Photographe Ruud Claessen

—Êtes-vous photogénique ?

—No! I much rather be behind a camera.

—Comment avez-vous commencé à travailler dans la photographie ?

—In 2008, I was already doing amateur photography for a couple of year. To do something different for a change, I asked my uncle if I could photograph his wedding. It was his second marriage, they were not asking for a photographer, so there was little risk. I ended up liking it so much, that I decided to do it more.

—Selon vous, quels sont les éléments les plus importants d'une bonne photo ?

—Above all, the photo has to have a certain impact. Wether that's an intense emotion, a good vibe, or just a spectaculair visual impact. After that comes the technical part. So a good lighting, composition, etcetera. But for me, the impact is the most important part, by far.

—Aimez-vous voyager ?

—Yes, but with moderation though. I'd love to do 3-5 destination weddings a year. I don't think I'd enjoy doing 10, 15 or even more.

—Quel aspect de votre profession préférez-vous ?

—It sounds like a horrible cliché, but it's true: Every wedding is different. You never really know what's going to happen. Surprises can happen at every moment. Besides that, I think it's a great honor to be asked to create lifelong memories for the people that are getting married. 5, 10, 25 or even 50 years after they get married, people still remember who took their wedding photos. It's pretty wonderful that you can be an important part in people's lives.

—Quel aspect de votre profession aimez-vous le moins ?

—Basically: The postprocessing. I have a horrible concentration when it comes to editing. I love editing my 50-75 favorites from a wedding, but after that, it gets hard for me to keep focused.

—Quel est le futur de la photographie ?

—I think the future of wedding photography will be a further evolution of the direction it's going in right now. More journalistic stuff, more moments. But besides that: technical advances. Faster camera's, better low light capabilities, and other accessories like drones, light field cameras, and stuff like that, giving photographers even more tools to being creative.

—Qu'est-ce que le style de photographie dans lequel vous travaillez a de spécial ?

—I love many aspects of it. I love the fact that people are in a good mood, they take the time to look good as well. People get married in beautiful venues, and you as a photographer gets to be a part of so many people's special day. That's amazing.

—Comment gérez-vous les critiques ?

—I try to extract what people really mean with their comments. Some people have difficulties in finding the right words to give feedback, sometimes making them sound rude. But I always try to figure out what's the real message there.

—Y a-t-il des modes dans la photographie ?

—All the time. But me personally, I try to not let trend be the main thing in my photography. Trends are a nice touch, but I want my photography to be timeless.

—Quels devraient être les critères pour qu'un client choisisse un photographe ?

—1) Do you like the photographer's work? 2) Do you like the photographer? Simple as that.

—Quels sont les interdits lors de photographie ?

—'Allowed' is a big word. I'm not the one to say what's allowed or not. However, I don't like to unnecessarily intervene in a wedding. With the exception of the posed shots, I don't like having to tell people what to do, where to stand or how to look.

—Quels détails seul un photographe peut-il remarquer ?

—A good wedding photographer can see beauty in many things, and has a better eye for good light, and good compositions. And also: a photographer is aware of what's going on and can respond quickly when something happens.

—Qu'est-ce qui influence la valeur d'une photo ? Quels en sont les éléments ?

—Not only is beauty in the eye of the beholder, but the same thing is true for value. A photograph that might not seem like much to a photographer or ti someone who wasn't there, can be the couple's favorite for many reasons. Never make assumptions.

—Quelle personne peut être le symbole du 21ème siècle selon vous ?

—I can't look into the future. Sorry ;-)

—Qui aimeriez-vous prendre en photo ?

—Kind, fun and creative people that I have a great chemistry with.

—Avez-vous des tabous professionnels ?

—Not really. Except for stuff that's prohibited by law, off course.

—Avec quel photographe aimeriez-vous faire une séance photo ?

—Too many to mention.

—De quoi vous inquiétez-vous, et pourquoi ?

—Sometimes I worry about the future. What will happen if I don't get any more bookings? But I think that every professional thinks that way every now and then. On the other side, it helps me improve and stay on my toes.

—Quel a été le moment le plus impressionnant de votre vie ?

—I can't name just a single one. There are thousands of great moments that are impressive in their own ways.

—Comment définissez-vous le succès ? Comment le mesurez-vous ?

—Success to me is finding a perfect balance by doing what you love, making a good living out of it, but also having time to live. Because even though I just love shooting weddings, I wouldn't want to shoot 60 weddings a year and have no personal time left.

—Préférez-vous être aimé ou respecté ?

—Liked by my clients, respected by my colleagues.

—Quelle a été votre plus grande erreur professionnelle ?

—Not that many, luckily! I once accidentally switched from RAW to TIFF during a wedding. That was a pain in the ass. It cost me a lot more work to process the images, but the clients were happy.

—Quand vous partez en voyage que prenez-vous avec vous et pourquoi ?

—A small but versatile camera kit. Definitely some analog cameras. And off course, the traveling essentials.

