Modart » Vanya Pieters

Sharing a Secret with Michel Szulc Krzyzanowski

Maxi — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 09:00:24 +0000

Michel Szulc Krzyzanowski is a fine arts photographer born and educated in the Netherlands. Michel regularly publishes photo books and has exhibitions – count of a 180 since 1971. For over a decade, his work is internationally oriented and uses our world as his canvas and inspiration. Next to his documentary photography, he makes autonomous conceptual photography on deserted beaches in Mexico. His last finished project showed The Most Beautiful People in the World and he currently works on What the World Has Never Seen Before (WTWHNS). He makes the impossible possible: to show and simultaneously hide secrets of people from all over the world. The contradictions of privacy.

Can you tell me a bit about the origins of the project WTWHNS?
For over a decade I perform worldwide photo projects. Each time with a relevant social subject. This time it is about intimacy and privacy; issues that are becoming more and more important. The intention was to create a photo project that initiates a general discussion about intimacy and privacy.

You’re talking about a general discussion, but what does privacy mean in documentary photography?
That depends of the discretion of both the photographer, the photo editor and the publisher. It is first the photographer, who decides to take or not take a picture of a person in his or her private situation.

Then the photo editor and the publisher decide how to treat the privacy of the person in the image. Obviously, more and more conflicts arise between the commercial interests of the publication and the possible respect for the privacy of the person in the image. The world is becoming more and more materialistic, therefore money wins more often than not. In the end, privacy is less respected because making money is valued higher.

Are you criticizing this idea in the project? And how are you remaining respectful with regards to the privacy of your subjects?
People are documented in WTWHNS who show what nobody has ever seen. These results are published in a high quality large size limited edition photo book. In that way, only a few people will see what the world has never seen.

This is like sharing a secret among a small group of intimates. Meanwhile, an extensive PR campaign is performed informing the press and thus the audience about WTWHNS. Obviously this creates curiosity, but the message is that not everything that is intimate is available for general publication.

WTWHNS is a statement: what is private should remain private.

by VANYA PIETERS

Vanya Pieters is a young photographer and filmmaker based in Amsterdam. She will be accompanying Krzyzanowski to Istanbul to find people with secrets for his next project.

To read the full interview and view more photographs visit No New Enemies.

Dennis Duijnhouwer on the Road

Maxi — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 09:00:07 +0000

The photographic diary of Dennis Duijnhouwer

“Searching for a subject to shoot, is like trying to catch a butterfly”

When Dutch photographer Dennis Duijnhouwer (1976) returned after spending five ‘lost’ years in Hollywood, most of his friends didn’t believe the bizarre adventures he had been through. From that moment on, he decided to capture everything; his life as a photographic dairy. Taking pictures became an obsession.

After the success of his first published book The Road to Rabat – which he shot while traveling along with the young filmmakers of Habbekrats – Dennis is more in the picture than ever. Not only for the crew & cast, but also for his photography, it was a journey. Because of his style of raw analogue snapshots of mostly youth, people compare him with names like Terry Richardson, Nan Goldin or Ryan McGinley. But I wonder, isn’t this comparison too easy to make and the line more refined?

You are a photographer with your own method. How did that influence the way you took on-set photographs of Rabat?
When Jim & Victor of Habbekrats asked me to come along to Morocco for a month I felt I just had to do it. I had never done any long term projects for which people are expected to ‘give up there lives’. I really trusted them, they are guys that are ‘fans’, in that they always want to see people deliver good work.
I started to take pictures of the set, but I wasn’t used to the waiting and the posing of the actors for the camera. It was not the way I am used to take pictures. After one week of shooting a maximum of

2 rolls per day I felt very confused. Could I live up to their expectations? What did I shoot? I took a picture of the tree where I had withdrawn myself. That was a turning point for me. From that moment on I decided to take a different turn. I took pictures of the hotel rooms. While waiting, I took a walk around the block. Because the guys trusted me, I could follow my intuition and it paid off!

How was it to edit your first book?
Everything in the book is in chronological order. It was quite some work to edit it, because I didn’t keep every film in order. 66 rolls in total and I developed five at a time in random order. Victor criticized me a bit for that, haha. It was different to edit all the pictures in one book, where the importance of the story is cut out above the individual images. My style is also developing that way: less externals more content.

Did you have to kill many darlings?
Yes, sometimes a favorite had to be cut for one that told the story better. I’ve put the ‘killed darlings’ on my blog. Victor had made his selection and I had made mine. It was a great learning process for me to listen to his explanation and argumentation. I liked that we could be very open about it.

So, your style had changed to more story-based series in this period?
From 2003 on I was obsessed with one fixed style. I shot with only two camera’s – Yashica & Contax 92 – using the same 35mm lens and film rolls – Kodak Portra 400. I always shoot analogue. It's a style I love, not a nostalgia thing. I take pictures of things that happen NOW, how can that be nostalgic? So the subjects change as I’m getting older, but the whole oeuvre is cohesive. When I started out I was the only one, so I created my own stage where I can be the best. I don’t have any ambition to be innovative; my works have to be original and honest.

Read the full interview on No New Enemies.

by VANYA PIETERS

NNE feat. Vanya Pieters

Maxi — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 09:00:02 +0000

Vanya Pieters is not only a promising young photographer and film maker, but also our newest contributor. While she studied at three different universities in Amsterdam and Berlin she taught herself the art of photography by copying others and experimenting as much as possible.

Vanya prefers to take pictures with a storyline and is a sucker for digital cameras

In the past years she has been producing for Lemming Film, photographing and writing for 3voor12 and NL20, and editing for GUP magazine. For NNE she will be writing about her favorite subjects: photography and film.

Tomorrow we will present her first article; an interview with the Dutch photographer Dennis Duijnhouwer about his new book The Road to Rabat.

Teufelsberg from Vanya Pieters on Vimeo.

This is just a taste so check out her website to see more from Vanya and stay tuned.