Wouter Brandsma 荷蘭

week 3 | 2012

Wouter Brandsma — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 12:26:00 +0000

Last week series where for me photographs that were focused on the hope for change. Another MRI-scan and a planned consultant for a possible back surgery. This week (Wednesday) however I learned that my back problems are inoperable. I need to deal and life with it. That sure was a disappointment, but it is true. I need to continue. Pain is just one of the hazards and thankfully there are so many other things that matter. This series for me became more melancholic this week, but not necessarily more depressing. Even though the images are dark, they also show signs of escape routes. Especially the Friday photograph shows a large gap in the fence that leaves room for changes. And since I am in control I took the Thursday photograph. For me, good reasons to keep continuing this PAD project.

The more aware reader might have noticed that I removed the Flickr link at the top menu of my blog. It is a conscious decision after many years of using Flickr is a sharing facility for my photography (actually since 2006). But keeping up track at some many websites takes up a lot of time. Time I much rather use for my photography and strengthening my back to cope with the daily rigors of life. Therefore I won´t be updating my Flickr stream anymore and plan to delete my account by the end of the year (or just keep it so I can occasionally comment or see the work by others).

All photographs by Wouter Brandsma

Filed under: 2012, Photography, Project Tagged: 2012, everyday, Photography, project, week 3

week 2 | 2012

Wouter Brandsma — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 09:57:00 +0000

Last night I watched a documentary on Vimeo, PressPausePlay, about the democratization of art and how technology and internet has empowered the people. But it also is questioning whether these changes have made art better or that is becoming increasingly more difficult for talents to be noticed. I consider this documentary highly recommended and it sure brings a lot of food for thoughts.

I know it is only week two of 2012, but after a year of extensive daily photography it is fascinating that it still feels like week two. Week two though with the knowledge of 54 weeks. And in week two many manufacturers fought for attention to get their new products noticed. While some new cameras seem really interesting I have hardly any interest in these products, because I really think I use what I really need. The essence of photography is not the technology. Sure it enabled photography and you at least need a camera to capture light, but the kind of camera you use doesn’t really make you a better or worse photographer. Experience and knowledge comes with years of practicing and learning, not with a better piece of equipment or software. Technology can help you, but not make you more distinctive.

For this weeks additional thoughts about a particular photograph I pick up the sixth, Friday, photograph. I regularly photograph from inside a car through the car window. I particularly like these kind of photographs, because they provide me the sense of moving on in a direction. While the general movement in these photographs is forward, a mirror can still give a glimpse of what is left behind.

All photographs by Wouter Brandsma

Filed under: 2012, Photography, Project Tagged: 2012, everyday, moving forward, Photography, project, stroll photography, week 2

week 1 | 2012

Wouter Brandsma — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 21:53:23 +0000

I am on a journey and have no clue where it will end. Like I mentioned in my last year’s post, in the previous decade I used to do primarily landscape photography. And sure, it was possibly different from the mainstream, since it was mostly black & white and I used a small sensor camera for taking these photographs. But to me it felt like my journey was still just beginning. I went from color work in the nineties to predominantly black & white in the first decade of the 21st Century. I made the transition from film to digital and had to familiarize myself with the very specific look, possibilities, and limitations of a compact camera with a small sensor.

Since the nineties I had the strong desire to add a human touch to my photographs. It took me over 10 years to change my photography and actually search for that touch. As a result street photography felt like a natural goal to me. In landscape photography the moment is mostly defined by the light at a particular time in combination with the composition. Generally these composition tend to be a lot more formal based on the rules of thirds or the golden means. These aspects seem so logical that it alters your perception. It becomes like driving a car. You don’t have to think about it when you take a photograph, but unconsiousely you kind of always apply these means to capture a moment. Street photography forced me to look and shoot differently.

