The Best of Times, The Worst of Times puts Breda in the spotlight

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In the south of The Netherlands, close to the Belgium border, lies the city of Breda. Though less famous than Holland’s three largest cities - Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague - this place has its own unique character and a rich and remarkable history of national importance. The capital city Amsterdam is, as many of us know, famous for its 17
th century canal area, the Van Gogh Museum & Rijksmuseum, the Anne Frank House and the 200+ legal coffeeshops (not for coffee). Rotterdam is the largest seaport in Europe and once the world’s busiest (until it was overtaken by Singapore and Shanghai in 2004). The Hague is famously known as the International City of Peace of Justice, and the city’s name is almost synonymous with International Law. So, what about Breda? You will be surprised to learn that Breda is the city of Nassau, the ancestors of the Dutch royal family. From 1403 till 1568 it was the center of political and social life in The Netherlands. This mid-sized Dutch city, locally known as "De Parel van het Zuiden" (The Pearl of the South), is famed for its jovial Burgundian atmosphere. “Bredanaars”, as the locals are called, love food, beer, bars, parties, carnival and… photography.

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Once in every two years Breda will be in the spotlight of the international photography world, when a major event turns the city into a photographic feast: the BredaPhoto Dutch International Biennial, the largest of its kind in the Benelux area. For seven weeks, from 9 September till 25 October, local and international visitors can enjoy the work of artists of national and international fame, as well photographs of young talent. Their work are showcased at numerous indoor and outside locations throughout the city.

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Theme
The theme of this years’s 9th edition photo festival is taken from the opening lines of Charles Dickens's 'A tale of two cities' - published in 1859 around the time of the French Revolution. The curators of the the festival thought that this quote summarized the many changes taking place in today’s world: social equality, racism, homosexuality, feminism, economic and political changes, global warming, climate change etc. These changes can be positive or negative, but what is perceived as positive or negative depends on your point of view. This theme was chosen in 2019, long before the coronavirus outbreak. For 2020 it was almost prescient.

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From local photo exhibition to leading international photo festival
Since its founding in 2003 by a group of photography enthusiasts things have developed in a rapid pace. BredaPhoto is not just an exhibition anymore, it is a full scale photo event that offers workshops, masterclasses, webinars, children education programs, photo tours, talkshows, artist-exchange program, new-talent program and more. Since its first edition BredaPhoto has showcased work of hundreds of photographers of national and international fame, like Luis Cobelo, Andrew Esiebo, Ed Kashi, Erik Kessels and Carl De Keyzer. Unfortunately due to the COVID-19 pandemic some activitities had to be cancelled for this year’s edition, but all the artwork that had originally been planned for display are exhibited at numerous locations in Breda.

Not just another photo exhibition
What is it that makes this festival so special? BredaPhoto’s lead curator Geert van Eyck explains:

“BredaPhoto exhibits the state of the art of contemporary photography, based on an internationally relevant social theme: current, stimulating and presented in an original way. BredaPhoto shows stories that are inspiring, moving, confrontational, that raise new questions and demonstrate that photography is the artistic medium that stands at the heart of society”.

Indeed, the photos at the exhibition tell inspiring stories of social issues happening in the world this very moment. It is this visual storytelling that dominates the exibition and makes this event so inspiring and interesting.

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"Shroud" by Simon Norfolk & Klaus Thymann. In an attempt to preserve an ice-grotto tourist attraction at the Rhône Glacier, local Swiss entrepreneurs wrapped a significant section of the ice-body in a thermal blanket. After a few years, the blanket begins to fall apart, a sign that humanity is losing the fight against nature. At the same time, the entire glacier packing project is a desperate move against climate change.

Wu Guoyong
“No Place to Place” by Wu Guoyong. Driven by blind capital expansion Chinese entrepreneurs invested billions in bike sharing. Things then went out of control and in a few years time this led to an oversupply of bikes, expecially in big cities. The oversupply and lack of maintenance created tremendous wastes and millions of bicycles ending up in bicycle graveyards.

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“There are no homosexuals in Iran” by Laurence Rasti. Former Iranian president Ahmadinejad once proclaimed that there are no homosexuals in Iran. In Iran few openly admit they are homosexual because by law it is punishable by death. In Denizli, a town in Turkey, hundreds of gay Iranians are stuck in a transit zone, their lives on hold, waiting to join a host country where they can freely live their sexualities.

