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You missed the gift

04.19.2018 by Rogier Bos // 3 Reacties

Today
I was a guest in your office,
Where you were a guest in my Studio
I set up my lights and my gear
I made portraits of you and your colleagues
One by one
Gentle and with great attention to detail

You came in front of my lens
Seemed ill at ease
Told me no one could take a good photo of you

I sought
to give you a gift
To make a beautiful portrait
A portrait to show everyone
How beautiful you are
How much color you bring to the world
How much the world is a better place
Because of who you are
Because of what you do

But you were hurried
You wanted it to be over quickly
You ignored my smiles
My attempt to connect with you
Even if only for a moment

You picked your photo quickly
That one will do
Can I go now?
Are we done?
The ten minutes we spent together
Could have been deep and meaningful
Could have been a memory for a lifetime
But your mind was already on ten other things

Later today
I saw you walking in the park
You were walking your dog
You walked right by me
I greeted you
You looked surprised
You clearly didn’t recognize me.

— Rogier Bos, Rotterdam, April 2018


I wrote this poem a while ago. Names and dates have been changed to protect the innocent and ignorant. :-). I do not imagine myself a great poet, but resorted to poetry when I realised that writing a normal blog wasn’t going to help me express my frustration in a constructive manner.

Categories // English, Nieuws & Interessant, Portret | Portraits Tags // gedicht, poet, poetry, Portrait

Up close and personal; a podcast about how I lost my faith

02.25.2018 by Rogier Bos // 4 Reacties

This is a different blog than usual. Today I am not writing about my photography or business, but about my personal spiritual journey. It is a personal story. I write this specifically for my friends and acquaintances. If you are a client with not much interest in my personal stuff, please feel free to ignore this post and browse on somewhere else… that is fine and I totally understand. Here is a link to my Latest and Greatest images; that’s a good place to go.  🙂 

[Nederlands]

I realize of course that a post of this nature probably violates all kinds of blogging principles. But it’s not’s not like I have lots of places to share this information and engage in this conversation. And so I am using my blog. I ask for your understanding.

I have lost my faith

I don’t know how to state it any simpler than that. I was born and raised in a very Christian home, and went on to study theology and then work in church planting (starting new churches) for over 20 years. I have pastored churches, led all kinds of efforts, and was even European Director for a few years in the organization for which Sophie and I were working. But doubts and questions about my belief-system entered my world when I was 20, and since then I have experienced what I now describe as a slow-motion earthquake. This process has had many phases and episodes, but I am afraid that a few years ago I came to the conclusion that my faith was basically gone. If I had to describe myself on this side of the process, I would say I am basically an agnostic, a Social Darwinist, and an existentialist. Sorry of those terms are all mumbo-jumbo to you, but what do you expect from someone who studied theology— and enjoyed it? 🙂

[Lees meer…]

Categories // English, Nieuws & Interessant

First prize for best Incentive — which I got to photograph

01.14.2018 by Rogier Bos // Reageer

Congratulations are in order! One of my favourite clients was just awarded the prestigious Crystal Award for the best Incentive Event in Europe. The event in question took place in 2017, and I was privileged to photograph it. 

I’m afraid I can’t tell you to much about it. I am bound to secrecy. But here are a few pictures that show just how amazing this trip was. 4 days Athens, around 1000 people, amazing hotels, an interesting and fun program, jam-packed with trips, excursions, great food and amazing entertainment. My congratulations to Noël Bos en Gebert Janssen of Eventarchitect.

Foto van een modern strijkkwartet. gemaakt tijdens een event in Athene.

Categories // English, Events & Evenementen

Photographing African Art

11.13.2017 by Rogier Bos // Reageer

About six weeks ago I got a call from an African sounding voice: do you photograph art? I need to have a collection of artistic objects from Africa photographed really well. The images are for an exhibition and for museums.

That sounded like a wonderful project. I regularly photograph products and dare say I am a pretty good product photographer. But photographing art takes it to a whole new level. These pictures end up in catalogs and on posters and so need to have a higher level of quality.

How many how quickly?

Basically every client wants beautiful images, but the images need to be made as quickly as possible, so as to reduce cost

I said I would be like to do this very much. The next question every client asks is: how many can you do in how short a time? Basically every client wants beautiful images, but the images need to be made as quickly as possible, so as to reduce cost. This, of course, is a problem. You can make a photo in a very short amount of time — but it will look like crap. Making an object (or a person) look really good takes time. Positioning it well; making sure it’s clean, then lighting it well, and the making the right composition. How fast you can work also depends on the object itself. Is it very reflective or shiny? Or is it dull and dark? Lastly, do you want great consistency among your photo’s, or do you want every photo to have a different look: a different background, a different angle, a different light, a different look-and-feel?

