Zakelijke fotograaf Rotterdam en omstreken
Afgelopen zaterdag voor het eerst in tijden weer eens een vrij werk project gedaan: in een sportschool body builders gefotografeerd. Dat was superleuk. Ik had van te voren een concept bedacht, en daar heb ik redelijk aan vast weten te houden. Met dank aan alle heren en dames die poseerden, en de organisator en gastvrouw van Fit For Free in Alphen aan de Rijn.
Dit zijn de eerste beelden. Er zullen er nog meer worden toegevoegd. Klik op de beelden om ze groter te zien.
Time for the last image of our Unity project. As I explained in this blog last week friday, I recently collaborated with my friend and colleague Sara Westmaas and two amazing dancers. Together we created a series of 8 images in my studio. We have decided to call this project ‘the Unity Project’.
Sara and I have worked together before. Every now and then we get together to do something fun and creative. This time she had arranged for 2 dancers to come to my studio. Both of us were very busy, so we did not have a concept in mind yet. That’s not always a recipe for success… so when they came and introduced themselves, they asked: ‘so: what are we going to do?’ Sara and I looked at each other and wondered ourselves: yes: what ARE we going to do.
And then I noticed something. We had a white and a black dancer. We had a white and a black photographer. And my studio has a large white wall — and a large black wall. And that is when this concept was born.
In the images of this project we want to tell you the story of race. The story of white and black people. Today, we are showing you the first image. The next image will appear in this blog in two days.
OK, let’s take it from the top. Here are the images in succession, each with a brief description. Click on the images to see them larger.
We regret to say it, but the history of race in our world starts with oppression: white people oppressing people of color. Rising above, and using all the force they have, with all the pride and arrogance of religion and technological advantage, and beating into submission people of color. We asked Joe and Daniel to act this out in one dance move. See Giovanni bring down the hammer of white supremacy and Daniel beaten senseless.
Today (May 5th) is Liberation Day in Holland. We celebrate the end of the war, the demise of fascism, and liberty from German oppression. But the reality is that even now in our world (and even in this country), white people enjoy lots of freedom, while many people with dark skin suffer from oppression: economic oppression, political oppression, sexual oppression.
White arrogance may have ruled the day for a season, but eventually people of color come to understand there is no valid reason for this. Whether in the townships of Johannesburg, on the bridges of Alabama, or in the streets of Amsterdam and Rotterdam, people of color are rising up, as Daniel is portraying here. Unfortunately, again and again white people have no desire to let go of their privileged position and power, and so they respond to this growing self-awareness with rejection and aggression — as Giovanni illustrates in his move.
I love how how Daniel ‘emerges’ here. At some point people of color will need to protest, and this will come out in the next image. But here he is simply saying ‘look at me – accept me’.
By now you are seeing the ‘rhythm’ of these photo’s: the black and white backgrounds keep changing sides — as do the dancers. In this picture Daniel, our black dancer, is rising up in protest. Our white dancer, Giovanni, hasn’t given his plea for consideration the time of day. The oppression continues. There is no choice, but to protest. Not to protest would be an act of self-hatred. Without protest there will be no equality. And so Daniel rises up, lounges forward, and raises his fist (a reference to the Black Lives Matter movement). He lounges forward. For the first time we see Giovanni in retreat. The rejection is still there (the left hand), and Giovanni’s right hand is lifted high, ready to strike Daniel — but he is in retreat.
It appears to us black and white are in a perpetual dance. In these images we are acting out this story — which can be observed over and over again. I love how the two bodies are positioned in a symmetrical fashion.
This image and the next may be the most controversial of this series. I have called this image ‘consideration’. It is a call to my fellow white people to simply consider what our colored fellow-men are saying to us. To hear their story, to sit still and just to listen.
What I observe so often is that as soon as colored people state their claim, white people are on the defensive. There is immediate rejection. ‘No, it’s not true’, and ‘you overstate’ and ‘well, that was a long time ago’. We can’t seem to stop, sit and listen.
Which is why in this picture Giovanni has adopted the pose of the thinker (ref. Rodin). And Daniel is explaining and showing himself. We made sure Daniel’s pose was not one of humility or weakness. There is strength in his pose. But it also isn’t the protest of the last image.