The Dutch Mind
The Netherlands is well-known as one of the world’s most liberal, progressive and multicultural country. From a young age, the Dutch are taught to value and tolerate people who are different from oneself, think differently or have different preferences. It involves respecting people's freedom of choice in their attitudes, beliefs and individuality. This attitude of tolerance has led to social policies that some may consider quite permissive. Indeed, many Dutch are proud of the country’s progressive stances on social and ethical issues such as LGBTQI+ rights, euthanasia, soft drugs and freedom of speech. Perhaps more than before this year’s exhibition reflects the culture, values and (tolerant) mentality of the Dutch people.

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The pictures at the exhibition of homosexuals, transsexuals, exhibitionists, human rights activists, environmental activists, political corruption, identity crisis and self-acceptance, these topics interest and fascinate the Dutch audience. To people from more traditional societies many displays at the exhibition may come as shocking, confrontational or even provocative. The most extreme case being a collection of personal snapshots - with male and female genitals clearly visible - displayed inside a church. Quite daring, perhaps even to Dutch standards.

Nation of volunteers
Volunteering is an important part of Dutch culture. According to data from CBS, the Dutch Central Bureau of Statistics, about 50 percent of people aged 15 and older have engaged in some kind of volunteering. Examples of volunteer jobs are: teacher, footbal trainer/coach, hostess, nurse, cook, driver, handyman, swim instructor, fitness coach, daycare, dogwalker, gardener, social worker, librarian, writers, translator, website maintenance, administrator, lawyer, photographer, waiter/waitress, club director and more. Holland is truly a nation of volunteers. At this year’s BredaPhoto festival over two hundred enthusiastic men and women, young and old, work hard to display the state of the art of contemporary photography to the world. According to BredaPhoto general director Fleur van Muiswinkel, having so many people volunteering at a photo festival is very unique to the Netherlands. She admits that “even in neighbouring Belgium, where I live, you won’t see such a large number of volunteers”. Van Muiswinkel stresses the importance of volunteers: “Without them it would be impossible to run this biannual event. We are really happy and grateful they are part of the festival”.

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One important questions at this point is: what drives these people to dedicate themselves to an unpaid job? Surely it is not the free meals or coffee. Interviews taken from volunteers at the BredaPhoto festival show that many find it rewarding to work on a great product as a team. “It’s something to be proud of and I enjoy working in a team” says volunteer installation worker Tjeerd Knoop who also worked as festival guide during the previous edition. Indeed, Holland is not only a country of tulips, cheese and wooden shoes but also a nation of proud volunteers.

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Exhibition spaces
This year the festival has been scaled-down due to COVID-19 concerns but the organizers still managed to dedicate ten locations in central Breda to the festival, each with its own characteristics and some are an attraction in its own right. Especially noteworthy are the following locations:

Grote Kerk - Church of Our Lady
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Skatepark Pier 15
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Abandoned former post office building
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Chassé Car Park
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Chassé Residential Area
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Windows of residences and local businesses
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Below are some unique locations from previous editions of BredaPhoto:


Former prison
43325223030_222fde4a5d_oDe Koepelgevangenis in Breda is a former panopticon prison built in 1886. It is best known as the prison where convicted World War II collaborators were held captive. It was operational until it closed its door in 2016.

Man-made beach
BredaPhotoBeachbBelcrum Beach is a man-made beach in Breda’s Belcrum district popular with the locals

Under bridges
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In 2014 images of Spanish photographer Oscar Monzon were installed under seven bridges in Breda

Not only are the photos at the exhibition worth a visit, the exhibition spaces are worthwhile as well and an attraction in itself.

Creativity and Innovation

People at BredaPhoto not only come up with original and surprising exhibition venues, they also choose their artists carefully, screening for creativity and innovative content. Two artists stand out for their unique way of displaying photographic art.

Power to the models by Jan Hoek
Power to the Models is an installation of eleven models initiated by Dutch artist and curator Jan Hoek. Hoek hands over the power to the models and let them determine how they want to be portrayed. In this way he overturns the balance of power between photographer and model and hopes to inpire people to reconsider the notion of power: should it lie with the photographer or the model?