The client and I reached an understanding. And so it came to be that last Wednesday he and two assistants came to my studio with a bus full of beautiful objects. At first I was quite overwhelmed by the amount of objects. My studio, though it is large, filled up rather quickly! And these objects were all quite different!

The first shot takes the longest and is the worst

That’s what I always tell my client: it takes a while before we are ready to take the first photo. And when we do, please don’t think it will be wonderful! It just takes some time to familiarize myself with the object in front of me; with the texture and how it responds to light; and with the project as a whole.

Luckily the client was thrilled to bits with the first shot! We ended up having a very productive day. I photographed 57 objects. I had a lot of fun with these African gentlemen! We worked hard; then ate Chinese for lunch, and then worked hard again. Here are some of my favorite images and a little explanation… As always click on the images to see them larger!

The image at the top is my absolute favorite. It’s a statue of two warriors on a horse. It’s so incredibly dynamic: raw yet flowing. The energy is amazing.

This lady is beautiful too. I fell in love with her a little. My client explained she’s from Nigeria. I gotta go there some time.

Or how about this bronze warrior on his camel? It really was a black statue, so to get the light in there so you could see the detail and make out what it was, proved to be a bit of a challenge.

Here are some pictures of the team, so you get a sense of the scale of some of these objects:

There was one downside to the day. My client brought in a competitor. Skinny fellow, not very talkative. Being the hospitable host that I am I tried to engage him in conversation, but I’m afraid he didn’t say much. Quite rude really…  But what I really could not stand was that he had a bigger camera than me!

 

Categories // English, Productfotografie

My thoughts as photographer after Harvey Weinstein: #IHave

10.19.2017 by Rogier Bos // Reageer

 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.

Categories // Belangrijke blogs, English, Nieuws & Interessant

Thank God for Hef

09.29.2017 by Rogier Bos // 1 Reactie

Yesterday the world woke up to the news that Playboy founder Hugh Hefner had died. Pretty soon the media was filled with stories about ‘Hef’ and the impact of Playboy. A fair amount of articled applauded Hefner for the role he played in the sexual revolution. But there were also a number who bemoaned the negative impact of pornography and Hefner’s role in making porn mainstream.

Not surprisingly, all the responses from a Christian point of view were negative. None dared to say ‘thank God he’s dead’ (though I found two who claimed Hef was now burning in hell), but without exception all Christian perspectives were that Hef had been a bad influence, and the world was worse for it. A lot worse.

I strongly disagree. In writing this blog I am taking a step away from my usual subject matter (all things photography), though perhaps it’s not that big of a leap: Playboy became big by showing us photo’s of naked women, and as such this article is still somewhat photography related. I admit: it’s a stretch.

I think the world (Christians included) should be thankful for Hefner. This little blog post may be the only one arguing this, and I doubt it will get much appreciation (and I am already bracing myself for the criticism I am going to get) But this needs to be said. Christians should be the last people on earth to critique Hefner’s contribution. Hefner did the world, Christians included, a huge favor. Three of them, to be exact.

Three things we needed to hear

Hefner’s contribution to the world, Playboy magazine, played a major role in the sexual revolution. Today it is easy to critique Hefner for all sorts of reasons, but the truth of the matter is that before the sexual revolution came along the world by and large was ignorant of sex, could not talk about sex, and could not enjoy sex — and the major problem was Christian morality.

In this climate, Hefner taught the world to appreciate the beauty of the female. Say what you like about lust and objectification and how pornography victimizes women, but Hefner showed us woman the way God had created them: beautiful and naked. Unfortunately, the Christian ethic of the day hid beauty and puked at nudity — and any woman who showed a bit of leg or cleavage was quickly slut-shamed. For some odd reason Christians (particularly of the American variety) can’t handle nudity (though they are fine when a movie shows gross violence in great detail). Show a bit of breast or, even worse, nipple, and Christians go absolutely bonkers. This is harmful to young minds, they scream. I grew up in a sexless environment (like Hefner, interestingly enough), where all things naked were frowned up, and I can tell you that is equally harmful. But judging from Christian responses, you would think God created Eve in a ski suit with three winter coats on. The world, once again Christians included, needed to rediscover the beauty of the female form — and Hef helped us do that. And can we be honest? There isn’t a pastor or male Christian alive who didn’t learn that from the pages of Playboy magazine. Sure, we may have learned a lot more, and that may not really have been the thing we were looking for; but we learned that.

Hefner also helped the world rediscover the joy of sex. These days there are a fair amount of Christian publications that discuss sexual pleasure (of course always with in marriage). Without the sexual revolution such books would not exist. Christians can hate Hefner all they like, but the simple fact is that we can talk about ‘women enjoying sex too’ is that the sexual revolution helped us break away from the dominant paradigm where sex was ‘for procreation’ and ‘for the pleasure of the man mainly’, and was to be experienced at night, in the dark, under the sheets only, and never to be discussed. What a sad morality we’ve come from. How thankful we should be that we can have sex, enjoy sex. Even Christians can enjoy sex these days — even three times a day if they want to. Blame Hef all you want, but we are only here because he challenged the sick morality of the day.

