It's been years I know. But I figured I would start adding little tidbits of my life into these blogs. After years of being a member of this site, I've decided I want to get more involved, and this is my first tiny step. I have decided to post this piece on here that I have written recently. I guess I'll have to set it up though.
I'm a photographer, and I live on a tiny island off the coast of South America named Curacao. Art and expression is my great passion, and I hope to one day go places with it. I paint, write and do photography. Photography is the art form that I make money with.
Oh well, I decided to put some thoughts to blog about what this means to me. My thoughts on what photography is once you read between the lines, and once you get to its core. I have no doubts in my mind that what's in this article is most probably yesterdays news to allot of you, but perhaps, it might inspire and enlighten others on here.
Oh well. Enjoy.
..........................................
Pictures. Photographs. Pics.
Whatever you want to call them, we are all familiar with them in some shape or another. They are everywhere nowadays. Now more than ever actually.
But pictures, much like us human beings, are more than meets the eye. They have a personality of their own, and they have as much depth and influence as any great person in history or even more so perhaps.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Whoever said that, thinks very highly of words in my opinion. I would have said it quite differently, I would have simply said; "A picture is priceless. And mean it in the literal sense.
If you think about it, pictures are very important. I honestly don't think that people actually think about the power a photograph possesses. With people snapping away with everything from homemade pinhole cameras to cellular phones nowadays, I can imagine that it's kind of hard to have a second to think about what you're actually doing and what you are creating.
On a personal level, I can tell you that pictures have always held sway over me, either emotionally or as a source of entertainment.
I remember as a child I would look at pictures of wildlife from around the globe, and it would inspire my mind to go all sorts of places, from the savannas of Africa to the dense forests of South America, the Gobi dessert and beyond, or to the deep oceans of the world with my friend Jacques Cousteau.
I remember admiring the plethora of species we share this planet with, I would study resemblances in their design and see similarities between us and them. I remember developing a great deal of respect for them watching those pictures, and and so began a fond love for them, and for creation in itself. It is marvelous in every sense of the word.
At some point, in all my curious adventures flipping through pages of nature magazines and books. Eager fingers hungry for information fed to me visually. Photos taken by capable men, pioneers of the visual revolution.In the midst of my rigid search, I found pictures of animals being poached and killed. I remember asking my parents why this happened. The gist of it was, we do it. People do it. That stirred me, and it still does. I remember feeling anger towards our species, and I remember being ashamed of being one of us, and saying to myself that that would never be me. All of this from looking at pictures through my second to maybe fifth year, and of course from there on out I was exposed to many more images. Everything from promotional ones to raw, uncut photojournalism pictures from the other half of the world.
A few years back I started my very own non profit organization, largely due to my sense of responsibility I felt to the animals, and those less fortunate. I also turned to vegetarianism for quite a while, I am ashamed to say I reverted back to my savage meat eating ways since, but I sincerely plan on going back to that, once the world makes it easier and more economic to do the veggie thing.
Now, I have been rambling I know. But follow me here. This all stemmed from..a little boy watching pictures in books and magazines before he could read or write a single word.
The power of photographs.
You look at pictures of good times, you get nostalgic, you play music that goes with that, your entire demeanor changes to fit that state of being. You become an ode to nostalgia because of a picture of a time gone by. Good times. Often the best of times.
Photos of loved ones who have passed on. Let's not even talk about that. Those pictures will become an important part of your well being, I can assure you of that. They will become of the utmost importance.
Photos of your wedding day; immortal testaments to your love. That one special day, when you stood on top of the tallest mountain you could find and shouted to the world: "This is who I love, and I vow to be with this person for as long as I still have breath!"
Photos of your children; The first step, the first day of school, the first date, the graduation. Grandchildren.
Okay so let's step outside the "personal" pictures for a second..
Promotional pictures for products, so striking that you just had to get one for your own. Billboards, magazine pictures, brochures, flyers and the list goes on. Photos of your favorite celebs sporting items of clothing, the latest fads and fashion styles. Defining an era, and maybe even an entire generation. You go out and you buy them, in turn changing your image and how you will be remembered someday. And when people just need to remember exactly what you looked like 20 years ago, they open up a dusty old box, in a dusty old drawer, and there you are..on a photo. Sporting sunglasses you bought because you in turn saw them..on a photo. Subsequently dusting off old memories to relive old friends, stirring and swelling your emotions, a breath of fresh air, you remember your youth and the good times.
