ENTRY DESCRIPTION
The photo was taken of a young man with a troubled (and criminal) past as a youngster and already 2 lives behind him. As part of a re-integration program he was trained to become a barber. Seated in the barber's chair, he was talking to me about this unexpected new opportunity in life which would help him to move on and build up a normal living for himself. Suddenly I was really struck by his eyes, how they expressed a mixture of suffering from the past and uncertainty of what the future would bring. It was such a strong, fragile and delicate moment and it really touched me deeply. Every time I look at the photo it still moves me.

AUTHOR
Growing up with a film director as dad, camera's, images, films, were just part of my daily life and being exposed to various forms of image processing during my childhood helped me to develop my visual sense early on. At university I graduated in archaeology and in addition I studied cultural and social anthropology. Through my photographic work I found a way to express my passion for people and culture, in portraits and street photography.
As I really seek to portray people as much as possible in a spontaneous and natural way, I prefer working in the living environment of the people I photograph. Once everything is set up for the shoot, I take time to talk and listen to people and when I sense that people are at ease with my presence, I start taking photo's.
As with portraits I really love street photography as for me it is all about capturing whatever happens in front of my lens, the spontanity and coincidence of life in the streets. I strive to improve and change my approach to photography every single day, challenging myself to express what I care about in an authentic way.

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