When did you first start taking photographs?
I first started dabbling into photography around the age of 25, rather late and there is no nostalgic story of finding a camera in my grandmother’s attic and becoming inspired to photograph. Although, my grandfather was a hobbyist and was developing the film he shot himself and he did pass this onto my father, but I was not interested until later in life. Eventually, I did ask for my dad’s analog camera which was a Canon A-1 and I use it to this day.
When you shoot, do you create as you go or do you set out with a plan? What is your creative process?
I need an idea and then I try to execute that idea to the best of my ability. Finding the right model, location, styling and props is a laborious process and not always so easy as it seems.
What is the most powerful picture you ever took? And why?
This is hard to say, I took so many by now. One of my favourite images is one I took of model Dorith Mous. She is standing on the edge of a paddle boat; fully nude, while I shoot it trying to stay afloat in the water.
Which lens do you prefer?
A zoom lens so I have available different focal lengths, without changing the lens every time.
Can you tells us a bit about your process in terms of shooting and editing?
I tend to try to retouch my photos for the basics only: colour, skin imperfections. Nowadays I try to edit out as little as possible and to keep the imperfections there, unless they are really distracting and not part of the model’s permanent features.
What made you decide to create your book Chasing Dreams? You’ve been working for quite a few years, why was this the right time for you to compile it into one book?
The book Chasing Dreams was published in 2018. At that time I had been shooting for about 6 years or so. It was the right time, because Prestel Verlag (the publisher) reached out to me and proposed to collaborate to publish my book. The book is a collection of earlier work, mostly analog and mostly personal.
What was the biggest challenge in making your book?
The biggest challenge by far was to choose which images to use and how to lay them out. Also, to rescan some of the analog images, as I had quick scans of many, but the book in print demanded a few to be in a higher resolution. That is a lot of work going through my film archives and finding the frame; subsequently retouching it again to match the colors of the initial scan.
How much time has passed between the photos in Chasing Dreams?
It’s a collection of my personal work I shot in the first 6 years or so.
What is some bad advice you got when you were starting? If you could go back to the beginning of your career, what advice would you ignore?
Photography and what you create is a very personal matter and taste is personal too. One thing I think is redundant is going to photography school. In terms of technical understanding, sure it is useful. But, in terms of creativity, not so much in my opinion. It can even hamper you.
At the end of the day someone is judging your work and might like a very different kind of aesthetic. Let’s imagine someone teaching you is a big studio fanatic and loves perfectly lit subjects. If you are more of an outdoor photographer and like snapshot style, with many imperfections, that teacher might already be negatively biased towards your style.
My advice is simple: follow your intuition. Create what you want to create. Listen, but don’t take everything to heart. Look for inspiration and see what piques your senses and what makes your heart beat faster from excitement. To succeed in this field, one thing is necessary: perseverance.
What is the most important to you in what you do?
To me the most important thing about what I do is that I can create a world that does not exist, but that could be real. I loved images I saw as a child from legendary fashion photographers. They captured and presented visuals that were carefully directed and depicted. I think one of the beautiful things about this work is that you can create what you want and if even one person is inspired by it then it is all worth it for me.