Third, Hefner helped us to rediscover the fun of the erotic. This is where Christians get most bent out of shape. The joy of sex, the pleasure of the game, the thrill of the chase, the pursuit of pleasure is not something Christians can talk about easily. Surprising really, especially when you read that part of the Bible called ‘Song of songs’.

Hef helped us see the erotic was part of life — part of creation. If you feel the only place that should be enjoyed is inside marriage, that is fine — but the fact that these days we can think about enjoying it at all, is, in large part, due to Hef’s impact.

What would Jesus say?

Let me draw this to a conclusion. I am not arguing that “Hef’ was a perfect messenger or a perfect example — far from it. But the sexual revolution was a sorely needed corrective to the Christian sexual ethic of the day. Christians should be embarrassed by this part of their history. They should understand they created the void in which Playboy Magazine could gain momentum. Christian ethics of the day needed a corrective — and Hef brought it.

When I grew up it was popular for pastors to preach messages on Sunday with topics like ‘what would Jesus say to Madonna?’And ‘to Bill Clinton?’ I remember one Sunday a pastor preached a message ‘what Jesus would say to Hugh Hefner’. Of course it wasn’t very positive. I remember thinking then, and many times since then, I’d like to preach a message titled ‘what Jesus was saying to the church through Hef’. You’ve just read it.

Categories // English, Nieuws & Interessant Tags // christian, ethic, Hef, Hugh Hefner, playboy, victorian

My favourite spot on earth

08.07.2017 by Rogier Bos // Reageer

I would like to show you my favourite spot on this earth. No, I haven’t seen everything yet, and yes, I could wait with choosing my favourite spot until I had ‘seen it all’. But then again, I haven’t seen all the women of this world, and yet I choose one — and that’s worked out pretty good for me so far (we just celebrated our 26th anniversary). So yes, I have a favourite spot. It’s a spot where I feel completely at home and at rest.

My favourite spot is called Crackington Haven and can be found on the rocky north-cast of Cornwall (that’s the peninsula that sticks out into the Atlantic in South-west England). Crackington is not even a village; it’s just a few houses with a small beach between two enormous cliffs. At night the sun sets in perfect view; the waves can be enormous; there are wonderful rock pools with all kinds of sea life in them, and the water is so cold. Sophie’s family had a small cabin here and so she spent her summers on this beach. Naturally it was one of the first places I had to see when we first got to know each other, and for me too it was love at first side.

Our most recent holiday was in Cornwall and of course we spent a number of days at Crackington. It had been a few years since our last visit, but I’m happy to say beyond a few minor improvements it hadn’t changed much!

Crackington is also meaningful place for Sophie’s family. After her Dad died we scattered his ashes on the high cliff overlooking Crackington. Sophie and I have decided we each want our ashes to be scattered here as well. Sorry of that sounds a bit gruesome, but there is something deeply peaceful about ‘knowing the place’, and having a sense of belonging and peace with that.

On this blog I like showing my best and my favourite photo’s. Crackington never ceases to amaze me in how she can look. I took a ton of photo’s there this summer. Here are some of my favourites. I know I should be more selective, but heck, I can’t. I’m just going to show them all to you! As always: click on the photo’s to see them larger!

Do you have a favourite spot?

I’d love to know if you have a favourite spot. Where is it? And why do you love it so much?

 

 

 

Categories // Architectuur & Landschap, English Tags // Cornwall, Crackington, Holiday

Vacation: the perfect place for a photographer to contemplate retirement

07.21.2017 by Rogier Bos // Reageer

Every summer I do the same thing. I visit some exotic location and, while there, start thinking about retirement. I don’t do this on purpose — it just happens, and I cannot stop it. It happened to me two years ago in Tuscany, and last year in Canada, and this year in Cornwall. I think I can see a pattern emerging. 

Make no mistake about it: Cornwall is absolutely gorgeous. Sophie came to me from Cornwall 28 years ago, and together we’ve been back every few years. Generally she really enjoys living in Holland (she has even applied for citizenship), but once in a while she longs for the green rolling hills and the rocky coasts. And who can blame her?

Because Cornwall is a piece of paradise! The narrow windy roads with the high flowery hedges; the beautiful cliffs that stand tall in the ocean, with the beautiful beaches in between; and the green friendly patchwork of meadows with quaint farmhouses in between. And not to forget the beautiful moors…

So is it any wonder I start thinking about retirement? Not that I am tired of my work, or am looking for way out — on the contrary! I could move here and do photography all day… Life would be so sweet: perpetual holidays! Is it any wonder I think like this every summer?

