L'animal et l'humain.

I looked at my blog, and added some pictures. Some of them, I changed. But I saw I haven't have the picture of my first portrait-assignment on my blog. So I'm adding him now. The model I used is Anoek, and she is one of my favorite models. The other little model, is my little Norfolk Terriër, Yoda. Yes! She is called after the most powerful Jedi ever: Master Yoda.

31 dec.

La revue.

Exams are done, Christmas has gone, but this doesn't mean vacation, at least not for me.

It actually means more and more work for school.

My mother and I went to a kind of christmas-revue in 'De Zuiderkroon', Antwerp. And during the show I constantly thought about making those pictures behind the scenes, with all those plume-revue-costumes and costume-changings, the chaos which disappears once they stand on the stage...

And you know what, I was lucky because I had this assignment for reportage so I had a very good excuse to ask it. So during the break I asked the organisation if I could make photographs behind the scenes. They said yes, so easily.

The next day I arrived with my camera and I have to admit, I felt so small next to the actors.

Back home, I had this big dilemma with myself because there was one big choice to make. And it was heartbreaking. Choosing between color or black and white.

In color, they got this cold sphere around them, however, they didn't look good in a serie so I went for black and white. Maybe in black and white, the idea of an old-time-french-revue became more real.

Thanks to Kenneth and all the actors on the stage (Daisy Thys, Jeroen Maes, Dirk Van Vooren, Nele Goossens, Dimitri Verhoeven, Wendy Satyn en Nicole & Hugo), the dancers and everyone else of the whole organisation. (And I hope I haven't bothered them that much.)

I have some more pictures, but I can't upload them all so this was a small selection, maybe in time I will add some more. I hope you enjoy this.

30 Dec.

Intermezzo: The parable of love

Love.
To live. To die. The ultimate.
The ultimate desire. What we seek. What we want. Why we live.
That is love.

Careened by love. Want to die to live. Live in the hereafter.
The hereafter. Reality or the allegory of the fearful.
Fear to die. To be no more. To be forgotten.
That is Love

30 nov.

Collection.

Exam assignment for portrait: Photograph someone who has a big collection - and that could be anything. I didn't do great research to someone. I just asked my father because he has like 500 comicbooks. It seems like that's a 'big' collection.

This isn't even the whole collection, it was just too much to bring in one picture.

28 nov.

Cosmétiques.

Another exam assignment, this time for industry & publicity. The subject of our exam was cosmetics. So lipstick, eyeshadow, mascara,... , perfume. I choose for the last one.

First I tried to do it with "Dolce & Gabbana the one gentleman", I even went to a hotel to shoot my fashion picture. But at the end it didn't look real and smooth when I merged the bottle into the picture. So I did it again, this time with a female model and female perfume: "Lolita Lempicka."

The bottle has the shape of an apple, and the sense is also very sweet. For my fashionportrait I had to use 'sweet' elements. So I choose for the soft purple color wich is used for the bottle, I used it on Charis's eyes. She has those beautiful blue eyes wich matches the flower and the soft blue-grey background which also radiate the sweet-element.

For the editing, I put the logo of lolita lempicka very soflty on the background to fill it up a bit. Sometimes less is more, but for this time we can do something 'too much'. I used a small white border for my bottle and the slogan: 'Le nouveau trésor pour elle.' This slogan is actually full of meanings. First: the perfume is french, so I used a french slogan. Then I have the word 'elle' in it which could point to the L in the logo of the background. For the last meaning, scroll down.

(One detail, this bottle of perfume is not from the "L" series, but I hope my teacher wouldn't notice it.)

I also have to credit a dear friend of mine who helped me through the editingprocess: Kevin

I consider the word trésor as a synonym for 'Kevin', because once, I called him like that. In my eyes he is one of my biggest treasures I ever found. Allthough, sometimes I don't desirve him, I can be very selfish and then I forget others - bad habit.

28 nov.

Geometric

Fashion pictures with a geometric aspect.

I choose for a geometric background so I went to a glass-fabric and asked them if I could photograph some shots in their building.

This are some results.

Model: Leen Brands

24 nov.

Les accesoires

I borrowed some accesories from stores in the city, I did that because of my assignment for fashion.

"Portrait with an accessory".