This image is about the recognition that needs to happen on the part of white people that evil was perpetrated on people of color — and continues to be perpetrated. In this image Giovanni’s stance acts out remorse — heart-wrenching remorse.
It seems to me this is the part we most miss. We can barely bring ourselves to say sorry. We fear that as soon as we say our behavior was (is) wrong a debt is created. And so we just want to move on. ‘We need to be future-focused, not dwell on the past’.
I do not think it works that way. I have come to believe we cannot move on unless we deal with the past. Unless we learn to condemn our own behaviour, and recognise there is a debt.
I said these images might be controversial… I can only hope that when we recognise the evil of our behaviour, we meet a generous and open stance as the one Daniel is adopting here.
Sara and I, along with Daniel and Giovanni, believe that we can live together. That a society in which people of different races live together — dance together, even fly together, is possible. But we cannot ignore our history. We have to work through it.
Today, as I write this, it is 130 years ago that Brazil abolished slavery. Sara is from Brazil, and this date is dear to her. Slavery was introduced to Brazil by the Dutch. You will not miss the significance of a Dutch and a Brazilian photographer working together on such a project together.
We hope this series of images speaks to you. That it gives you joy and inspires you. Most of all, we hope it helps us look at each other, embrace our story, work through it, and then dance together.
We want to thank our two dancers for participating with us. This project was a true team effort. We discussed all the poses together, seeking how to best tell the story we wanted to tell. The images of Giovanni Adriano Princic, our white dancer from Italy, were all shot by Sara. I shot the images of Daniel Robert Silva, our dancer from Brazil. Both dance with the Dutch National Ballet (Het Nationale Ballet). The post-processing was done by Rogier. We selected the images together, so this really was a team-effort.
Our dancers:
The Photographers:
Check out Sara’s photography here. Sara has blogged about this project here.
This afternoon I returned from a long weekend in France and Switzerland. I just want to share these images with you because they will form a precious memory for me. I bring my camera along especially for that reason: to capture great memories. I can take great photo’s with my mobile phone, but let me explain to you why that just won’t do.
I studied at the university of Groningen from ’88 to ’90. While there, I met a lovely girl and a great guy. They did not know each other, but I introduced them to each other, and love was born. That wasn’t my intent, but life sometimes works that way. They married and we remained good friends through the years. In fact, he and I worked together for a number of years before I became a photographer. They now live in Switzerland. Last week they both turned 50 (they were born on the same day). This they celebrated in a lovely inn in the French Alps, in a place called Les Carroz d’Araches (near Flaine). Here are some photos of our time together.
Click on the pictures to see them larger. There is a little text with each image. The blog post continues below the images.
After my time in Groningen I worked for a few years and then decided to go back to school. This time I went to Tyndale Theological Seminary in Amsterdam. While there I met Mike, and we became good friends. Mike was an American who had been raised in Italy. After Tyndale he went on to study theology at the university of Fribourg, Switzerland, and eventually left with a Ph.D. He is now the pastor of a reformed church in Winterthur, Switzerland.
I have kept in touch with Mike, and since I was going to be in the area, he invited me down. It was so much fun to see him. Here are some photos of his church, and yes, there’s Mike. He is one cool cat, very hip and modern and all — and yet it is obvious he is really good at what he does. So much fun to see how your friends ‘land’ in their respective lives.
This blog is a celebration of friendship. As I drove home, I was so grateful for the wonderful and amazing friends I have been able to make through the years. I brought a camera along, with the point of capturing these memories. I know that in future years I will look back at these photo’s, and remember this weekend with great memories.
You may wonder why I post such a personal post on my blog. There is a point I wish to make. To my readers, I urge you to make photo’s. Not just with your mobile phone, but with an actual camera. Take good photo’s, and keep them carefully! I am concerned that wherever I go, I see people take photos with their mobile phone. Now, don’t get me wrong: mobile phones these days take great photos. But my concern is that these photos will simply disappear — because photo’s are not properly backed up, and we switch phones every two years . I fear that many years from now lots of people will wake up one day and realise they have no images to hang their memories on. So, dear reader, invest in a camera, and bring it along, and photograph the things you want to remember!
