Photographer #394: Jan Banning

Jan Banning, 1954, The Netherlands, was born from Dutch-East-Indies immigrant parents. He studied Social and Economic History at the University of Nijmegen. His work is a mixture of photojournalism, documentary and fine-art photography. He has released an impressive amount of photography books. His most recent monograph is Comfort Women, a series of portraits of Indonesian women who were victims of forced sexual labor during the second World War. During the war the Japanese military set up a system for sex slavery, forcing women into prostitution in military brothels. Most of the women suffered physical and emotional consequences ever since. In 2008 he introduced the book Bureaucratics, showing offices of members of the executive in various services and levels. The offices have been photographed in eight different countries on five different continents. The project was done with a writer; Will Tinnemans. As they would come by unannounced, Will would interview the employees, keeping them from tidying up the office. For the book Traces of War: Survivors of the Burma and Sumatra Railways he portrayed Dutch and Indonesian men who all worked as forced labor for the Japanese during World War II. They had to build the Burma or Sumatra railroads in miserable conditions leading to the death of many of them. The following images come from the series Comfort Women, Bureaucratics and Traces of War: Survivors of the Burma and Sumatra Railways.

Website: www.janbanning.com

Photographer #388: Kim Boske

Kim Boske, 1978, The Netherlands, is an experimental photographer based in Amsterdam. She studied at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague. Her photography deals with time, perspectives and space. It is a research in which time and space run together. She focuses on the mutability of things. In her series Mapping she merged different moments in time, investigating how physical movement in time and space change our perspectives. She photographed trees from different angles and when all the images are combined we actually see the tree in its entirety. She created images of flowers that combine several shots of the same object. The changing of light during the day was an important factor. Kim's photographs reveal phenomena that are impossible to see or witness with the naked eye. Her work has been exhibited at several venues in the world and a large number of Dutch exhibition spaces. The following images come from the series Mapping, Collection of Sleepings and Awakanings and I Go Walking In Your Landscape.

Website: www.kimboske.com

Photographer #384: Juul Hondius

Juul Hondius, 1970, The Netherlands, studied at The Royal Academy of Fine Arts in The Hague. At first glance his photographs look like documentary or photojournalistic images. The images of Hondius however are carefully constructed and staged. Images we believe to be of Bosnian immigrants can be shot in a Dutch field. As viewers we might believe we are looking at images depicting immigration, civil war, refugees, smuggling and other situations. He plays with the language of photography that we know from the media and takes all these details combining them into an image that is all about the eye of the beholder. For his image Bus showing three people sitting in a bus, he took a perspective that is impossible to create in real life. The bus is sawn in two, making it possible for Juul to create the narrative image yet making the image more convincing. His work is suggestive and leaves enough space for the viewer to create his or her own stories. His work has been exhibited extensively and has appeared in numerous books, catalogues and magazines. The following photographs come from his portfolio.

Website: www.juulhondius.com

Photographer #380: Marcel van der Vlugt

Marcel van der Vlugt, 1957, The Netherlands, is a fine-art, fashion and commercial photographer based in Amsterdam. Once he was finished with his studies at the School for Photography in The Hague he went to Düsseldorf, Germany to assist an advertising photographer. Although his school was largely focused on the technical aspects of photography, Marcel managed to create bodies of work that, although technically perfectly executed, are multi-layered in context. He works on a large-format camera, shooting polaroids to keep control on his final image and to engage the models in the process. The images, autonomous or commercial, are often sensual, poetic and carefully composed. Between 2007 and 2010 he released four monographs. The book A New Day, released in 2008, simulates an imaginary cosmetic clinic where instead of liposuction and nosejobs, the patients get implants of flowers. The blossom is a metaphor for youth, new life and fertility. His work has been exhibited mostly in the Netherlands, but also in other European cities and in the USA. The following images come from the series A New Day, I Like... and Der Kommisar.

Website: www.marcelvandervlugt.com

Photographer #375: Gerco de Ruijter

Gerco de Ruijter, 1961, The Netherlands, is a landscape photographer with a unique perspective. His aerial photographs are taken on a analogue camera hanging from a kite or sometimes on a long fishing rod. He studied painting and the first images were supposed to be used as studies for his artwork. He soon found the photographic images much more intriguing. One of his latest series is Baumschule and focuses on tree nurseries. The images are composed geomatrically. The distance from the subject helps to create the impression of an abstract painting. Gerco considers his best images to be those where recognizable reality meets abstraction. He has a lot of control on what will be on his photographs by making clear choices. The small part he doesn't control is fixed by framing in a way to achieve the best result. He has traveled to Iceland, Dubai, USA and various places in Holland for his photography. The following images come from the series Baumschule, 2008-2011 and Transfer.