I asked Kelly for this, it has been a long time since we saw each other for the last, so I really liked it that she wanted to do this for me. She went even half-naked for me and my assignment.
First we went just outside because the sky was like this amazing blue blue... but my own shadow became my enemy so I used my flash-set when it was already half-dark. Unfortunately, she choose to not put the naked pictures on the internet, and I accept her choice, nevertheless I regret it because one of them was so beautiful.

I also asked Ruben to pose. This is his picture.

20 nov

Intermezzo: Mission failed.

Last year the subject 'Industry & Publicity' was about working with an old-school camera with 4-5" sheets. We photographed every assignment with it, most of the time things failed. I was getting so irritated by the lessons last year and my teacher knew that. I simply hated it.

This year for Industry & Publicity we work digital all the time - our own camera or the phase one - and I love it. We did glass, vegetables and now our exam (Cosmetics). I did vegetables home because I bought my own studio-flash-set, or however we have to call it? So I also own a soft-box. I have everything to make black and white outlines home. So I decided to make my exam (a bottle of male perfume) at home too.

I showed it on my teacher of this year, and he thought it was good but he was not sure about the fact that I made it home. He talked with it about my teacher of last year and said to me that I have to make it again in class. Wtf? WHY would I spend so much time on it again, just to 'do it in class'... Waste of time if my first picture was good. (I give other people the chance to use the studio in class because I OWN THE STUFF!)

You know what the real big deal is? My last-year-teacher just don't believe that I'm good in it, this year. In his class I sucked because of the way we had to do it (4-5" sheets), Now I made a massive improvement and I actually like it. B. pulled my new teacher into his doubts about me. It's true, if you mess up one time, you're doomed.

18 nov.

Farmville.

I have to confess... I did something un-original... I stole someone's idea.

It sounds worse than it actually is... I saw pictures of Maximilian D. and I thought they were briliant ! I like his style of photographing and I wanted to try it by myself, but yeah it's not original to do someone's idea so... I told Max about it. He wasn't happy wich I defenitely understand. So I promised I wouldn't use the pictures but I think one was pretty cool so I'm just gonna put it here.

(I know not many people are actually reading this crap so I hope he don't mind.)

Maximiliaan D.: http://www.flickr.com/photos/maxdobbertin/

Who am I?

I feel bad at the moment, like really bad.
It's my sister... Or no, actually it's her boyfriend. Once he told me "I will never ever stand between you and your sister." But this is actually the place he is standing right now. It feels like he stole her from me. And I feel sad, really sad.
I miss how my sister used to be before she met him. We did things together and I'm not an easy person, I teased her so much. But she was always there to accept my sorry's... Everytime again.
And now... When I see my sister, the guy is always there. And we have nothing in comon, he is my total opposite. Movies I love, he hates. Music I love, he hates. And when he is with me while I'm photographing, it's like he want to pull my camera out of my hands and make the picture by his own - only by the words he is saying.
I'm trying to avoid him, but at the same time I'm avoiding my sister, and that's the last thing I want to do. I love her...
If I ask her to do something in the weekend always same answers "I don't have money" or "G. is here that moment".
So last few months, when G. and my sister are at my place... All I can say to him are violent things, or I'm trying to be friendly but you can hear the sarcasm in every word I say... When they are gone I feel bad because I was so cruel to him while she was standing next to us, once again. I just can't help it, when my body and soul feel his presence I can't controle my words.

First I didn't like the guy... Now I hate him.

I also have another sister who has a boyfriend too, but yeah, I like that guy... There are a few reasons for it.
First, he is not trying to be friendly and have a good face by everyone.
Second, he likes same kind of music and movies.
Third, Lindsay haven't lived with me all those years (she lived with her mother, who isn't mine) so our band wasn't that strong... So I don't look at her boyfriend like he stole my sister... He became one of my friends too.
And at least, he doesn't try to lock me out of their lifes.
So right now everything changed 180°, while I'm avoiding G. and my sister, I'm getting closer to Lindsay and her boyfriend.
My mother says it's because we are identical, that we are the daughters of our father. (And that is not supposed to be a good thing :/)

It wouldn't be bad, that I can move on my own, and find myself. Because all I can see is myself with a big black mask I created over the years. I refuse to believe that I'm that cruel, violent bitch. I hope this is just my mask.
On school, my mask falls off... But then I'm lost in my own identity because I don't fucking know who I am, or what my destination would be.

