Photography started for me at the age of twenty, back in 2003. I was studying leisure management and went to study abroad in the United States. Friends and family organized a surprise goodbye party and I was given my first small digital camera. Being abroad I wanted to share my experiences with the people back home and started to experiment with the medium of photography to do so. 

At the age of thirty-two I started working part-time so I could combine my job (as program manager at a business school) with studying photography at the Fotovakschool (2014-2017). Today I combine a part-time job (still as program manager) with self-initiated photography projects.  

For my projects I always use someone’s personal story to tell a bigger story, related to social issues I think deserve attention. Sometimes a project originates because I meet someone and am intrigued by a story they share with me. Other times I start a project because I feel strongly about a certain topic and use this as a starting point. 

I often try to involve the social environment of the people as well. How do things happening to one person affect the people around them? How is their relationship and does it change over time? How important are their family roots when it comes to finding their identity? 

The stories I work on are often so personal, that it takes time to find mutual confidence. It requires the people I portray to open up to me and trust me, but I also need to be vulnerable myself. That’s why I mostly work quite intensively with them for a longer period of time. People need the chance, trust and time to speak. I am sincerely curious to hear their story without judgement. Meeting people, talking to many different people, hearing their stories, it makes me realize that things are not black and white. 

I try to get as close as possible and search for a way I can share their story in a decent way.  I prefer to work with my analogue camera. It enables me, and sometimes even forces me, to slow down, connect, talk, look closely, and take the time for them, but also myself, to feel comfortable. Their braveness to be so open and vulnerable, and trust they give me to share their story with others, is something I admire. In the end they are what I would like to be. 

By sharing these personal projects, I try to create awareness for important social issues and to show different perspectives on the subject. I hope  that people get a change to recognize themselves or someone close and want to encourage audiences to doubt, formulate questions, and challenge them to (re)consider how they feel about the subject.