HCC_5967h5_xsBruin Parry has Down syndrome but also many talents: he is an artist who loves to draw black and white geometric patterns, he is a model, a dancer, a photographer, an influencer and a huge fan of Michael Jackson.

HCC_5979NEW7_xsJyoti Westrate tells her story of adoption and corruption. She travelled back to India to dig into her past and piece together what exactly happened before and during her adoption, eventually hoping to find out who her parents are. Through her personal story Jyoti wants to increase awareness of corruption in het adoption process. It's not about herself anymore, it's about many people like her - all around the globe.

DSCF8322f3_xsFor years Lotte van Eijk was ashamed of her body until she decided to take matter into her own hands. Now she has accepted who she is: fat, proud and damn sexy. She works as a model but more important to her as an influencer and inspirer.

HCC_5948BW99999_xsMohan Verstegen, a soldier in the Dutch army and queer activist, wants to show an “alternative” to the stereotypical image of a white masculine soldier.

Destroy my face by Erik Kessels
Artist Erik Kessels has great ideas but these ideas are not always without controversy. For this year’s edition of BredaPhoto he came up with an “interactive work”, consisting of 60 composite portraits created by an algorithm based on hundreds of images on the internet of people who have undergone cosmetic surgery, male and female. These images were affixed to the floor of the skatepark for people to skate over and gradually destroy the faces.

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Cancel culture has reached Breda
Kessels’ interactive installation was met with widespread criticism on social media of misogyny. The artist is accused of inciting violence against women and disrespecting people who have undergone cosmetic surgery. Within a few days after the opening of BredaPhoto on 9 September, 2020, a group of artists, designers, photographers, and other creatives penned their complaints in an open letter to the festival organizers and skatepark. The group had collected more than 2000 signature within a few days, forcing the skatepark to remove the artwork.

Kessels himself stated the following:
“Cosmetic surgery has become something pretty normal in today’s society. However, when taken overboard, these surgeries can result in deformations. The representation of oneself and what is real seem to blur more and more. The same can be said for how we present the image of ourselves online. Being insta-perfect can become the norm instead of the exception and we can manipulate our image in several seconds. The deformation that once started with cosmetic surgery will continue in this installation while skaters create another uncontrolled reality. Machine learning, as another artificial intervention, was used to generate the selection after entering all, male and female, available online plastic surgery portraits.
 The intention of this work is ironic and intends to evoke a dialogue about self-acceptance. Of course it doesn’t mean to encourage violence against women. With this work I never wanted to offend anyone, but when reading recent comments online, I understand I’ve done so and I apologise for that. In my opinion the function of art in society is to start dialogues and I continue to believe in that”.


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What happened here, call it cancel culture or not, it’s another example of polarization in today’s society – it is the best of times and the worst of times.

BredaPhoto and COVID-19
The coronavirus has turned the world upside down and affected everyone in one way or another. BredaPhoto too felt the impact of the pandemic but after much debate, decided to proceed with a scaled-down, coronaproof version of the festival. Following government regulations and guidelines the organizers had to take new measures to create a safe exhibition environment for both visitors and staff.

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"Modern Mummy" by Joshua Irwandi. A corpse lies stiffly on a hospital bed, wrapped in plastic.The room is dark, sterile, impersonal. No one sits with the body to mourn the life that was lost. A suspected victim of COVID-19, the person died in an Indonesian hospital. Nurses, fearful of infection, wound plastic around the body and sprayed it with disinfectant. Now it’s utterly anonymous—physical characteristics shrouded, name and gender unknown, an object waiting to be discarded.

The number of people visiting an exhibition site had to be limited and controlled but nonetheless BredaPhoto has already proven – even in the worst of times – to be a successful event. Perhaps it came at a time when many people needed it, to come out of isolation and bring back a bit of normalcy in these abnormal times. In a way photography works like medicine - a dose “joie de vivre” to cope with the reality of COVID-19.