While so many things can have benefits, there are also traps right around the corner. One of those traps, and likely one of the biggest too, is that everything starts to feel and look the same. Maybe not so much to the viewer, but certainly for the photographer him or her self. Because you might still get recognition for your photography, you can easily be tempted to continue with this kind of photography while it slowly drags the creativity out of you. It is your comfort zone and even when you would like to break or at least bend it, the feeling of appreciation for what you do and the fear of failure keeps you doing what you might actually want to stop or change. And when you try to wait for a chance to change, you might likely be too late. And this can occur to anyone who does something creative professionally or as a hobby/passion.

So I jumped on the street photography band wagon and I know that not everyone preferred me doing so. And while I enjoyed it and was very thrilled about the adventures in street photography, I learned too in the last few years that it is most certainly not my end goal. That human touch in my photography, that I was looking for, was probably not the touch from the unknown person I photographed in public. No, I felt it was getting much closer, closer to me. I still feel kind of uncomfortable photographing on the street, I still feel uncomfortable taking portraits of people I completely not or barely know. But I gradually start to loose the fear of photographing myself.

In an exchange with another strucked photographer we talked about what really matters in photography to re-enjoy it completely. Mostly in photography the subject is the centerstage of all the efforts you make. Be it landscape, portrait, street or whatever kind of photography. Because it is the subject that really matters you need to make time to get out to places. When the rare time available needs to be used for so many things like family, work, and many others stuff, freeing up time for your photography can become a drag. You loose interest and kill your creativity. To counterbalance everything I personally believe it is important to start appreciating the process of photography again. Everything can be a subject and that doesn’t necessarily have to be the subject of your main interest.

I still have the absolute feeling that what I do now is just a piece of the journey. In fact, I shouldn’t be surprised that I return back to landscape photography, but the lessons I learn in this “in between” period will possibly change my perception of what I see and feel again. And that will reflect too on my photography.

One of the things I will try to do more often this year is to tell more about one of the weekly photographs I post. Some background information, my intentions, and whether I think I have succeeded with that or what I would have preferred to be better or at least different.

As promised above I want to share my thoughts with you about one particular photograph. In this case it is the second, Monday January 2, photograph of the lonely old man standing beside the parked bicycle at the train station. In my hometown, a typical commuter town with approximately 65,000 inhabitants, life seems primarily focused on work, family, and for many also church. Diagonal from the Southwest to the Northeast of the Netherlands there is the bible belt and I live in the center of it. Live is grey and somber. Since it is a commuter town it lacks the buzzling streets of a larger city, making street photography a lot harder. Still there is one location in particular where I often try to make photographs and that is at the local train station. Only at this place it is a come and go with people. I admire street photographers that can photograph multiple people or groups in a single photograph, but I personally prefer to photograph the lonely figures.

This train station built of boring concrete is a cold and rather unpleasant place. And it is this combination with the lonely, often waiting, people that I try to capture. Underneath the station there is a passenger tunnel and while I climbed up the stair I noticed an older man walking nearby. Since it was getting dark I dialed up the ISO to 800 and set the aperture to f/1.7 to make sure I would get a reasonable fast shutter speed. The man was on the left of me. I quickly turned to the left, tried to compose and pressed the shutter. It happened too soon and I knew I missed the first change to photograph him. He walked towards a wall and looked down an passenger alley that leads up to the tunnel beneath the train station. He provided me a second change, but this time I could only see his back. Another click, he didn’t hear me. I briefly saw 1/100 sec in the viewfinder, but I knew in that light it could well be enough. Still I thought I gave the exposure too much light. I decided to underexpose a one-third stop. The man slowly turned to the right in my direction. All of a sudden I noticed the light on his shoulders and the outlines of his glasses. Funny, when I took the first photograph I really didn’t see that. I didn’t need to change my position or alter my framing. A split second, before he would look at me. I pressed the shutter and it felt like I had my photograph.

Why was I connected to this particular moment? The day had been busy. Lots of work to do and I really needed a bit of time to calm down before I would go home to my family. I find it absolutely fascinating how the elder try to survive in this ever changing world. The modern, somber, train station, the dark scenery, pretty obscure and cold lightning, and the strange graffiti (provokingly mentioning peanut butter in Dutch). It is a place where people come and go, but some never seem to leave.

