I think it is purely to do with intuition that I have chosen one for photography. By graduating in the middle of the 2008 banking crisis, a job with my education was not very promising. At that time, I decided not to choose safety but to go on an adventure and try to find my way in photography for a year. Within six months, I earned my money working on assignments and rented a studio from which I worked. After I decided to make more autonomous work and start experimenting and discovering my own signature, it went fast.
Because of the representation by first the Kahmann Gallery and then Jackson Fine Art, Bildhalle and Atlas Gallery, my name in art photography has grown. My dream was always to get my work as art on the wall, to make work that comes from my soul and what people then find beautiful enough to hang on the wall. This then led to great exhibitions, awards and nominations such as New Dutch Photography Talent 2015, Longlist Prix Pictet 2019 and ones to Watch by The British Journal of Photography.

It all started in 2015 when I climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. We did this for Warchild, a charity in the Netherlands, to raise money for children in war zones. I fell instantly in love with being in the mountains. The physical challenge of climbing, walking for days on end and the good conversations that result from this.
On my return, I started earning more and more money in the Himalayas, and I think I watched every documentary about men risking their lives to make their dream come true – climbing the highest peaks of the world. Because I have a wife and four children at home, I knew that wouldn’t be for me, yet I wanted to go there and experience it all, feel that physical challenge again and this time shoot a beautiful project at the same time. The people, but especially the landscapes.

One of the things I learned during this journey is to be aware of your surroundings, to be constantly scanning and alert from making work while walking, even if you don’t feel like it or just feel miserable. After having slept in a tent for twenty-six days, and often walking more than 20-30km a day at altitudes between three thousand and six thousand meters, sometimes you don’t think about photographing the mountains around you anymore. Still, at those moments, you look differently; you start looking for different shapes, abstract lines. And when you meet people, you are glad they want to stand in front of your camera, so every encounter becomes special.

I always try to create an image that stands out both aesthetically and respectfully. I like to show local cultures with respect and dignity. The image I create must always be aesthetically perfect in my opinion, even though imperfections are often a must. In the case of the Nepalese people, I wanted to show what a beautiful, strong and proud folk it is. In spite of all the setbacks and difficult situations, you are received everywhere with a lot of warmth. That is an image I like to convey, just like I did with the Mukono project I did in Uganda, and the Karawan project I did in Morocco.

It is the first project where the emphasis really lies in the landscape. Of course, the people are inextricably linked to my style and therefore, also to this project. If you walk through the impressive mountains of Nepal for a month, you will not escape shooting landscapes. Of course the ‘awe effect’ is something you hope to achieve, but in the end, it is the result of this amazing view. Nice to hear that my landscapes are well-received. It’s not new for me to do this – I shoot landscapes in all my projects –, but because now the emphasis is on the landscape, it is nice to be recognized for that.

I use chiaroscuro purely because it allows me to convey my vision. I like playing with contrast, and sometimes I try to give the image extra dynamics by doing so. Of course, I am also inspired by my fellow countryman and one of the greatest painters ever, Rembrandt.

My eye is always focused on black-and-white photographs. Colour seems too distracting. I believe that art photography should offer a unique insight into the photographer’s mind. Black-and-white helps to remove from reality and, paradoxically, to focus even more on the subject.

I have no idea if that makes me different. I think in photography, these three subjects are used the most. It's just how you deal with them yourself, what you make of them and how you appropriate them. I’ve noticed that making landscapes was very nice, and in a way, it made me think differently about the work. That’s not to say that it’s something I’m only going to do. People always play a big role in my work, and they always will.

Both sides are nice to use. During travels, it is nice to capture moments, to document what is going on in front of you, although I really don’t feel like being a documentary photographer. I do try to add or manipulate elements in those moments. It doesn’t always have to reflect reality; it is my vision and eye on what is going on in front of my camera. The book tells the story of my journey, but a single image doesn’t always have to convey a story. That is the beauty of art, and that is why I see myself more as an artist than just a photographer.

There are so many beautiful places in the world I would love to go! Unfortunately, I can't travel easily now and take on these kinds of projects because of the pandemic. As soon as everything is back to normal, I would like to travel more and make more plans. Lately, I am looking more and more to Chile, Peru or Patagonia. Seems to me wonderful to do something there.