—Est-ce que vous regrettez d'avoir acheté un de vos gadgets ? Lequel et pourquoi ?

—Nope.

—Quelle méthode utilisez-vous pour améliorer vos prises de photo ?

—I do mentoring with photographers who are amazing in the aspects of photography that are my weakest points.

—Qui vous a influencé le plus en tant que photographe ?

—I've never been inspired by certain photographers. I like to look at individual photographs, and analyse what I like about them.

—Quelle chose auriez-vous aimer connaître avant de vous lancer dans la photographie ?

—I never thought that photography can be this exhausting! But in a good way.

—Qu'aimeriez-vous dire avec vos photos ?

—When looking at my photographs, I want people to feel what they felt when the moment was actually happening.

—Quelle est votre motivation pour continuer la photographie ?

—Getting great feedback from customers, and seeing myself grow and becoming a better photographer.

—Pensez-vous que vos parents auraient dû être plus stricts ? Moins stricts ?

—They have been perfect.

—Si vous pouviez revenir dans le temps, que changeriez-vous ?

—I would push myself more and especially sooner. It took about 5 years before I started taking myself and my photography really serious. But since I started doing that, I have improved so very much. I wish I'd done that sooner.

—Que pensez-vous de la vie sur d'autres planètes ?

—Nah. There's tons of places for me to explore on this one.

—Qui sont vos héros ?

—Everybody who believes in something, in themselves, and work hard to achieve that.

—Pour qui n'avez-vous aucun respect ?

—People who are arrogant, and bring other people down.

—Que faites-vous pendant votre temps libre ?

—Cooking, eating, movies, riding my oldtimer bike, and some an occasional cigar.

—Quel aspect de votre personnalité le public ne voit pas ?

—I think a lot of people see me as 'the funny guy'. However, I do have a very serious side. I'm a very contemplative person, and I can be fascinated by almost anything.

—Quand êtes-vous complètement satisfait de votre travail ?

—When one of my own photographs really moves me. When I think: Wow, did I capture that? When it makes me feel proud that I've created these images.

—Croyez-vous en le traditionalisme des rôles de l'homme et de la femme ?

—Absolutely not.

—Vous faites-vous facilement des amis ?

—Quite easily. Although sometimes, at first I stay in the background a bit more. I like to evaluate people before I connect to them.

—Où aimeriez-vous vivre ?

—Tough question. I've always enjoyed living in the Netherlands, but lately, this feeling of joy has diminished quite a bit. Not because of the horrible weather, but mainly because of the political climate, the discontent of society, the tension. There's a lot going on, a lot of frustrations among a lot of people, causing the general atmosphere to be a lot less relaxed, in my opinion.

—Quelle est la chose la plus stupide que vous ayez accepté ?

—In photography...or... ;-)

—Existe-t-il une vie après le mariage ?

—Certainly. When it's a good marriage, it enriches your life a lot. A bad marriage can bring you down by an equal amount though.

—Avez-vous une blague préférée ? Racontez-la.

—I can't. It's too gross.

—Préférez-vous les chats ou les chiens ?

—I own both. Although I've always considered myself as more of a dog person, I can thoroughly enjoy the relaxed but also stubborn attitude of cats. They have a mind of their own, which I can relate to.

—Qui ou que détestez-vous ?

—I hate it when people aren't real. Off course, everybody has skeletons in their closet. But too many people pretend to be something their not. Relating to that: I also really dislike how much we're being lied to. In advertising, in politics, in a lot of things. There's very little sincerity and authenticity left.

—La plus belle chose de la vie est :

—Love, good company, good food, sex and friendship.

—La chose la plus ennuyeuse de la vie est :

—Having to type VERY long interviews. Sorry, had to do it ;-)

—Changeriez-vous quelque chose autour de vous ?

—Yes, quite a few things. But that doesn't mean that I'm not happy!

—Que changeriez-vous chez vous ?

—I'd like to be more patient, and to be able to focus better.

—Que changeriez-vous dans le monde ?

—Total cliché, but peace. There's too much anger, aggression and frustration. Terrorism, war, mass shootings. Things that are making the world ill. I wish that the world would chill a bit more.

—Auriez-vous quelques astuces pour des photographes débutants ?

—Be confident, but don't want too much too fast. Take your time to educate and train yourself. Being a good photographer is hard. You don't become one in a year, but that's a trend I'm seeing. People doing a couple of workshops and styled shoots, and calling themselves a professional wedding photographer after that. Workshops and photoshoots are absolutely nothing like shooting a real wedding. So take the time to develop the skills that are needed for doing that.

—Des extraterrestres arrivent sur Terre et vous êtes le premier à les rencontrer. Que leur dites-vous ?

—I'd love to tell them about planet Earth. And I'd love to hear where they're coming from, and also how they got here.

—Vous êtes appelé pour tourner un film. De quel genre serait-il ?

—Probably something artsy, even though I hate that term. I love movies like The Grand Budapest Hotel.

—Demain, je vais aller faire...

—shoot a wedding!