Regarding the fourth photograph it might be interesting to know that a modern Inter-City Express train from Germany passed by at 120 km/h, while the travelers were reminded of an exhibition of the Jewish history in a Christian church in Amsterdam.

In the top menu of my blog there is a link to “My projects“. I have kept this project section running the past year with all photographs from my 365 project. Maintaining two websites though meant a lot of work for me. Since I decided to continue my photography a day project I was really excited about updating two websites. Therefore I will discontinue posting my photographs on the project website. I will redesign that website and post more projects and re-edit the 365 project. I hope to update it in February.

All photographs by Wouter Brandsma

Filed under: 2012, Photography, Project Tagged: everyday, Photography, project, stroll photography, thoughts, week 1

week 52 | 2011

Wouter Brandsma — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 11:56:17 +0000

It is the end of the year and much could be said. A lot has happened to me, my family, and you readers. My thoughts are with those who last their loved ones. And I think of those who deal with sick relatives or friends. We endured the economic turmoil and witnessed political changes all around us. Many dealt with severe tragedies like the people of Japan and the young people in Norway. In the end I still hope you’ve enjoyed your time with family and friends. And of course that kept the passion of photography alive.

It was a meaningful year though. Even though I had my physical problems this year I was still able to photograph regularly with some friends, mostly in Amsterdam. Met some great people in 2011, both in the real and virtual world. Crossed paths with wonderful and inspiring photographers. I totally lived my photography project this year and dealt with all ups and downs. I had no idea how to start, but just did it. February felt awful, March was a turning point, and from April up it turned out better for me. I posted 61 articles on my blog (including this one) and 52 of these where focused on photography a day project. The blog passed the 500,000 views and survived another year. And it makes me humble that other photographers pick up the same idea and do their own photography a day project. I thank you all for that. I feel fortunate to keep this blog going and that my photography gets seen and my voice gets heard.

This last week I wanted to make a small return to the kind of photography I used to do in the previous decade, landscape photography. While I absolutely love to do stroll and street photography, I really appreciate landscape photography. I consider it a great way to learn a lot about composition and light. Again in 2011 I think there has been too much emphasize on gear, techniques (most noticeably post processing), and the typical compositional rules. It is either photography from the technological point of view, the professionals who make the money, or the curators with their intellectually lectured tone. In the blogosphere there are unfortunately few exceptions, like “A Lesser Photographer” (a good read although mostly in terms of motivation). And unless you are a high profile photographer, most photography blogs tend to be forgotten at some point.

I tried to stay away from much of the typical forum gear talk, but did write an article about the Pentax Q and purchased the Panasonic GF1 with the classic 20mm f/1.7 lens. The ever ongoing raw versus jpeg saga still continues and really pisses me off. Yeah, great that a much mentioned blogger Steve Huff can fix a photograph in a minute (I absolutely respect Steve for all the efforts he makes, but turning your blog in a money maker can be a trap too). And that raw images are best for that, but I can fix a bad exposed raw or jpeg image in a second. “Trashcan!” Seriously, the craft of photography is about exposing correctly based on your intentions and composing thoughtfully. So this one is for the newbies: “Learn the basics of photography right and learn all the post processing much later when you are comfortable with the basics“. A badly exposed photograph is there to remind you that you exposed incorrectly. Learn from the mistake and do it over. Rant over.

But who really gives a sh#$t, when so many people lost their lives, their loved ones, their houses this year. And while we bothered about camera, lens, and sensor availability from Japan, (earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster) and Thailand (floods), they were the ones who suffered. Seriously a bizarre world we live in. So lets make the most of everyday, photograph the ones you love, stick to the gear you have, define a project, or simply enjoy the freedom and exploratory feeling of stroll photography. Really appreciate each and every day, look back without moaning, and look forward with excitement. All good light for 2012!

For 2012 I will continue with my photography a day project. I am considering exhibiting all 365 photographs of the first year, although I am still not quite sure how. I like to finish with a quote by Jay Maisel I read in one of Eric Kim’s tweets: “The more equipment you take, the less pictures you’ll take.”