Website: www.gercoderuijter.com

Photographer #374: Hellen van Meene

Hellen van Meene, 1972, The Netherlands, is a portrait photographer who studied at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam. Most of her portrait images are of young teenage girls. She is widely known for her exceptional use of light and the sometimes awkward yet fragile poses. She works with girls that have no experience being a model and guides them in how they need to pose. She only uses natural light in order to keep fully concentrated on her models. She has traveled to Japan, England, Latvia and Russia amongst other countries for her portraits. In contrast with her earlier work, where she would ask girls in her surrounding and have time to create a strong image, she asked complete strangers in the streets to be photographed while she was traveling in search of the right teenagers. The portrait sessions were often finished within ten minutes. Hellen has been exhibited extensively throughout the world, been in numerous publications and released several photography books. The following images come from her portfolio.

Website: www.hellenvanmeene.com
(Video starts in Dutch but includes an interview in English towards the end and shows a large collection of her works)

Photographer #371: Anuschka Blommers & Niels Schumm

Anuschka Blommers and Niels Schumm, both 1969, the Netherlands, met while studying at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam. Since graduating they work as a team on fashion, portrait and still-life photography. In 1997 they were asked by fashion designers Viktor & Rolf to shoot for Purple magazine. The result launched them into the fashion photography world. As this was a discipline they did not feel comfortable with, they started to play with the conventions of fashion and photography. It lead to a unique approach, often using friends as models as they were more interested in the person than the clothing. The hyper-real photographs were revolutionary in which identity and desire played important roles. In 2006 they released the book Anita and 124 other portraits, showing a collection of their work between 1996 and 2006. The portraits are presented alphabetically, creating unexpected combinations. They have been published in numerous books and catalogues as well as many of the leading fashion magazines. The following images come from various shoots within their portfolio.

Website: www.blommers-schumm.com

Photographer #339: Anoek Steketee

Anoek Steketee, 1974, The Netherlands, is a documentary photographer with a unique approach. In her series Dream City she visited, together with journalist Eefje Blankevoort, various amusement parks. She went to Iraq, Lebanon, Israel, the Palestinian Territories, Rwanda, Colombia, Indonesia, China, Turkmenistan and the USA. The parks form a universal backdrop to the large differences in cultural, sociological and political contexts. She stages her subjects and her lighting is impecable. In 2011 Dream City was released as a monograph. For the series Frontstage she visited Iran on several occasions between 2003 and 2006. She wanted to explore to what extend the image of Iran had been created by the western media and the Iranian propaganda itself. She asked passersby to pose, again using flash lights and giving the people directions. By using this technique, the people in the images become individuals with a story, while the Islamic Republic and the revolutionary ideology faded into the background. The following images come from the series Dream City, Frontstage and Holy Sepulchre.

Website: www.anoeksteketee.com

Photographer #298: Dana Lixenberg

Dana Lixenberg, 1964, The Netherlands, lives and works in New York and Amsterdam. She studied photography at the London College of Printing and at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam. She has received commissions from magazines as New York Times Magazine, Newsweek and Vibe among others. Next to her commissioned and editorial work she focuses on long-term projects. She concentrates on humans, often at the margins of society. Dana is capable of stripping down any pretences resulting in pure portraits. Amongst the books she has released is The Last Days of Shishmaref. It explores the intricate relationship between the inhabitants of the island Shishmaref in Alaska and the rough landscape. It shows a community with an uncertain future. Dana works with a 4x5inch camera. In her series United States she portrayed American citizens from various layers within the US population including celebrities as Prince and Leonard Cohen. The following images come from the series The Last Days of Shishmaref, United States and Favela Police.

Website: www.danalixenberg.com

Photographer #254: Pieter Henket

Pieter Henket, 1979, The Netherlands, works and lives in New York. He is a self-taught portrait photographer who in recent years has photographed various celebrities. In 1999 he left for New York to study at the Film Academy but soon fell in love with the photographic medium. At a young age he managed to get an internship with the film director Joel Schumacher. The influence of cinema is easily noticed in his images. The Interrogation Project is a series in which he asked directors, actors and musicians how they would react to a police interrogation. He might be most known for the cover of Lady Gaga's first album The Fame. The following images come from the Interrogation Project and his portfolios Images and Portraits.