Afgelopen maandag ontmoetten de fotografen van MPN Regio West elkaar weer eens voor een ‘doe-dag’. MPN staat voor Master Photographers Network, een club waar ik al enige tijd lid van zijn. We ontmoeten elkaar 3keer per jaar landelijk, en drie keer per jaar in de regio. Dit jaar mag ik daar samen met twee collega’s leiding aan geven. Vaak hebben we een spreker en een topic, maar nu was het een kwestie van je camera meenemen en nieuwe dingen proberen. Ik koos ervoor om Met licht de spieren van deze sporter te fotograferen.
Voor mij is het fotograferen van een mannenlichaam ‘een nieuw ding’. Er waren drie modellen: twee dames en één heer. Ik heb mezelf er speciaal op gericht om deze de heer te fotograferen. In mijn vrije werk fotografeer ik vooral dames; op de een of andere manier voel ik me tot de heren minder aangetrokken. Best gek, eigenlijk, want ook een mannenlichaam kan bijzonder mooi zijn.
In de foto hierboven ging het me er om om de mannelijke kracht te tonen. De gespreide armen met de aangespannen spieren van deze overigens anonieme man tonen zijn indrukwekkende vermogen.
Vervolgens wilde ik ook zijn oerkracht tonen. Focus, verbetenheid, doorzettingsvermogen, geloof in zichzelf, en het feit dat we uitdagingen stellen aan onszelf.
En dan als laatste nog een foto voor de mode-bladen. Een foto voor één of ander parfum merk. of zo. 🙂
Het staat al een tijdje op mijn bucketlist: ik wil leren zeilen. Dus heb ik afgelopen weekend een zeilcursus met ‘de zeezeilers van Marken‘ gedaan. En zoals van een fotograaf verwacht mag worden: dan gaat de camera mee… Hier een kort verslag en wat beelden.
Ik wil al een hele tijd leren zeilen. Vorig jaar heb ik voor mijn verjaardag van mijn vrouw en kinderen een zeilcursus cadeau gehad, maar daar heb ik niks mee gedaan: het was gewoon te druk. Maar deze zomer nodigde mijn broer mij uit. Hij had alles al uitgezocht. Als iets dan zo in je schoot geworpen wordt, dan moet je het ook doen ook. Dus schreef ik mijzelf in, en zo stond ik afgelopen donderdag (met enige spanning in mijn buik) op een hobbelende steiger in Harlingen.
Het werden 4 fantastische dagen. We zeilden op de Waddenzee en het IJsselmeer. De wind was bijna constant windkracht 6. Soms regende het enorm hard, en dan brak in ene de zon door. We leerden alles over zeilkoersen, het knopen van lijnen, navigeren, en vooral het omgaan met de wind. Naast mij en mijn broer waren er nog 4 deelnemers, allemaal ongeveer net zo onervaren als ik, maar het werd al snel gezellig, en binnen korte tijd werden we een team. We deden zelfs een zeilbeweging die niemand ooit eerder had gezien, en die waarschijnlijk ook niet zo legaal was. Binnenkort ongetwijfeld een standaardnummer op de Olympische spelen. Als u ooit hoort over ‘een Wassinkje’ dan weet u dat wij die beweging uitgevonden hebben. 🙂
Uiteraar ging er een foto-camera mee. Hieronder een paar leuke beelden. Mocht u op zoek zijn naar een fotograaf die uw zeiltocht kan fotograferen, dan houd ik mij graag aanbevolen. Wellicht ten overvloede vermeld ik dat mijn fotografie altijd beter zal zijn dan mijn zeilkunsten…
Klik op de foto’s om ze groter te zien.
It’s been a little while since I last posted pictures from Nepal. May is always a busy month for me. But more than that, I’ve just been taking it slow with these photo’s. Rather than rushing the processing I am trying to give each photo all the attention it can handle in the post processing. I find these people so beautiful — and that is the story I want to tell.
< Walking around the monastery | Early morning in Bakhtapur >
The next leg of our journey took us to Bakhtapur, one of the three royal cities of ancient Nepal. Our tourist guide Saurej tried ever so hard to keep our attention by telling usall he knew about the sights, but I’m afraid it was just no use. I felt like a kid in a candy store: everywhere you looked there was so much to try to capture.
