what .are you?
Throughout my entire photography ‘career’ I’ve been asked “So… what kind of photographer are you?” I find this one of the most difficult questions to answer. I’ve been photographing since I was 12, when my dad first let me lay my hands on his Mamiya NC1000S. This was back in the days when there was no autofocus, no TTL, no digital display, an analog viewfinder, and when the biggest role of film you could find was one with 12 exposures, of which you often lost the first one or two, because it was such an effing hassle to get it into the camera properly. Especially at 12 years old, with shaky, insecure fingers in dad’s expensive camera.
To photograph or not to photograph …
Between then and now there have been long periods during which I didn’t touch a camera, but somehow I always find my way back there. It calms me down. It zones me out. I’ve photographed—I wouldn’t say “everything”, but a lot—from weddings to portraits, from journalistic reportages to “Humans of New York” kind of shots. From (artistic) nudes to corporate parties, from product to travel, underwater and above… The only thing I genuinely didn’t like was weddings. I’m an emotions conductor. I didn’t know this back then, but when I found out, it all made sense. The cacophony of emotions during a wedding drove me nuts. The stress of the groom and/or bride(zilla), the happiness (or sadness) of family and inlaws, the jealousy of guests… I would soak it up and it would drain me to the core.
Macro, my safe space
Maybe that’s why I always draw back to macro. Where you have to squint to see things. Where you have to look and really SEE to find something. And my most favorite: underwater macro while solo diving. Nothing but the sound of Darth Vader to keep me company. And the little stuff. Other wildlife and landscape photography, and especially bugs, are also very okay, but the underwater stuff… there are SO many funky and weird creatures underwater, it’s the most fascinating thing you’ll see! It’s not that I hate people, but sometimes it’s also nice to be alone. I guess the introverts among us will understand this more than anyone.