13 okt.

Scarlite Prince Vs. Ink ?

I've been thinking about getting a tattoo for a little while. I thought about a lot of things, but all of that ideas faded away in time. But then I got something in my mind, and I think it's gonna be there for a longer time then my ideas used to do.

It's Harry Potter, again.
I want something of the story on my body, and not the head of a maincharacter.. I want something symbolic, like a spell. I have two spells I like very much (because of their symbolism):
- Expecto Patronum (the defending spell against the dementors, this spell kept Harry and the others save for more than once. It also means in latin: I'm waiting for a guardian, beautiful isn't it?)

or,

- Vulnera Sanentur (This spell is used to heal wounds which were caused by the spell: Sectumsempra, both spells were invented by my favorite character Severus Snape or The Half-blood Prince - I used a part of his name into my own initials - It derives also from the latin language, it means: May the wounds be healed.)

So if I take a tattoo, it would be one of them.

But why do I want a tattoo of Harry Potter so badly? Simple, because Harry Potter was there my whole childhood! It IS just a part of it so the tattoo would remind to my childhood, and to the story that was the most important to me.

I'm not sure about the place, but I want a place I can cover up easily. I don't want to flaunt with it.

I did a bit of research:

I like the font really hard, it's kinda the real HP-font, but I don't want to have a tattoo on my wrists.

I like this font, but for someone who doesn't know the spell, it's hard to read... I also like the place of it, but feet are painful ecspecially for the first tattoo, I'm over-sensitive by the way.

This looks also very cool! It's very subtle. I'm wondering how they did it.

Intermezzo: Frustrations

Time for another frustration.

When I'm sitting on my bus to school at 7.30 AM and there are girls talking very loud or someone's music is playing so hard that we can still hear it at the back of the bus I just want to get up and scream: 'SCREW YOU ALL GUYS... IT'S FUCKING MORNING!'

I want to have a quite ride to school. Maybe it's the fact that I have such a bad humeur in the morning but for then, silence is my only wish.

Today, I had a peaceful ride because a lot of schools had a day off, but we hadn't (ofcourse not).

12 okt.

Scarlite Prince goes Richard Kern.

During our lessons seminary - we used to learn about famous photographers but now we have a stand-in-teacher who's learning us some photoshop tricks, but he thought that we must do at least one thing about photographers so we had the assignment to give a presentation about one - I did a presentation about Richard Kern. He used to take many nude photographs, sometimes almost pornographic, but he has also really beautiful shots.

Because of his style I choose him and shocked my class with pictures out of his book: New York Girls. We also have to make a picture in his style, so same kind of model, location and photograph style. (Not just random copying... Using same light and, ... is still difficult.) Because of my photographe-excentrique it was hard to find a girl who wanted to go totally naked, so I choose one of his softer nude pictures. Leen had the courrage to strip in front of me and did a very good job !

The original one - by Richard Kern

My version

Les absurdités aux esthétiques.

Esthetic object; use an item as clothes... How difficult could that be?

Well... it was really difficult... we did this kind of assignment once before but now we use it more in a portrait way.

I worked with a new model: Manon. I think she's a bit unsure about herself. But in my opnion she has a million dollar face. She's beautiful, really.

She just has to orient herself a bit. Because in my picures, people look different.. Tight face, don't laugh. Not what they used to be.

I used a cabbage to put on her breasts (kind of bustier).

Jenny was my stand-in, I had to make one more but photo but Manon didn't make it. So Jenny helped me in 'emergency-style', thanks girl ! (Red cabbage by the way)

7 nov.

Les fruits et légumes.

Another commercial assignment!

Photograph fruit or vegetables in an original way.

Think... Think... Think...

When you are watching television, in ten minutes you have seen six food-commercials already, including four about frozen food and ready-made food.

So this was my inspiration: "frozen food".

But I didn't want to photograph frozen food out of the package.. No, I photographed a ginger in a huge iceblock. So it became REAL frozen food.

O'Cool, is an upcoming label for this way of cooking.

Fresh out of the freezer.

6 nov.

What goes beneath the clothes.