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,
It was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness,
It was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity,
It was the season of light, it was the season of darkness,
It was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair"

Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities, 1859










Stay At Home Jay

The coronavirus pandemic is affecting the lives of people all around the world. Millions are confined to their homes, either in strict quarantine or requested to stay home and only go out for necessary purposes. People from all walks of life - including those working in the field of photography - are finding ways to adapt their life to the new reality.
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic I have focused on documenting the impact of the outbreak on people's life in The Netherlands. My recent project "Stay At Home Jay" is a short visual storytelling about life at home of a teenager during the COVID-19 epidemic. I added some background shooting information that might be interesting.

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Stay At Home Jay
This is Jay, a 15-year-old teenager living in The Netherlands. He too has to stay inside
most of the time. He doesn't really mind that, because he is really obsessed with music nowadays, especially playing piano, keyboard and guitar music. He wakes up with music and sleeps with music. In between there is online-class, music, some school homework, music, physical exercise, music and… music. Throughout the day he turns his home into "The City Of Stars" as he plays the famous melodies from Lalaland or sends the Campanella ("The Little Bell" - Liszt's piano adaptation of Paganini's famous concerto) jingling through the house, then rushing through his repetoire of modern and classical pieces and ending with Clapton's Tears in Heaven on his guitar. His life wasn't always like this. Jay recalls the times that he really hated the piano and guitar, crying and sobbing because this was not his idea of fun. Fortunately, things have changed. The sudden revival of interest in music happened not long before the start of the coronavirus outbreak. Now that the pandemic is keeping Jay at home, he has plenty of time for his rediscovered passion. Suddenly I realize it's not the pandemic that keeps him home, but the music. Oh, well…

Background info
This first picture in the series is an introduction to Jay in static pose and technically speaking the easiest shot. During the epidemic loads of "quarantine" photos have appeared on the internet of people behind doors and windows, hand(s) touching the glass. These images send a serious message: stay safe and keep away from our invisible enemy, at the same time telling us how much we want to go out again and do things that were once so normal. Awkwardly, people in those pictures - posing solitary - were often wearing face masks or protective gloves or both while confined to their homes, to me this is a bit overkill/excessive. I chose to shoot without a face mask or disposable gloves in this popular "behind the window/door" scenario. I asked Jay to close his eyes to create a more dreamy and peaceful look. Additionally, I requested Jay to push his head slightly against the glass. This way his "long" hair would be more visible and striking. Due to the coronavirus the Dutch government has ordered all hair salons to be closed until further notice. Jay is not worried about that, he is getting used to his long hair, even starts to like it and now wants to grow it longer and longer…


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New challenge
In pre-corona times life was going fast and full of sports and social activities, now the virus has put life on pause. This pause comes with lots of domestic free time, time to find new challenges at home. Jay found his: playing the keyboard while lying flat on his back. Somehow this picture reminds me of Jimi Hendrix playing his guitar behind his head. That's fine, just don't start licking it!

Background info
For this photo I had to attach the camera to a monopod hanging right above the subject and remote control with a smartphone connected to the camera (Nikon Snapbridge). Tried a couple of shots with eyes open but prefer this expression on his face, eyes closed, fully absorbed in music.


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Jumping rope
Now that Jay is stuck inside most of the time it is important to stay active and physically fit. Jay has been doing push-ups, sit-ups and plank exercises for a while and now that the weather has turned more pleasant he is trying jumping rope on the balcony. A nice way to do exercise at home and at the same time breathe the fresh outside air, Jay thought (especially for someone who came from heavily polluted Beijing last year). But the joy was short-lived… after ten minutes Jay complained about "frostbite" in his feet caused by the "freezing cold" balcony floor… Fine. I got my shot!

Background info
Shooting this picture needed careful planning as I wanted to create an "elegant" image of Jay in jumping rope action. The balcony is facing north - so there was hardly any light reaching the balcony while the beautiful trees at the background were brightly lit by the afternoon sun. The contrast created a perfect scenario for a silhouette photo. The door on the right, opened at 90 degrees angle, hid the unattractive brick wall behind and mirrored the attractive background trees.
The challenge here was to "freeze" Jay at the right moment to capture him in elegant "jumping rope" action. Apart from capturing Jay's silhouette "mid-air" it was also important to capture his rope clearly - to show him engaged in jumping rope activity. I choose to freeze him at 1/1250 second shutter speed, fast enough to get a sharp image of Jay and capture the rope clearly (should I have chosen a slower shutter speed, the rope would only have been partially visible or not at all). After seeing the picture Jay said it was worth the frostbite.