All photographs by Wouter Brandsma

Filed under: 2011, Photography, Project, weekly project Tagged: end of the year, everyday, Photography, project, stroll photography, week 52

week 51 | 2011

Wouter Brandsma — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 15:06:17 +0000

I don’t write blog posts to generate lists. My job is mainly focused on generating list, I am a data-analist. There are already enough blogs around who capture thoughts, ideas, just name it in ranking lists. I try to write blog posts that give an inside look. I am not even good at it, but at least I try it.

Week 51 just finished and I am standing on the doorstep of the latest week of the year 2011 with a nasty flu. It is also the last week of my first year of daily photography. Taking photographs can either be easy or complicated. There are so many variables to take into consideration. A whole lot depends on how you feel and time available. But selecting the photographs for each day can form even greater challenges. I really took nothing into consideration when I started this project.

The end of 2010 was photographically and creatively speaking an awful moment for me. I lost many photographs, was unhappy with my photography, and was very close to stopping. I received many advises on what to do. Most heard was taking a break, enjoying the free time, reading, watching movies. And when ever I thought about these advises it felt like it would take me further away from photography. Was that really worth it? Around Christmas 2010 I was glad the year was nearly over, but I also realized that I took some photographs I was actually proud of. It became obvious to me that photography would be the best way to defeat my lack of creativity. But how?

On the first day of 2011 all of a sudden I knew it. The idea was simple and I decided to start immediately. Photograph each day. I life, feel, think, and dream photography. I just love it. A sort of passionate necessity. Photographing each day seemed like the most obvious thing to do. On that first day I thought about several things. Did I want to edit my photographs daily or at different moments? Did I want to share my project and when so, how? I however never thought about my photographic intentions.

I follow some photographers who try to photograph and post daily. While they learned to edit and choose quickly, it could also be stressful to post daily. I absolutely didn’t want to edit my photographs daily or post them daily. I don’t chimp so much on my LCD screen for reviewing. Sometimes you know you took a good photographs, but I got the feeling that a certain flow and continuation in my photographs was important for me. I still wanted to have something that was regularly timed, to keep a certain pressure on me.

I have always been open on my blog that I do have my doubts and do feel quite uncertain about my photography. And I try to conquer it by actually writing about it and publishing my photographs. To be excited about your best photographs I thought it wasn’t so bad to be open about my lesser or bad photographs too. I therefore decided that I wanted to post my photographs. But how often? Daily posting wasn’t an option for me. To stressful, to many moments. I really need to get away from it. To take some distance from my photographs. As a result I opted for a weekly posting and editing.

How do I know what photograph to pick for each day? There is nothing scientific about that. Sometimes you know an image feels right, but most importantly the images I select have a certain flow. This flow kind of resembles how my week turned out. Usually the images that I pick fit into the kind diary that my blog turned out to be. It all sort of evolved. I had no particular plan in mind except photographing what I see. I knew that it wouldn’t necessarily come down to simply the best images. No, I knew I wanted and had to stay close to my feelings. Mood in every direction affects what I photograph and eventually choose. Alone that feeling is worth all the effort for me.

Not the photographic project became the center of attention, but more everything that came with it. Learning to see things daily and differently. In the meantime I wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

The photographs of this ongoing project will also be updated here.

All photographs by Wouter Brandsma

Filed under: 2011, Photography, Project, weekly project Tagged: everyday, Photography, project, stroll photography, week 51

week 50 | 2011

Wouter Brandsma — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 22:22:38 +0000

Photographically speaking this must be one of my most productive years. I took approximately 10,000 photographs, which is a lot for me. Normally I get to something like 5,000 to 6,000 photographs, realizing that almost half of the photographs I took are the result of my daily photography. These additional photographs feel a lot more personal. With a particular project in mind you set requirements and expectations. With a lengthy project like this one, without any striking event, you simply can not avoid becoming the prime subject. That feels odd, but for me it was very meaningful. It is a lot about capturing mood.

