फोटोग्राफर Ruud Claessen

—क्या आप फ़ोटोजेनिक हैं?

—No! I much rather be behind a camera.

—आप फोटोग्राफ़ी इंडस्ट्री में कैसे आए?

—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.

—आपकी नज़र में एक अच्छी तस्वीर में सबसे महत्वपूर्ण बातें क्या हैं?

—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.

—क्या आपको यात्रा करना पसंद है?

—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.

—अपने पेशे के बारे में आपको सबसे अधिक क्या पसंद है?

—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.

—अपने पेशे के बारे में आपको क्या सबसे कम पसंद है?

—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.

—फ़ोटोग्राफ़ी का क्या भविष्य है?

—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.

—आप जिस फोटोग्राफी में स्पेश्लाइज़ेशन रखते हैं उसमें क्या खास होता है?

—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.

—आलोचनाओं को आप किस रूप में लेते हैं?

—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.

—क्या फ़ोटोग्राफ़ी में कोई ट्रेंड चल रहे हैं?

—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.

—यदि किसी ग्राहक को फोटोग्राफ़र चुनना हो तो उसे क्या देखना चाहिए?

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

—शूटिंग के दौरान किन बातों की बिलकुल अनुमति नहीं होती है?

—'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.

—एक फोटोग्राफर ऐसी कौन सी चीजें कैप्चर कर सकता है जो आमतौर पर नज़रों में नहीं आतीं?

—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.

—फ़ोटो के मूल्य को क्या प्रभावित करता है? इसके तत्व यानी एलीमेंट्स क्या हैं?

—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.

—आपकी राय में 21वीं सदी का प्रतीक कौन व्यक्ति हो सकता है?

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

—आप किसकी तस्वीरें उतारना चाहेंगे?

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

—क्या आपका कोई प्रोफ़ेशनल टैबू है यानी पेशे की दृष्टि से कोई वर्जित बातें?

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

—आप किसके साथ शूटिंग करना पसंद करेंगे?

—Too many to mention.

—आप किस बारे में चिंतित रहते हैं, और क्यों?

—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.

—आपके जीवन का सबसे प्रभावशाली क्षण कौन-सा है?

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

—सफलता को आप कैसे परिभाषित करते हैं? आप इसे कैसे मापते हैं?

—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.

—पसंद किए जाने की या सम्मान पाने की, आपकी चाहत क्या रहती है?

—Liked by my clients, respected by my colleagues.

—अभी तक काम के दौरान सबसे बड़ी गलती या भूल आपकी क्या रही है?

—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.

—जब आप यात्रा पर जा रहे होते हैं तो अपने साथ आप क्या लेकर चलते हैं और क्यों?

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

—क्या आपके पास कोई ऐसी चीज़ है जिसे आप सोचते हैं कि काश मैंने इस गैजेट को नहीं खरीदा होता? यदि ऐसा है तो, क्यों?

—Nope.

—आप बेहतर तस्वीरें लेने के लिए अपने आप को कैसे शिक्षित करते हैं?

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

—एक फ़ोटोग्राफ़र के रूप में आप किसके काम से सबसे अधिक प्रभावित हैं?

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

—जब आपने फ़ोटो खींचना शुरू किया तो वह कौन-सी ऐसी एक चीज़ है जिसे आप सोचते हैं कि काश उसे आप जानते होते?

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

—आप अपनी तस्वीरों के बारे में क्या कहना चाहते हैं?

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

—तस्वीरें लेना जारी रखने के लिए कौन-सी बात आपको प्रेरित करती है?

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

—क्या आपके माता-पिता कमोबेश सख्त रहे होते?

—They have been perfect.

—यदि आप समय पर घर पहुँच सकें तो क्या कुछ आप अलग करना चाहेंगे?

—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.

—अन्य ग्रहों पर जीवन के बारे में क्या राय है?

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

—आपके नायक-नायिकाएँ कौन हैं?

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

—किसके लिए आपके मन में कोई इज्जत नहीं है?

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

—आप अपने खाली समय में क्या करते हैं?

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

—आपके जीवन का कौन-सा ऐसा पहलू है जिसे आम लोग कभी नहीं देख पाते हैं?

—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.

—कब आप अपने काम से पूरी तरह संतुष्ट होते हैं?

—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.

—क्या आप पुरुषों और महिलाओं के लिए तय पारंपरिक भूमिकाओं में विश्वास करते हैं?

—Absolutely not.

—क्या आप आसानी से दोस्त बना लेते हैं?

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

—आपको कहाँ पर रहना पसंद है?

—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.

—अभी तक ऐसी सबसे बेवकूफी भरी बात क्या रही है जिसे करने के लिए आप तैयार हो गए थे?

—In photography...or... ;-)

—क्या जीवन शादी के बाद होता है?

—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.

—क्या आपका कोई पसंदीदा चुटकुला या मजाकिया किस्सा है? हमें बताएँ।

—I can't. It's too gross.

—क्या आपको कुत्ते या बिल्ली पसंद हैं?

—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.

—किस बात से या किन लोगों से आपको नफ़रत है?

—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.

—जीवन में सबसे अच्छी बात यह है:

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

—जीवन में सबसे कष्टप्रद बात यह है:

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

—क्या आपके आसपास कुछ ऐसा है जिसमें आप बदलाव चाहेंगे?

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

—आप स्वयं में क्या बदलाव लाना चाहेंगे?

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

—आप दुनिया में क्या बदलाव लाना चाहेंगे?

—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.

—क्या आप बिल्कुल नए फ़ोटोग्राफ़रों के लिए कुछ सुझाव दे सकते हैं?

—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.

—यदि एलियन पृथ्वी पर आ जाएँ और उनसे मिलने वाले आप सबसे पहले व्यक्ति हों तो आप उनसे क्या कहेंगे?

—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.

—यदि आपसे किसी मूवी को शूट करने के लिए कहा जाए तो किस जॉनर को आप पसंद करेंगे?

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

—कल मैं जाकर यह करूँगा/गी...

—shoot a wedding!