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Join the lockdown cooking club
Amid the (semi-)lockdown even Jay found some culinary inspiration, to everyone's surprise. With zero cooking experience he starts to show off his (very experimental) home-cooking skills. His very first dish was his "quarantine macaroni" and now he has gone totally wild trying his hand at "isolation pancakes".

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We definitely had most fun shooting this photo. Children love pancakes, even more throwing pancakes :) Can't remember how many times it went wrong but this moment will always be a good memory.
For this shot I had to use a flash because the ambient light in the kitchen was terrible, forcing me to overstep ISO 1600, something I rarely do. By using a flash I could lower the ISO (thus less noise and better dynamic range).

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Kick that corona!
Soccer is Jay's favourite outdoor activity. Pre-corona he used to play soccer three days a week at the club, now he is stuck playing home-soccer with his dad. After weeks of abiding the Dutch "stay-at-home" order Jay starts to miss playing soccer with his friends.

Background info
Of all the photos in the series this one was the hardest to shoot. It took a total of 26 attempts to get this result (the same number of attempts it took Dali to get his Flying Cats photo done - only no animal abuse involved here ;) Seems like 26 is magical!)

There were quite a few challenges here:
1) The ball had to be shot with great accuracy, aiming at a spot slighty to the left from the camera (photographer's view). This way the ball would not cover the main subject (Jay) and leave enough space to the right for Jay to appear.
2) The ball should follow a straight line towards the camera, not a curved path. This logically implies that
3) The ball should be kicked hard, making it more challenging to protect the camera when the ball is rushing at full speed towards its bull's eye.
4) To fend off the incoming ball effectively I could impossibly shoot through the viewfinder at the same time. This meant I had to fix the camera on a tripod, then pre-focus on the subject (in continuous focus mode) and pose myself above the camera while pushing the shutter button. A camera with a fast and accurate autofocus performance is crucial for this job.
5) Finally, to create an aesthetically pleasing result the ball kicking action should be well executed from initial swing to "follow through". The subject also had to refrain from swinging his arm or leg in front of his face.

Oh… I should mention that before I got my perfect 26th shot the ball literally went everywhere 25 times: the wall to the left, right, the ceiling, the television, lighting equipment, tripod, the vase of roses on the table (that's why you only see an empty table)…

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Everyone stay safe! Hope things will get back to normal soon.



Documenting the COVID-19 pandemic - The Netherlands


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Few people use public transport during the coronavirus pandemic. Here an almost empty train station in Breda - The Netherlands


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Empty street scene in The Netherlands

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Empty street scene in The Netherlands

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Scene of an empty park in central Breda - The Netherlands

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Hanging white shirts with heart symbol in of support of healthcare workers

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A teddy bear on display in a window of a house. Teddy bear hunting is a popular game to distract kids from the stark reality of the virus.

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Church bells ring in show of solidarity and sign of hope during the coronavirus pandemic

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The Amphia hospital is one of the main hospitals where patients are being treated for coronavirus

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A teddy bear on display in a window of a house. Teddy bear hunting is a popular game to distract kids from the stark reality of the virus.

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A teddy bear on display in a window of a house. Teddy bear hunting is a popular game to distract kids from the stark reality of the virus.

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Government warning sign to remind people of proper social distancing especially at popular public places

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Government warning sign to remind people of proper social distancing, here at the entrance of Galderse Lakes area

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Empty street scene in The Netherlands

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Hope the coronavirus epidemic will end soon

Project Sagrada Familia: new angles

Antoni Gaudi's Basilica de la Sagrada Familia - although still not completed - is already an impressive architectural achievement. This iconic monument in the heart of Barcelona has been photographed by millions of visitors from all kinds of angles. So, I wondered: are there still unique angles or compositions left? It has always been my belief there are new angles and compositions "out there". I took to the internet and googled hundreds of photos of Gaudi's famous basilica to 1) familiarize myself with these known angles and compositions (many of these were shot in symmetrical composition) and 2) to refrain myself from shooting from the same angle or use the same composition. So, in a way Google was my guide to how NOT to shoot the Sagrada.