I took many photo’s that afternoon. In this gallery I am just showing you the portraits. In hindsight I think that is what stands ut to me most about Nepal: the faces.
Click on the pictures to see them larger.
Hier zijn de foto’s die ik tijdens ‘The White Shoot’ nam van Lisanne. Ik mocht tijdens mijn dansproject al met haar samenwerken, en dat leverde fantastische resultaten op. Dus toen Lisanne zich aanbod voor deze shoot hoefde ik daar niet lang over na te denken.
De uitdaging was weer om wit-op-wit te fotograferen, en dat in zwartwit. Het is een uitdaging om dan mooie definitie te krijgen in de verschillende ‘vlakken’ en strukturen.
De makeup is natuurlijk weer van Merihen Geminez van Glamour Makeup NL. Lisanne en Merihen, dank jullie wel. Heerlijke samenwerking en mooi resultaat!
De foto’s van Charlene staan hier. Klik op onderstaande foto’s om ze groter te zien.
Met enige regelmaat probeer ik een ‘vrij werk’ project te doen. Een vrij werk project is een project waar ik een mooie uitdaging beetpak en die zelf uitvoer naar eigen inzicht. Iets waar mijn vaardigheden van kunnen groeien en waar geen opdrachtgever over mijn schouder staat mee te loeren: een beetje naar links! Nee, nog een beetje uitzoemen…! In deze en de volgende blogpost laat ik de resultaten van zo’n recent project zien.
The White Shoot was zo’n project. De uitdaging is om wit op wit te fotograferen. Dat is best even een kunstje. Hoe voorkom je dat de witte kleding wegvloeit in de achtergrond? Hoe maak je mooie lichtaccenten? Hoe zorg je ervoor dat je nog wel een wit- en zwartpunt hebt?
Voor zo’n shoot doe je een oproep voor een model dat hier aan mee wil werken. Daar zijn op Facebook allerlei groepen voor: fotografen kunnen daar oproepen plaatsen en modellen kunnen zich zelf aanbieden. Ik heb bij dat soort groepen allerlei bedenkingen. Ik denk ook dat modellen er goed aan doen om even na te denken over wat er eigenlijk in deze groepen gebeurt.
Ik vond het belangrijk mijn foto’s te laten zien. In die groepen zie je vaak fotografen hele mooie foto’s maken ‘ter inspiratie’, als moodboard. “Dit wil ik gaan maken”, is dan de gedachte. Allerlei modellen die daar enthousiast op reageren. Ik kijk dan even naar het portfolio van de betreffende fotograaf. Je kunt best een plaatje van een hele goede fotograaf plaatsen, bv uit de Vogue, maar de vraag is dan nog maar of de fotograaf die de oproep doet, dat ook kan. Kijkend naar allerlei portfolio’s denk ik dat dit vaker niet dan wel het geval is. Ik laat de foto’s zien, ook omdat ik wil laten zien dat ik daadwerkelijk kan maken waarvoor ik heb opgeroepen.
Er is nog een tweede reden dat ik bedenkingen heb bij deze groepen. Maar al te vaak hoor en lees ik verhalen over modellen die ingingen op een uitnodiging van een fotograaf, om vervolgens seksueel benaderd te worden. “We gaan ook naakt doen” en “ik wil ook een paar foto’s van ons samen maken” klinkt het dan. Ik an daar niet genoeg voor waarschuwen: dames / meisjes, pas op! Dat een fotograaf een mooi plaatje pikt en plaatst, betekent niet dat die fotograaf dat ook kan! En neem de eerste keer altijd iemand mee naar zo’n shoot!
OK, maar terug naar The White Shoot. Ik kreeg een aantal aanmeldingen en koos ervoor om te werken met twee dames die ik al een beetje kende— en één die ik nog niet kende. Die laatste kwam ook prompt niet opdagen. Dat gebeurt ook te veel…
Nou ja, niet getreurd. Met Charlene en Lisanne had ik twee hele mooie dames, die ook allebei redelijk veel ervaring hadden. Dat helpt toch wel: als je weet dat iemand ook daadwerkelijk voor de camera kan staan — en dat geldt echt niet voor iedereen. De foto’s die ik hier plaats zijn van Charlene — en zij is een ervaren model met wie ik prettig kan samenwerken.