It made me feel vulnerable too at times. I often had doubts. Doubts about the quality of my imagery, doubts of my intentions, doubts on whether I should continue. Sometimes I do really miss taking landscape photographs, just simply enjoying the pure essence of how light can transform something we generally consider beautiful. But then I do also feel that a lot of people already taking extraordinary photographs we feel are beautiful. And I realize that photography can be too about the ordinary, the simplicity, but also the complexity. That photography doesn’t need to be beautiful or exceptionally interesting. No, what for me really matters is that it is close to me.

I know this year only has two weeks left. And I could finish it and consider the project done. But to me, it feels like the start. I intent to keep this project going and do my regular weekly posting with everyday photographs.

Update December 19, 2011
I have been way to positive in my calculation of number of photographs I took. When I checked the number of photographs I totally forgot that I have set my Ricoh GRD and Panasonic GF1 to take both jpegs and raws. Totally stupid of course by me, but that means my total of exposures is slightly above 5,000 instead 10,000. And that number is comparable with what I normally shoot too annually.

The photographs of this ongoing project will also be updated here.

All photographs by Wouter Brandsma

Filed under: 2011, Photography, Project, weekly project Tagged: everyday, Photography, project, stroll photography, week 50

week 49 | 2011

Wouter Brandsma — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 10:40:35 +0000

Celebrating Sinterklaas and my daughter as a “Zwarte Piet”.

The family consultant.

Cold and wet.

Worried, frustrated, and tired.

Supporting a friend. He is not alone.

Brightness is everywhere.

Caught by shadows.

The photographs of this ongoing project will also be updated here.

All photographs by Wouter Brandsma

Filed under: 2011, Photography, Project, weekly project Tagged: everyday, Photography, project, week 49

week 48 | 2011

Wouter Brandsma — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 09:00:30 +0000

When the days become short, the Northern Hemisphere stays mostly grey, and people might be feeling damped, it becomes noticeably harder to photograph and write. It sure does in my case. I want to dedicate time to some projects I have in mind, but that is also my problem. I have hardly any time available. I have a day job, family (in random order), and that all takes up necessary time. After last week I thought about doing more color this week.

The photographs of this ongoing project will also be updated here.

All photographs by Wouter Brandsma

Filed under: 2011, Photography, Project, weekly project Tagged: everyday, Panasonic GF1, Photography, project, stroll photography, week 48

week 47 | 2011

Wouter Brandsma — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 19:39:40 +0000

When things get dark, everything we generally know and consider pretty much normal can become very odd. It can give such an eerie feeling which I do find quite fascinating. Sort of an alienating feeling, I presume.

In these dark days I always start to wonder how the next year will be.

The photographs do echo my feelings right now. Not depressing, but somehow full of uncertainties.

And sure, economically speaking things don’t look that great here in Europe (even not in the Netherlands). But I do know a lot of places have seen so much worse.

It means adapting to the new situation and not knowing where it ends. Although my feeling says it won’t be pretty.

Live by the day instead and focus on my family.

The photographs of this ongoing project will also be updated here.

All photographs by Wouter Brandsma

Filed under: 2011, Photography, Project, weekly project Tagged: everyday, mostly Ricoh GRD3, Pentax Q, Photography, project, stroll photography, week 47

week 46 | 2011

Wouter Brandsma — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 16:32:04 +0000

Despite still having my back problem I am making longer working days again. I do however notice that it is currently affecting my creativity. No immediate inspiration although I love this season where nature transforms.

Normally I would stop photographing for a while until I really miss it.

With my photograph a day project I can’t do that. I learn to accept that not everyday will be perfect, that not everyday and every photograph will be up to my expectations.

I need the lesser days to appreciate the better moments.

What the heck, I even need the months that don’t seem to work.

I really need my doubts.

The photographs of this ongoing project will also be updated here.

All photographs by Wouter Brandsma

Filed under: 2011, Photography, Project, weekly project Tagged: everyday, Photography, project, stroll photography, week 46