Three possible scenario’s

This summer I came up with three possible retirement plans. I presented them to Sophie and told her she could choose. Obviously the financial implications of each plan differ a little… I am not sure she was very impressed. But by plan three I had her — well, almost, I think.

Plan one: buy a fishing boat

My retirement urges started with this fishing boat, which I saw in Porthleven. For some reason I suddenly found myself thinking, somewhat uncontrollably, about retirement! I could buy this fishing boat! Sail out to see every day, catch a few fish at sunrise, and then spend the rest of day pottering around my little ‘Starfish’. Maybe take some tourists out occasionally. What a sweet dream… There is, however, one problem, as Sophie (dryly) noted: ‘you don’t even like fish.’ Oh yeah…

Plan two: buy the Mullion hotel

Of two plan #2. This one is a little more expensive, but I though we could buy the Mullion hotel, at the top of the cliff on Mullion cove. What a great location! And what a magnificent view. How could this hotel not be booked completely full night after night…

The first thing we would do, of course, is to change the name to ‘Million Dollar Cove Hotel’. Or perhaps the ‘Million Pound Hotel’…

Here’s the hotel and the view.

Plan three: buy and renovate the old factory on Poltesco beach

OK, we can probably not afford plan two. Two days after visiting Mullion Cove we came across a beautiful beach, on a walk from Cadgwith to Kennack Sands. And here both our hearts were stolen. Because, right on this beach is an old factory that could be restored beautifully (with a little vision). The beach is empty and beautiful. There are wild horses that graze around it. There is a natural pool. The stones on the beach are beautiful and rare… Sophie and I spent a few hours there, almost in complete silence, just enjoying the quiet, peaceful scenery

 

Back to reality … soon

Three rather wonderful daydreams to fantasise about. I’m sure our actual retirement will be nothing so glamourous. Photographers tend not to make that kind of money. Yet, I can dream, can’t I?

I wonder: do you have wonderful through unrealistic dreams of retirement while on vacation? What do you dream of?

Categories // English, Nieuws & Interessant

Working for exposure? No thank you!

07.13.2017 by Rogier Bos // Reageer

All photographer’s get this request from time to time: “Hi, we love your photo’s! We are looking for a professional photographer to cover our event. Unfortunately we have no budget, but this event will give you great exposure! There will be lots of celebrities and interesting contacts. And what’s more: these photo’s will really help boost your portfolio!”

The request may come through email, by phone, or through social media. Unfortunately I see fellow photographer’s fall for it regularly. Which is why I wrote this blog: I want to explain how I respond to this ‘invitation’.

Seeing it for what it is

First, there is the way you deal with the invitation on the inside, in your mind. You need to see this invitation for what it is. Basically, it comes down to this: this person wants you to bring your professional camera gear, your years of training, your professional skills, and your valuable time — and work for free.

The tone of the invitation may sound nice, but in it’s essence it is an unprofessional and offensive question. It does not respect you as a professional.

You can also bet your behind that the person making the request isn’t working for free. So they are asking you to do something, they themselves are not doing.

But there is no budget! you might counter. Listen, budget is a choice. They choose not to budget for photography. To prioritise other things. What they are really saying is: we did not think it was important enough. Or we could get someone for free. Either way, it is not very respectful of your skill.

But what about the promised exposure? Here’s how exposure works: only a select few of photographer’s have name recognition. Think of Annie Leibovitz or Mario Testino. Those are names people recognise (and you better believe they don’t work for free). But when you work for free, you essentially become a volunteer. And no one remembers the name of a volunteer.

Or, if they do, it will be only to ask you to do more free work. The moment you ask a fee, they will disappear. Why? Because you taught them your work had no value.

How to deal with it

Here’s what I do. I delay in giving them my final answer as long as I can, perhaps asking an innocent or ignorant question here or there. I do this for two reasons. One, their approach of me was disrespectful and offensive. Two, as long as they are thinking I will take their job, they are not trying to seduce one of my colleagues.

At some point they will email or call me: it’s tomorrow! we need to know you will be there! We are still waiting for your answer. Here’s what I write back:

I’m sorry for not responding sooner, but did not think such an unprofessional offer really required a response. I am a professional photographer, and I make my living from what I do. Of course I will not be working for free. My rate is xxx; if this is acceptable I am happy to be of service. Otherwise, good luck finding an amateur stupid enough to fall into such a trap. Because if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.

Assume responsibility for your market

Of course they never understand it. And they are always angry. But that really is not your problem. They will threaten never to approach you again – which really is actually good news.

Because here’s the bottomline: clients need to understand that what we do is valuable. Photographer’s who work for free damage their own market. Clients who get our services for free learn that photographers are gullible and naive. Not quite the message we should be spreading, is it?

Categories // Belangrijke blogs, English

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