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Gaudi is known for his organic and free-flowing architectural style. The trees outside the basilica were perfect "organic elements" to fill a large part of the image frame and the main tree functions as a "leading line" to draw the viewer's attention to Gaudi's construction. But wait… the tree itself, its size and silhouette shape, looks quite interesting too. It is as if the tree and Gaudi are competing for attention.

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It was so crowded at this spot (where visitors looked at a model of the Sagrada Familia in a glass box) that I had to shoot this very quickly with my smartphone. Good thing it had a 16mm wide angle lens. The people and the reflections on the glass box gave this photo an interesting "dimension".

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Breaking the rules of symmetry

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Staircases that look like the spiral of a nautilus shell, tight buds of flowers in roof ornamentation, and spider webs, stalactites, honeycombs, starfish, mushrooms, beetle wings… so organic, unique and surreal… so Gaudi!

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Did you see the intestines on the ceiling?

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Love the design of these stained-glass windows

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The late afternoon sunlight gave this statue of Saint George (the patron saint of Catalonia) a warm appearance, the angle of the incoming light gave this statue a stronger three-dimensional look.

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Okay, I did shoot a symmetrical photo… just to show that the Basilica de la Sagrada Familia looks great from any angle!


Chi Hong Solo Exhibition "Ani'motion" opens in Beijing

11 March 2019 - Chi Hong solo exhibition “Ani’motion” opened its doors to the public.

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The opening ceremony took place at 2pm and many guests attended this event. Among the distinguished guests were consul general Fang Hui, renowned contemporary artist Liu Yaming, Xu Xiangyang and photographer Xing Senlin. Celebrated musicians Chang Jing, Aiys Songzhao, Zhangdi and Song Song were also among the guests.

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Director Feng of Beijing Zoo delivered the opening speech, followed by producer and founder of Do Architecture & Art Cheng Dapeng and artist Liu Yaming. Photographer Chi Hong gave an introduction to his work and concluded the first day with a short tour in the exhibition hall of Beijing Zoo’s Lion Tiger Hill.

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Ani’motion is short for animal emotion but the exhibition is not just about animals – it is also about us humans and the resemblances between human emotions and animals emotions.

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By looking at the photographer’s work it seems like each animal wants to tell us something… Each their own story, their own emotion. The photographer’s intention is not only to showcase his work but also to strenghten the bond between humans and animals by showing us how “human” animals are.

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The exhibition Ani’motion will run from March 11th through April 4th at the Lion Tiger Hill Exhibition Hall inside the Beijing Zoo compound. Open from 09:00-17:00.

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Monkeys in National Geographic Traveller

My monkeys made it to the National Geographic Traveller India magazine. Shot this photo back in 2012… Still like this photo :)

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Lonely Planet website

Recent photos for Lonely Planet website

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Architecture interior + exterior

Finally finished shooting this architecture assignment. Three days of pre-shooting/location scouting, main shooting and after-shooting. The client was great for making the necessary arrangements to let the shooting go smoothly.

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BeijingKids November issue

Photos published in BeijingKids magazine November issue

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Announcement Posters

Announcement poster for a musical art exhibition. A fun day shooting these two artists!

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798 Art District Beijing

Assignment at Beijing 798 Art District. Shooting before the visitors came in! This time I did not manually click-remove anyone :)



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BeijingKids September issue

Photos published in BeijingKids magazine September issue

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Monaco post stamp

Sold a photo to the city-state of Monaco this year for the production of the official stamp commemorating the major exhibition event "The Forbidden City in Monaco". Finally received the stamp today :)

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Beauty of the Erasmus bridge

Whether by day or by night… The Erasmus bridge in The Netherlands shines!


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My cute pandas on KLM Cargo

This cargo box was used to transport the giant pandas Xing Ya and Wu Wen from native China to Schiphol airport in The Netherlands. The pandas arrived safely on 12 April 2017. The two bears are on loan and will stay at a special enclosure in Ouwehands Zoo for 15 years. I shot this photo back in 2012 in Chengdu, China.

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Want a maternity shooting session?

Not what you typically call a maternity shooting session but the result is one of my favorites! The parents did such a great job that day! It was my great honor to give the child a Chinese name 爱丝丽 :) ~ born a week after the shooting.


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