On my previous blog-page 'The answers of life.' I started a solo project, called "What goes beneath the clothes".
It's a project to show people the diversity in human bodies.
Yes, some of my models don't have that great perfect body we want to show on the beach on summerdays.
Yes, some of my models are not 17 anymore and have had children.
And yes, some of my models do actually have that great body everybody wants.
But although, everyone has one thing in common... They are proud of their bodies, and what does make a human body more beautiful than beloved by their owners?
On school, in fashionphotographyclass, we have to use "the 36 sized model" for our assignments, but here, in this project, I will plead for every female body.

Model: Xadi, age: 16

Model: Xadi's mother Sylvia, age:41

4 nov.

In Bruges.

City by night, another exam-assignment.
My sister and her boyfriend were so kind to drive me to Bruges and back home with the car.
I didn't know much about Bruges, I just know that this is a beautiful old city wich is used for a crimeserie on television: 'Aspe', and the Brittish movie: 'In Bruges' (starring Ralph Fiennes and Colin Farrell).

I didn't want to photograph Antwerp for this assignment, because I see this city like almost every day.

3 nov.

Look through a window. - fashionable brothel

A serie about the look we have if we take a look through a window. That was an assignment we had for Reportage. I didn't want the cliché of a middle-age man drinking coffee in a café, so I waited until it was dark and walked through the streets of my hometown. I searched for showcases which were beautiful illuminated.

While I was walking, I came up with the idea of a brothel, but not with real hookers, but with fashion-dolls who are expected to sell their clothes. And admit... How much is the difference between selling your body or the clothes you wear?

1 nov.

Book Fair 2010 - Antwerp Expo.

I decided to make my exam-assignment for "Press" about the book fair in Antwerp Expo this vacation.

I arrived there at 11 'o clock so I was very early, there wasn't a row of 150 metres before me on the cash desk as I expected.

I went inside and took a look in the four halls of the Expo. The book stands were overwhelming, there were like a milion books all over the Expo. I went to my favorite stand immidiately and started reading backsides of books. I felt my heart tearing apart because I was there without ANY money...

It feels like entering the temple of temptation but you can't touch anything.

I laid the books back on there pile and took my camera. I walked around the Expo and took some shots of people reading and reading.

There were also autors to sign there books, but because I was so early there was almost no one there.

Then I saw Mark Tijsmans - actor and autor of youth books -, I walked to him and asked him to pose with his newest book. He smiled to me and said 'Ok'. He was so friendly, I think he is a very kind and warm person. I also took a photo of Piet Huysentruyt, our cooking "god".

I wanted to wait untill Pieter Aspe, my favorite crime-autor was there, but my feet began to hurt and it would be at least another 40 minutes untill he would arrive. I decided to go home, with pain in my heart because I never went home from a book fair empty handed.

Mark Tijsmans

Piet Huysentruyt

Clavis - Book Stand

Another pile of twilight books

31 okt.

Intermezzo: Frustrations

I have a lot of frustrations, and I never had the courage to write them all down. Sometimes I get so nervous of it and want to shoot everyone who's irritating me with something, even if it is my best friend.

Chewing gum,

I hope the developer of this kind of candy had a painful death because he fucking deserves it. When I'm sitting on the bus and in front of me is sitting someone chewing and chewing all way long, I just can feel the blood running through my veins because I just get so nervous of the look of it.

Don't people realize that they look like a stupid cow? Right now, one of my good friends is sitting next to me chewing like a starved cow, and I have to hold myself back to say something about it, to her.

The noise of chewing and popping bubbles deserves definitely a place in my top ten.

Like Willy Wonka would say; Chewing gum is really gross, Chewing gum I hate the most.

29 okt.

Books, stories, letters...

I really want to write something down right now...
I didn't really know what I wanted to talk about but then I saw the cover of the book I'm reading at the moment - J.K. Rowling, the biography by Sean Smith - and I thought about explaining what the other part of my life is, beside photography.

Books, Stories, Letters...

