of assignments and freedom

It always intrigues me to see how different every client is. Some clients give me a highly detailed brief in which every minute of the day is filled with a next assignment. I run around from one place to the next as quickly as I can, because the next person is already waiting for me, or the next session is about to start. Other clients let me roam completely free. Just shoot whatever you see…

Neither approach really works. If you have me running around like a chicken with its head cut of, I am going to miss the wonderful opportunities that present themselves along the way. Photography is a matter of waiting, and looking, and calibrating… send me from one place to the next as fast as I can, and I am just going to go click and then pack up my gear and go to the next place. My pictures will be mediocre, but not outstanding.

But the opposite doesn’t work either. Just let me roam freely, and pretty soon I won’t know what I am looking at anymore. A trade show is a whole new world, and in that world I don’t know what is important yet, and what isn’t.

You are going to get the best pictures from me if you give me assignments through the day, but allow for quite a bit of flex time in between. Your schedule will force me to move on, and to move from one place to the next, but the in between time will allow me to collect the actual gems. I see this time and again: a client uses an image I’ve shot at last year’s event on the poster and front cover of this year’s magazine. Invariably it’s an image I shot ‘in between’ — and that’s the one the client thinks is the most characteristic.

A good example of a picture that I just stumbled upon. This picture says it all: it shows the location (the arches of the RAI); it shows happy people (in suits and yet industrial); in the back ground you the exhibition going on; and in the foreground you see the subject matter of the trade show: windmills producing offshore energy.
A good example of a picture that I just stumbled upon. This picture says it all: it shows the location (the arches of the RAI); it shows happy people (in suits and yet industrial); in the back ground you the exhibition going on; and in the foreground you see the subject matter of the trade show: windmills producing offshore energy.

I need information

I enjoy the war room. Every event has one. It’s where the organizing team meets. It’s where problems are discussed and solutions are discovered. Often times the organizer will keep me out of the war room, because I have no business there. The photographer, it is reasoned, is peripheral to the organisation. Sure, he is.

An example of useful info I can give you: your guests are complaining the volume is too low; they can’t hear the speaker.

But you see, I need information. I make the best pictures when I know what is going on, and where. If I know the event location has put down the wrong color carpet in the main hall, I can avoid photographing the floor at all. If I know two companies have brokered a deal and this will be announced with champagne in booth 15 at noon, I can be there ready to photograph the announcement and the celebration. If I hear that the director of company X is unexpectedly in the hall, I can make sure we get a picture of him.

Not only that, but I can be helpful also. It happens every day. I can alert you to problems (the toilets are locked or there is a really cold draft over there and the standholders are freezing); after all, as your photographer I roam the entire exhibition. I speak to people; I hear lots of things. You’re busy with the event, but I am just observing. I can be quite helpful! I can also convey messages (please tell Jack to turn his phone on; I can’t reach him) or tell you what I’m hearing (the attendees were really impressed with that presentation or people are confused by the signing).

The point is: see me as part of your team. Push me to the periphery, and I won’t know what’s going on, and you won’t have the benefit of my helpful assistance.

Which wire is mine? Hard at work in the war room.
Which wire is mine? Hard at work in the war room.

I can’t photograph what isn’t there…

I read your brief, but I’m confused a little…

Every client at every exhibition I’ve ever photographed has wanted to see the logo’s of their sponsors. Here’s the thing: they need to be there. More than once I have looked and looked and looked, only to conclude the logo’s were actually not there. So, at a recent event I had my client stand next to me. I asked her to show me where the logo’s were. She looked left. She looked right. And left again. And right again. And then she looked at me. Uhm… I can’t see any, she said. Exactly, I responded. Just thought you should see it for yourself, before you write me next week that you can’t see any of the sponsor’s logo’s…

But you can shop logo’s in, can’t you? someone might respond. Certainly — and I am happy to do so. But that’s a different job, and is not included in the photography. The point is: sometimes clients have me photograph stuff that just isn’t there. And that’s hard to photograph.

The organisation had planned for a different shot on the cover of their exhibition daily. But my shot said everything they wanted to say, so they selected it instead, and printed it page wide.
The organisation had planned for a different shot on the cover of their exhibition daily. But my shot said everything they wanted to say, so they selected it instead, and printed it page wide.

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Wedding Robin and Mae in Antwerp

Trouwen & Bruiloft / / , , , ,

And now for something completely different. I recently photographed a wedding for our friends Robin and Mae. I hear you thinking: but I thought you don’t photograph weddings? Almost correct. I just do it for friends and family — and people who beg me. Robin has been a very good friend of ours for a long time. He didn’t have to beg. He is a friend, not only to Sophie and me, but also to our boys. He was also the most eligible bachelor we knew. So when he called us from Antwerp: I’ve met someone and we’re getting married — and you’re all invited! it took us less than half a second to decide we were all going!

“To photograph a wedding well, it helps to fall in love with the bride a little.”

And what a party it was! Mae, his Philipino bride is warm and beautiful. The weather was fantastic. We did a photo session in the morning in the park by the Middelheim Museum. The afternoon began with the church service, in the magificent Sint-Carolus Borromeuskerk. It was followed by a reception, a dinner and a fantastic party.

I don’t photograph many weddings. Not that I don’t enjoy it, but it’s hard work! I have the greatest respect for fulltime wedding photographers — I couldn’t do it.  A friend of mine, a really good wedding photographer in his own right, whispered me the secret one time: it helps to fall in love with the bride a little! That has actually turned out to be pretty good advice. If you like the bride, the wedding is easy. If you don’t… it’s a tough job.

Falling in love with Mae was no challenge at all :-). It was easy to see how our good ole’ friend lost his heart to this warm, compassionate beauty. The wedding was a real reflection of who they were: a perfect blend of Cypriot fun, catholic reverence and compassion (both Robin and Mae are actively involved with a catholic mission to the poor and marginalised), and Philipino fun, good food and laughter. High points for me were when Robin started throwing the roses from the wedding cake into the audience, and when he and Mae started dancing and singing to ‘Now I’ve had the time of my life’ (Dirty Dancing), Oh yeah, and when my boys started dancing… Boy, they can dance!

Best idea of the day: Mae had a wedding dress with a zip. During the day it was a beautiful long dress. But in the evening she just unzipped a part, stepped out, and it became a great dress for dancing. Now why didn’t someone think of this before?

Just to explain a thing or two: Robin is from cyprus. And so we did some fantastic greek line dancing. So fun to be not just a photographer and to get to dance! And dance we did. My wife and my boys (and me) partied till my feet hurt. Here’s a picture of Sophie, Judah, Joel and Joshua with his girlfriend Rio.

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