Generations later children can see Hitler, the Berlin Wall coming down, Einstein, Stalin, Che Guevara, Mother Teresa, Ghandi. They can see them in history books...on photos.
I can write this essay forever. The butterfly effect of pictures, how one picture could lead to anything, literally anything. People falling in love, countries going to war, changing lives, saving lives, inspiration, new aspirations, turning a small business into an empire, sex change, turning a hippie to a soldier, a soldier to priest. Anything.
I have seen pictures that make me laugh out loud, pictures that make my cry, pictures that give me strength, pictures that put me in my place, pictures that humble me, pictures that hit me like a cannonball, pictures that have literally changed my life.
Now as some of you may or may not know, in my "about" section on my website [www.robertvolkerts.com], I refer to myself as being a curator of memories, a thief of these special moments, and well some of you might think I was being mellow dramatic or trying to sound poetic, but the honest truth is that I mean it. I do see myself as all those things, because I realize the importance of what I do, what I am creating, and its sentimental value to those I am doing this for. I am repeatedly humbled by what I do. And I give it my best shot. What I do is important, and it is significant. What i do changes things in some way, shape or form for someone. Anyone. I regard that as cold hard fact. And I am honored. It gives purpose to my life.
I am sure some of you may read this and think that I am way off here, or that I am reading too much into this, but I just thought I should let you know how I feel about my craft, and what it is I think I am doing here. Maybe you don't feel this way about pictures, but then change it up, switch things around; Instead oh photos, think music, cinema, literature. Art.
Art has purpose. It is an integral part of the fabric of society, and you can trace its thread all the way back in our history, and as you trace, you will find that it twists and turns and is evident and prominent in more places than you gave it credit for. It's big and it's in your face.
I am honored to do what I do, and I take it seriously. And to those of you who support me, and who goes as far as to take the initiative to work with me. I am forever grateful, and thankful.
My little piece of the thread has weaved itself into your lives, and I am humbled.
if you take anything from this essay, anything at all. Take this:
If you take the time to observe the world around you, the big things, and the little things you may take for granted, you will find that every single one of them is more than meets the eye.
Thank you for your time.
-Robert Volkerts.
Below you will find some of my pictures for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy.
I'm a photographer, and I live on a tiny island off the coast of South America named Curacao. Art and expression is my great passion, and I hope to one day go places with it. I paint, write and do photography. Photography is the art form that I make money with.
Oh well, I decided to put some thoughts to blog about what this means to me. My thoughts on what photography is once you read between the lines, and once you get to its core. I have no doubts in my mind that what's in this article is most probably yesterdays news to allot of you, but perhaps, it might inspire and enlighten others on here.
Oh well. Enjoy.
..........................................
Pictures. Photographs. Pics.
Whatever you want to call them, we are all familiar with them in some shape or another. They are everywhere nowadays. Now more than ever actually.
But pictures, much like us human beings, are more than meets the eye. They have a personality of their own, and they have as much depth and influence as any great person in history or even more so perhaps.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Whoever said that, thinks very highly of words in my opinion. I would have said it quite differently, I would have simply said; "A picture is priceless. And mean it in the literal sense.
If you think about it, pictures are very important. I honestly don't think that people actually think about the power a photograph possesses. With people snapping away with everything from homemade pinhole cameras to cellular phones nowadays, I can imagine that it's kind of hard to have a second to think about what you're actually doing and what you are creating.
On a personal level, I can tell you that pictures have always held sway over me, either emotionally or as a source of entertainment.
I remember as a child I would look at pictures of wildlife from around the globe, and it would inspire my mind to go all sorts of places, from the savannas of Africa to the dense forests of South America, the Gobi dessert and beyond, or to the deep oceans of the world with my friend Jacques Cousteau.
I remember admiring the plethora of species we share this planet with, I would study resemblances in their design and see similarities between us and them. I remember developing a great deal of respect for them watching those pictures, and and so began a fond love for them, and for creation in itself. It is marvelous in every sense of the word.