De visagie werd gedaan door Merihem Gimenez van Glamoustudio NL. Zij is één van mijn favoriete visagiste’s en ze leverde weer erg mooi werk af.
De foto’s van Lisanne staan hier. Klik op de foto’s om ze groter te zien.
Today I realized I came home from my Nepal trip three weeks ago. A number of people have complimented me on the photo’s I have posted so far, and asked when I was going to post the rest. I have to tell you: I have discovered a little hesitant to do so. Every time I post the next the next instalment of images it brings me closer to completing this project. The fact is, the memory of the trip is so sweet, I don’t want it to be over.
< previous Nepal report | walking around the monastery >
Slowly I am waking up to the fact that the trip has touched me deeper than I had realized. And as mich as I think as I think about it, I cannot put my finger on the reason why… it’s really odd! A friend asked me this week what I thought of Nepal. I wrote: Nepal is poor, dirty, chaotic, noisy, shocking — and I have a strong desire to go back! In fact, when I am on the cross-trainer at the gym, I imagine myself climbing the hill to Namo Buddha again. Which is odd, because it was a really heavy walk.
Nepal is poor, dirty, chaotic, noisy, shocking — and I have a strong desire to go back!
Let me tell you about the morning of day three. We were staying at Namo Buddha, one of the holiest places in Buddhism. It is a large temple, as well as education centre for young monks (age 8 and up). We rose with the monks and attended their chanting in the temple. Unfortunately we were not allowed to photograph this. Too bad, because rather experiencing this as a religious experience, I was just so entertained by the young monks trying to chant, while goofing off, exchanging sweets, yawning, hiding snacks from the supervisor, and just being boys. Quite funny. After breakfast we walked down to the village for an exploration of the area. These photo’s are from that trip.
I took loads of photo’s, but rather than overwhelm you with images, I just want to show you a few of my favourite. As always, you can click to see them larger.
We left the hotel shortly after sunrise to drive to Panauti. It was nice to get out of the city. From Panauti, a smaller city some 40 km’s south east of Kathmandu, we walked to the Thrangu Tashi Yangtse Monastery. This walk should have taken us 4 hours, but you know, a group of photographers doesn’t move so fast…
It was a beautiful walk. The temperature was fantastic and the landscape was amazing. And beautiful people are everywhere, with many of them so happy to pose.
Here are my best pictures of day 2. Click to see them larger. I have added some commentary to tell you a little more.
Before I go on, I should tell you that I brought a whole new camera-system on this trip. Many of my readers will know I am a Nikon photographer, but I knew that on this trip there would be many walks like this, and my Nikon-gear is just to heavy. So I bought the Fujifilm X-T2 with a set of 4 lenses. All my pictures on this trip were made with that system.
I have to tell you, I have fallen in love with the X-T2. What an amazing camera it is. I love the controls, the direct information on the electronic viewfinder, and indeed the weight. So comfortable to carry around. And the quality os fantastic. Just to give you an example, the shot at the top of this post was made over lunch. The woman in the photo started cooking right in front of us in her little shop. It was a grabshot, so I grabbed my camera and took the shot, not realizing the ISO was set low, and so I made shutterspeed 1/9th of a second, with a long lens (200mm equivalent). And while her hands are in motion as she squeezes out the egg, her eyes are actually sharp – at a 1/9th of a second! Wow…
You can’t go far in Nepal without seeing that it’s the women of Nepal who do ‘the heavy lifting’. They work hard, and most of the heavy labour is done by women. You see this in the field, in the brick factories we passed along they way today, and also in construction. Most of the time the men stand idly by!
You will see woman carrying heavy baskets of fruits, bricks, sand and rock on their back, hanging from their necks. Our guide, Holi, told us she had to carry baskets weighing up to 50 kilo’s from a young age, as her family worked the land. Nepali mothers do not support the baby’s had, but rather leave the baby to develop neck-muscles right from birth – because the women need a strong neck!
