Plagiarizing my work
The number of ‘artists’ copying my work, without permission, without payment, without any reference to me as the photographer and owner of the image, is growing. The concept of intellectual property doesn’t seem to be present in the minds of these artists and I really wonder what I can do about this. Roos van Velsen, [...]
India: Goodearth posters
I started an inspiring and stimulating cooperation with The Goodearth Company in India: on the basis of my photos, their designer Krsna Mehta created the posters below. And that is not all! Goodearth decided that 50% of the proceeds will go to Duniya Foundation, in support of our education programmes in Varanasi. This information is [...]
World Portraits: Fair Trade Stock Photography
World Portraits just released a beautiful promotional folder with photos taken by me, by Robin Utrecht and others. In this folder, you can read about Arjuna who was photographed in front of his house where he sold local snacks. His photo was sold through World Portraits and because he received his share, he can now [...]
Photo of the Month: July
Two Flower H’Mong (Hmong Lenh) women wait while their children are screened for surgery (see Duniya Foundation). The H’Mong who live in the northern mountainous villages of Vietnam emigrated directly from the Chinese provinces of Guizhou, Guangxi and Yunnan. The traditionally colourful H’Mong skirts are made of an indigo-dyed cloth with decorations made by a [...]
Just published: Nedjma’s bookcover
Publisher De Bezige Bij just published Nedjma’s ‘Reis van de Zintuigen‘ in a (cheap) pocket edition. On the cover one of my photos, taken during a popfestival in The Netherlands (‘Mysteryland’).
World Portraits: reason & criticism
The idea for World Portraits came to Bas van Beek years ago, when an Indian man who had posed for a Benelux photographer but received no compensation, saw his image in an advertisement. Van Beek recognized the unfairness of the situation for that model and countless others. Simultaneously, the micro-banking phenomenon began to take hold [...]
Burns: 60 children undergo an operation
Apart from being a photographer, I spent a lot of my time to working as volunteer for Duniya Foundation. We have projects in India and Vietnam. Right now, 60 children with severe burns undergo surgery in Lao Cai in North-Vietnam. My photos are used for fundraising purposes. I portray children with ailments. These can be [...]
Photo of the Month: May
During the religious festival of Makar Sankranti, which takes place during winter in January, many beggars populate the stone steps of Assi Ghat in Varanasi, leading down to the holy river Ganges. These beggars are often chased off by the police, who relentlessly beat them with their bamboo sticks. The woman in the picture arrived [...]
Donkey Dust
An afternoon in May. Just me and our donkeys… And our donkeys can do a lot more! They can smile, yawn, show their big ears and… Curious? Have a look at these then >>>
Work in progress…
Working on a confronting series in black&white. Facing poverty. Those portrayed are people I know for many years. Who have names and personal histories and who have such a hard time making ends meet (in fact, they often don’t meet, those ends). Will keep you posted.
The Steve McCurry Effect?
A few years ago, I took part in an exhibition with the triptych below. Three photos of the same Bhopa woman from Rajasthan (India). She is never veiled like in the photo in the middle, but when we were caught in a wind that flew up a lot of desert sand, she borrowed my black [...]
A Bhopa girl grows older …
I know Mamtu, a young Bhopa girl, for many years now. Met her mother before she was born and I keep visiting (and photographing) the family every year. Mamtu is growing into a stunning young girl, and looks more and more like her mother. The collection of her photos forms an interesting document in time. [...]
Photo of the Month: April
A young father carries his son into the very basic operation room where Dr. Hung is waiting to perform the surgery. Duniya Foundation is financially supporting these operations, organized by Dong An from the Hanoi based NGO Center II, Direct Support for Disabled Children. As a photographer and member of Duniya Foundation, I spent many [...]
