New Work: Fleur

I recently had the opportunity to photograph the smart and stunningly beautiful Fleur who has her eyes set on a modeling career in the near future. I for one have no doubts whatsoever that she will achieve whichever goal she sets her eyes on. The future is female!:)

Listening to a lot of Arctic Monkeys and Franz Ferdinand’s first record.

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New Work: Maarten

My friend Maarten is possibly the one person that I have photographed the most. The very first “proper” portrait I took was of him. This was about 20 years ago when I was still at uni and simultaneously taking a course in photography at the local art house. I didn’t really know Maarten and had never hung out with him, I only knew him as the flatmate of a friend of mine. When I got an assignment to “take someone’s portrait” I knew exactly what to do. I phoned Maarten and asked if he’d be willing to sit for me. Fortunately, he agreed:) Yet when I showed up, he wasn’t there and I left feeling rather disappointed as I had been so excited about this shoot.

When I got home though, the phone rang and it was Maarten. He apologized and explained that he was held up at work which why he was late, but he was home now and if I still wanted to do the shoot I was very welcome to come by? I agreed, of course. I got there, rang the doorbell and when he opened the door the first thing I noticed was that his hair was tied up in all these tiny little Bjork-type knots. In an instant I knew I’d get my shot and that we would be vast friends for a long time to come.:)
I am still taking his picture to this day.

I just finished reading Mark Lanegan’s “Sing Backwards and Weep” and damn, that was one hell of a read. Obviously, listening to *anything by Mark Lanegan now.

New Work: Waiting for winter to pass

It’s been a rather gloomy winter, or more to the point; I’ve been feeling rather gloomy this winter. One way out of this feeling is to have fun with friends. Which is why I asked my friend Maarten to come over and sit for me. While having a glass of rose or two, of course.;)

Listening to Cat Power ‘The Greatest” and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy ‘Ease Down the Road’.

New Work; it’s a nice day for a white wedding

Most shoots I’ve done over the past years are either one-on-one or couple / band shoots, but they’re hardly ever weddings. I feel they require a special skill and I’m not sure if that’s where my forte lies. Plus, I really enjoy the intimacy of smaller shoots and having more control over the setting itself.

Yet when Annamarie and Bas contacted me about a month ago to talk about their upcoming wedding day I was intrigued, and as soon as they mentioned Tiengemeten I gladly accepted the job. I mean, shooting a wedding on a small island? Count me in for sure!

We arrived on Tiengemeten a couple of hours before the other guests and I used that time to scope out the location, find the best spot to shoot the actual ceremony and a pre-wedding couple shoot.

As you can see the day started of quite overcast, but fortunately the sun broke though the clouds later that day. It was lovely, loving and celebratory day and massive congratulations to the new mr and mrs!

 

New Work: Richard Seba, singer-songwriter

I met Richard on a very unrelated family function, being his grandparents-in-law and my parents friends’ 50th wedding anniversary, and when he needed some photographs to accompany his first record we decided to collaborate. At first I wasn’t really sure of where to do the shoot so about a week prior I went on a drive looking for a cool location. I found a derelict, abandoned mansion just a few minutes from where I live and decided that was the perfect place to shoot. Although we couldn’t actually get in the building the grounds were rather enchanting, quiet and provided us with enough privacy to simply get on with it.

New Work: Alice

I recently did a quick photoshoot with one of my colleagues, Alice, who needed some new LinkedIn headshots. As we lived nowhere near each other, but obviously worked in the same place, we decided to use the downstairs restaurant as a perfect place to shoot. Neither of us wanted to convey a restaurant vibe which is why we decided to stick to the outer edges of the space, steering clear of tables and the clientele. Here she is perched on a little bench next to the window with a simple, narrow wall behind her. I’m not usually a fan of big smiley pictures, but I thought she looked she looked really pretty and genuine in this one.

She got a new job pretty soon after this shoot.:)

Kathalijne Photography on Facebook

I’ve been posting content on different pages for a while now, f.e. on my own website, Instagram, here and on Facebook. You can find me at: Kathalijne Photography or at www.kathalijne.com. Drop me a line some day, I would love to hear from you:)

And hope to see you there:)

Listening to: Carrie & Lowell by Sufjan Stevens

New Work: Instagram take over at the CX Company

I took over the Instagram page of the CX Company for the past 10 days or so. The idea was to show the Amsterdam office and what great place to work it is. It resulted in 11 posts, 14 new followers and 131 likes. Not massive, but a nice increase nonetheless. Plus it was fun to do. Win-win I reckon:)

As can be read on their website, the CX Company “provides technology, services and support that make personal customer engagement possible across every digital channel and device. By doing so they are powering the ‘digital first’ customer engagement strategies that determine success in today’s connected world.” The company has offices in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Düsseldorf, London and New York to name a few.

If you’d like to learn more about the CX Company, please just check their website: www.cxcompany.com or, of course, their Instagram page, you can find them at instagram.com/cx_company

Listening to: Shocking Blue and the XX

New Work – NZa

About two months ago I was asked by Utrecht based graphic design company Taluut to shoot several portraits for the Nza (Nederlandse Zorgautoriteit which roughly translates into the Dutch Healthcare Authority). When I started the final design hadn’t been decided on yet and so we thought it best to shoot in both portrait and landscape style. Naturally, a square design was chosen in the end;) Unfortunately, not all the portraits made it into the report. Here are a few of my favorites that didn’t make the cut.

It was a fun assignment that took me all across the Netherlands in a very short amount of time. Driving across the NL in autumn with the radio blasting… there are definitely worse ways to spend your day:)

Right now I am working on a few different assignments amongst which another series of 3 portraits for 3 different magazines published by FCB. More to follow soon…

Listening to: Kitty, Daisy & Lewis and Courtney Barnett

New Work: Annual Report Maag Lever Darm Stichting

Two months ago, I was asked by Schrijf-Schrijf to take portraits for the annual report of the Maag Lever Darm Stichting (MLDS). The MLDS is an independent organisation that has been trying to prevent and fight stomach, colon and liver diseases as well to provide information and support for people dealing these diseases, for the past 30 years. In order to do so they have been raising funds and cooperating closely with researchers, the government, patients and volunteers.

My job was to photograph 6 duo’s who were somehow related; a former cancer patient and his wife, two men from the Board of Trustees, someone who donates money together with someone who donates his time by going door-to-door collecting money, two researchers, et cetera. I met them at home, at the train station or at their place of work and in different cities across the Netherlands. Thanks for letting me borrow the car, mom:)

Single image: a former colon cancer patient and his main supporter, his lovely wife, photographed in their home.

Series of images, from left to right: two supporters who cycle the ‘Zuiderzeeklassieker’ each year in order to raise funds, a donator and a volunteer, two members of the Board of Trustees.

Listening to: Alex Turner and FFS