The photo above was taken in 1997 in Yangshuo, China. Against the backdrop of a breathtaking landscape, two women meet on a bridge. I like to view this website as a digital bridge where I can meet you and take you along to the beautiful places and moments I have been fortunate enough to capture in images as a photographer.
Partly, this website features photos from travels through countries and regions with relatively unspoiled landscapes, and cultures where, rooted in sometimes centuries-old traditions, a certain balance still exists between people and their natural environment.
Another part of the website focuses on nature photography, with special attention to everything that walks, crawls, swims, or flies. Sometimes large, and sometimes—in macro photography—very small.
What these unspoiled landscapes, ancient cultures, and nature have in common is their vulnerability. The world is changing rapidly, and not to their advantage. Perhaps this website can make a small contribution to your awareness of, and your help in preserving, these fragile values.
Technical aspects
I have been into photography since the early 1970s. After initially using a 35mm camera for a while, my more serious work began with the purchase of my Mamiya 645 camera in 1976. Instead of the 3.6 by 2.4 cm negatives used in 35mm cameras, shots with this camera resulted in 6 by 4.5 cm negatives. In terms of surface area, that is a difference between 8.64 cm² and 27 cm², allowing for significantly better quality images with the Mamiya.
A disadvantage, however, was that the costs were quite high. There were only 15 exposures on a single roll of film (compared to 36 in 35mm photography). Roughly speaking, the cost of the film roll and its development added up to the equivalent of about one Euro per negative. On top of that came the printing costs. As a result, you were very deliberate about the number of photos you took.
I used the Mamiya 645 until 2006. After that, I switched to the Nikon F-60, and later to the Nikon D200, and now the Nikon D500. Additionally, the transition to digital photography also led to a shift toward different types of lenses. In the analog era, zoom lenses were initially used only to a limited extent. Prime lenses were of significantly better quality than zoom lenses, and it took a long time before zoom lenses of comparable quality became available. In the Mamiya era, I used two lenses: a 55mm and a 150mm. This is a major contrast to today, where I work with a Nikon 12-24mm wide-angle lens, a Nikon 105mm macro lens, a Nikon 70-300mm telephoto lens, and a Sigma 150-600mm telephoto lens.
Finally, there have been massive developments in the field of image editing. In the analog era, you either had to rely on commercial photo labs for prints or spend time experimenting in a darkroom. With the advent of digital photography, advanced forms of image editing on the PC have become possible. Because I prefer to make only limited adjustments to my photos, I use Photoshop Elements, which is a relatively straightforward program.
For the website, the above means that all photos up to and including 2006 were taken with an analog camera. To make them suitable for this website, the negatives have been scanned, and scratches etc. have been retouched where necessary. Due to the relatively large negative format, this results in a very reasonable quality, though the level of detail does have some limitations compared to modern cameras with many millions of pixels.
Exhibitions
Exhibition “A bridge, a meeting” (1998 Bergen op Zoom, Vlissingen)
From 1998 to 2017, a continuous rotating exhibition at the Municipal Office (Stadskantoor) of Bergen op Zoom, in the wing of the Mayor and Aldermen. Photos from the following travels were exhibited here:
1998-1999 Cycling trip China
2000 Egypt
2001 Greece
2002 China, Beijing
2003 Cycling trip Thailand, Laos
2003 Italy
2004 Sicily
2006 Norway
2007 Tuscany
2009 China
2011 Lake Garda, Tuscany
2012 Croatia
2012 Iceland
2014 Venice
2011 Exhibition “Rice” (De Schellevisse Gallery, Middelburg)
A joint exhibition with my friend Jan Haas, based on our cycling trips together to China, Thailand, and Laos.