At some point, in all my curious adventures flipping through pages of nature magazines and books. Eager fingers hungry for information fed to me visually. Photos taken by capable men, pioneers of the visual revolution.In the midst of my rigid search, I found pictures of animals being poached and killed. I remember asking my parents why this happened. The gist of it was, we do it. People do it. That stirred me, and it still does. I remember feeling anger towards our species, and I remember being ashamed of being one of us, and saying to myself that that would never be me. All of this from looking at pictures through my second to maybe fifth year, and of course from there on out I was exposed to many more images. Everything from promotional ones to raw, uncut photojournalism pictures from the other half of the world.
A few years back I started my very own non profit organization, largely due to my sense of responsibility I felt to the animals, and those less fortunate. I also turned to vegetarianism for quite a while, I am ashamed to say I reverted back to my savage meat eating ways since, but I sincerely plan on going back to that, once the world makes it easier and more economic to do the veggie thing.
Now, I have been rambling I know. But follow me here. This all stemmed from..a little boy watching pictures in books and magazines before he could read or write a single word.
The power of photographs.
You look at pictures of good times, you get nostalgic, you play music that goes with that, your entire demeanor changes to fit that state of being. You become an ode to nostalgia because of a picture of a time gone by. Good times. Often the best of times.
Photos of loved ones who have passed on. Let's not even talk about that. Those pictures will become an important part of your well being, I can assure you of that. They will become of the utmost importance.
Photos of your wedding day; immortal testaments to your love. That one special day, when you stood on top of the tallest mountain you could find and shouted to the world: "This is who I love, and I vow to be with this person for as long as I still have breath!"
Photos of your children; The first step, the first day of school, the first date, the graduation. Grandchildren.
Okay so let's step outside the "personal" pictures for a second..
Promotional pictures for products, so striking that you just had to get one for your own. Billboards, magazine pictures, brochures, flyers and the list goes on. Photos of your favorite celebs sporting items of clothing, the latest fads and fashion styles. Defining an era, and maybe even an entire generation. You go out and you buy them, in turn changing your image and how you will be remembered someday. And when people just need to remember exactly what you looked like 20 years ago, they open up a dusty old box, in a dusty old drawer, and there you are..on a photo. Sporting sunglasses you bought because you in turn saw them..on a photo. Subsequently dusting off old memories to relive old friends, stirring and swelling your emotions, a breath of fresh air, you remember your youth and the good times.
Generations later children can see Hitler, the Berlin Wall coming down, Einstein, Stalin, Che Guevara, Mother Teresa, Ghandi. They can see them in history books...on photos.
I can write this essay forever. The butterfly effect of pictures, how one picture could lead to anything, literally anything. People falling in love, countries going to war, changing lives, saving lives, inspiration, new aspirations, turning a small business into an empire, sex change, turning a hippie to a soldier, a soldier to priest. Anything.
I have seen pictures that make me laugh out loud, pictures that make my cry, pictures that give me strength, pictures that put me in my place, pictures that humble me, pictures that hit me like a cannonball, pictures that have literally changed my life.
Now as some of you may or may not know, in my "about" section on my website [www.robertvolkerts.com], I refer to myself as being a curator of memories, a thief of these special moments, and well some of you might think I was being mellow dramatic or trying to sound poetic, but the honest truth is that I mean it. I do see myself as all those things, because I realize the importance of what I do, what I am creating, and its sentimental value to those I am doing this for. I am repeatedly humbled by what I do. And I give it my best shot. What I do is important, and it is significant. What i do changes things in some way, shape or form for someone. Anyone. I regard that as cold hard fact. And I am honored. It gives purpose to my life.
I am sure some of you may read this and think that I am way off here, or that I am reading too much into this, but I just thought I should let you know how I feel about my craft, and what it is I think I am doing here. Maybe you don't feel this way about pictures, but then change it up, switch things around; Instead oh photos, think music, cinema, literature. Art.
Art has purpose. It is an integral part of the fabric of society, and you can trace its thread all the way back in our history, and as you trace, you will find that it twists and turns and is evident and prominent in more places than you gave it credit for. It's big and it's in your face.
I am honored to do what I do, and I take it seriously. And to those of you who support me, and who goes as far as to take the initiative to work with me. I am forever grateful, and thankful.
My little piece of the thread has weaved itself into your lives, and I am humbled.
if you take anything from this essay, anything at all. Take this:
If you take the time to observe the world around you, the big things, and the little things you may take for granted, you will find that every single one of them is more than meets the eye.
Thank you for your time.
-Robert Volkerts.
Below you will find some of my pictures for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy.
yvelle:
I love these pictures. You are incredibly talented.