It would be kind of awkward if I don't like to read when I'm hosting my blog for more than a year. But what made me to love letters so much? I actually have no idea. It just happend.
I don't exactly remember what the first book I ever read was, and that's one thing I regret so much.
But the first book that I remember was Harry Potter and the chamber of secrets. I read it when I was like ten years old? We were on vacation on the seaside and I read it while I was sitting on the beach with my parents.
Right then I wasn't really into books the way I am now. Ofcourse not, I was a child and I had other things on my mind like playing with the girl next door and crying when I couldn't get what I want. That's how most children are, that age.
But years and years later I started to read more and more. In school we have like four reading- assignments a year, but that is something I don't like. Simply because I don't like to read on pressure. I've always been a slow reader, a book of 300 pages I read in a month, other people read it in a week or less. When I'm reading I have to concentrate and read pages again.

The books that changed my life the most are definitly the Harry Potter series of J.K. Rowling. As a ten-years-old child you're amazed by the wizards and spells they use and just the fact that our favorite character beats the villain - Voldemort - every time again. But when you're older you look deeper into this story and you find everytime something new, something we haven't seen the last time. And we start to realize, everything happens for a reason and we start questioning. For example, why is this boy called Harry Potter? Who are these characters based on... Why the hell did Joanne start writing about a wizzard with silly glaces?
These questions are the reason why I'm reading her biography now, to find some answers. And these story is getting even more deeper than I ever could imagine, this could only been written by a genious... So one thing is absolutely sure, Joanne Rowling had a hard life but now she has the pride and everything she deserves. That makes her one of my favorite writers of all time.

"I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses ... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even put a stopper in death — if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

27 okt.

Car Crash

On the 21st of oktober I walked with my friends out of school when we heard a loud BING - BANG - BOOM ! We walked to the place where the noise came from and we saw a whole bunch of people walking to the 'crime scene'. Three cars were involved in this spectacular car crash. I haven't seen what actually happend but one of the cars laid upside-down. The street is a 30km/h zone because of our school... So tell me how a car can crash like that when you drive only 30 km/h?
Impossible... So in my opinion it is his own fault. It's so sad that this crazy-car-pilot, involved two others into his madness. Happily no one died.

Like a photographer used to do... I took my camera and took a picture, as fast as I could, cause whatever happend, this was serious, and everything these victims could miss was another disaster tourist.

Glass.

For industry and publicity, our first assignment was 'Glass', there are two techniques to photograph glass. First: Black outline (white background) and second: White outline (black background). My first picture of glass, I ever made was of my grandmothers' cristal wineglasses

I liked this subject so much... I mean, you can do a lot of things with glass and I think this was the coolest object we have ever done in industry classes. So I went home, took my stuff and started to experiment on my own. At home I haven't the studio-material we have in school, so I had to be creative with the things I have but if I can say it of myself, I think I did it pretty well?

I don't know wich technique I like the most, black or white outline, I guess it depends on the kind of glass we are working with.

PS. The logos of Nina Ricci and Lolita Lempicka are easy to find on the internet, just add the file to your photofile in photoshop.

Stadsfeestzaal

Last year, we had to make a commercial series of pictures of our own city, the city of Antwerp. We could choose between a fashion-route, industrial-route,...

I like fashion - not that I am fashionable by myself but, still I like to look at fashion - so I choosed this. We have a beautiful shopping place in the middle of our famous shopping street 'De Meir'. I went inside and used many many of colour.

Hope you like it.

25. okt

Les Absurdités

What is absurdity?
- when we can't answer the 'why' question.
Why can't we answer the 'why' question?

- Simply, there isn't even a why.

Selfportrait incl.

Our first assignment for school was: "Make a fashionable selfportrait.'

I hated this from the beginning and yes... I know why.
We had to make it analog, so not digital.
When you have less selfconfidence this is a whole test. You have to make pictures and you can't see if they are good or not, so you can't make small changes untill the picture is good.
No, you have to wait at least three days and then you have to conclude that you're even more ugly then you even thought!
I wanted to quit it, but then my teacher came up with the fact that we have our first exposition and that our selfportraits will be the photographs to show off. Shit, shit, shit.
I'm very ambitious cause I wanted to be famous from my earlier childhood. And this was a chance to show people what I can.
I got home and went to my bedroom to search a few outfits and said to myself, 'you really don't want to be the only one without a picture?'
I took my digital camera and made my pictures, yes I did it digital but I have my pictures and that's the only thing that mattered.



24.okt