Website: www.pieterhenket.com

Photographer #252: Jeroen Hofman

Jeroen Hofman, 1976, The Netherlands, is an editorial and commercial photographer who also focuses on his personal work. He is currently in the process of self-publishing his book Playground, which should be released towards the end of 2011. Playground is a long-term project in which he photographed training facilities where members of the fire brigade, the police force and the ministry of defense are getting prepared for various situations. Jeroen often takes an elevated position with the use of a platform crane while shooting his large-format images of these orchestrated scenarios. In his commercial and editorial work Hofman often focuses on portraiture. The following images come from the series Playground, Beringsea Fishermen and Inferno.

Website: www.jeroenhofman.com

Photographer #204: Ruud van Empel

Ruud van Empel, 1958, The Netherlands, is a photographer who's work often seems magical at first sight. He shoots many images and combines them in a computer. In his series World and Dawn, both combined amongst other series in the 2009 book Photoworks, Ruud seeks to find innocence and beauty in his composed photographic works. He uses nature and children as his subjects, creating vibrant images that have a outer-worldly feel to them. The work of van Empel has been in numerous publications and in countless exhibitions. The following images come from the series Panorama Works, Dawn and World 2007-8.

Website: www.ruudvanempel.nl

Photographer #197: Ellen Kooi

Dutch photographer Ellen Kooi, 1962, works and lives in The Netherlands. She makes large-scale photographs. They are stories created on camera that seek the border between reality and fantasy. The landscapes and the subjects, often young girls or boys, fit together perfectly and create a dramatic and poetic scene. Ellen has been in numerous exhibitions worldwide and her work can be found in various private and public collections. The following images come from her portfolio.

Website: www.ellenkooi.nl

Photographer #175: Martijn van de Griendt

Martijn van de Griendt, 1970, The Netherlands, is specialised in documentary photography and portraiture. His images contain personal stories of the portrayed. He is fascinated by teenagers who are always searching for their identity and a way to interact with eachother. Martijn released several photography books in the last five years. One of them, Smokin' Boys Smokin' Girls, depicts smoking teenagers throughout the world.  The following images come from his ongoing series on Teenagers, Maria and Smokin' Boys Smokin' Girls.

Website: www.martijnvandegriendt.nl

Photographer #138: Paolo Woods

Paolo Woods, 1970, The Netherlands, grew up in Italy and currently works and lives in Paris. He has published various books together with journalist Serge Michel. Paolo concentrates on long-term projects that are news related, but not "hard news." He travels the world, from Afghanistan to Algeria and from China to Nigeria for his in-depth stories. In his series Chinafrica or China Safari he focused on Chinese workers and investers in Africa. These Chinese businessmen go to some of the most dangerous places to set up their business and to make money. The following images come from the stories Walk on my Eyes,  Chinafrica and Oil / A Crude World.

Website: www.paolowoods.net

Photographer #126: Pieter Ten Hoopen

Pieter Ten Hoopen, 1974, Netherlands, left for Sweden in 1999 to study photojournalism at the Nordens Fotoskola, since then he has been living and working in Sweden. Pieter has been all over the world for his stories, from Iraq to Kenya and from Russia to Mallorca. In 2010 Ten Hoopen won two World Press Photo Awards, one of them for his series on Hungry Horse in Montana. Next to his outstanding work as a photojournalist he has been recognized for his portraiture and his commercial work as his campaign for SSU. The following images come from his series Stockholm, Balakot - Earthquake and Kitezh - The Invisible Town.

Website: www.pietertenhoopen.com
For more work: www.agencevu.com/

Photographer #103: Viviane Sassen

Dutch photographer Viviane Sassen, 1972, released her monograph Flamboya in 2009. The book combines photographs taken in various African countries. It is a mix of spontaneous and staged photography. She is taken by the appearance or behaviour of the people she encounters. Often one sees a play of shadow and light, where heads might be completely in the dark. In other images she uses objects to cover parts of her subjects body. She uses this style aswell in her fashion and commercial work. She has worked for clients such as Diesel and Miu Miu. The following images come from the series Ultra Violet, Flamboya and Realm.

Website: www.vivianesassen.com