Headaches

Monday 27 January 2025, 20:02 by Michiel Heijmans | 2,178 views | 2 comments

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

The sun is slowly disappearing behind the houses across the road while I take another walk with the dog. Guus pulls on the lead. I think I should have taken him out a little earlier.

In 30 Minuten Sluitertijd, we recently talked about personal branding and other trendy things like that. What defines you, and what defines your photography?

A few years ago, I chose to focus fully on street photography. That seemed logical and still largely fits with what makes me happy. But by now, I am really no longer just a street photographer.

Guus runs towards a quietly hopping jackdaw and starts barking. If I were only a street photographer, my marketing and personal branding would be simple.

Your friendly neighbourhood street photographer, I sometimes joke, loosely based on Spiderman. Moody black-and-white images alternating with striking colour photos, a bit like my Instagram profile.

Because of purists and those awful Facebook groups, street photography has become a corner of photography where boxes are more present than ever, and you have to fit into one, otherwise you do not count. I understand that landscape photography is no different. Or is it nature photography?

I do not want to be put in a box. And if I have to be in one, I would rather build it myself. I want to build it so that I attract the right visitors, because I do not need everyone in that box. I do not make work for everyone. And perhaps that is the crux of it: what is your ultimate goal?

But what is the ultimate goal?

My ultimate goal is to make beautiful street photos that people look at for a little longer. Images that show the present, that capture a period in time, just as the photos of Robert Frank and Eugene Atget did in the past. Honestly? A photoshopped-out rubbish bin does not interest me at all. But I have never actually removed one.

My ultimate goal is also to make portraits, business-related or otherwise, in which I hope to photograph people in a relaxed way. If I have more than seven minutes for a photo, I also hope to get deeper, to reach someone's fear, insecurity, shyness or pride. Beyond the outside. Street photographer Michiel often sees only that outside. The portrait photographer does not.

In fact, I have just come from a conversation about renting a space for coffee and portraits. Off the street, out of my house. A place where I can drink coffee with someone for three quarters of an hour and then take photos for a quarter of an hour.

The person first, then the photo. Not necessarily models, but people who do not yet know that they are great models. People who have a story to tell, and that I can create an image of, with or about. That is what I want.

Not just a street photographer

I am not just a street photographer, but I need the box for my marketing and my story. The informal, unposed encounter meets the posed portrait in a hastily assembled studio. It must not be a hastily assembled studio. There needs to be creativity in the air, untold stories and silence, lots of silence.

Whether you are a passionate hobbyist or a driven professional, something drives you to make your photos. And let's be honest: you do not make them to leave them unseen on a hard drive. We are all looking for a stage.

We all enjoy receiving positive feedback on something we are proud of. That stage might be Instagram, or an exhibition. Perhaps your stage is a magazine or a book. And then it is useful to fit into a box.

Boxes are easier to sell

If you fit into a box, you can connect with your target audience more quickly. You get responses on social media more quickly from people in the same box. And you sell work more quickly to people who love your box. In marketing, this is called a niche (rhymes with quiche). Do you recognise that you actually want to belong in more boxes? I really do.

And that is where my headaches come from. Next weekend, I will not be walking Guus, but roaming the streets with a group of workshop participants, looking for interesting people, a beautiful composition and the very best light.

As I walk around, my eye catches a woman or man whom I would like to photograph with more attention, someone I could make a beautiful portrait of. What light would I use then, and what kind of reflector? Oh, hang on, I am giving a street photography workshop.

I read the book Jongleren met Olifanten by Jones Loflin and Todd Musig, about the different tracks you encounter in life. Private life, work and self-care. It is up to you to decide which elephants you allow onto your tracks, with elephants as a metaphor for priorities.

In my "work" track, two elephants are circling each other. It is very busy in that track. Street photography and portraits. Portraits and street photography.

Almost home

We are almost home. Guus sees that Esther's car is already there and starts to sprint. Lost in thought, I almost let go of the lead.

I think most photographers have these headaches. Whether it is about where a particular type of photography fits into your free time, or the direction in which you want to grow as a professional photographer. It reassures me that I cannot be the only one. That simply cannot be.

I unclip Guus's lead. Relaxed, with a little more space in my head, I make coffee. I pick up the Portretbijbel and see that it is accidentally lying on top of the Straatfotobijbel. What am I worrying about? Perhaps they simply belong close together.

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