ช่างภาพ Ruud Claessen

—คุณถ่ายรูปขึ้นไหม?

—No! I much rather be behind a camera.

—คุณเข้ามาทำงานในอุตสาหกรรมการถ่ายภาพได้อย่างไร?

—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.

—ในความคิดของคุณ องค์ประกอบที่สำคัญที่สุดของภาพถ่ายที่ดีคืออะไรบ้าง?

—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.

—คุณรักการเดินทางไหม?

—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.

—คุณชอบอะไรในอาชีพของคุณมากที่สุด?

—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.

—คุณชอบอะไรในอาชีพของคุณน้อยที่สุด?

—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.

—อนาคตของการถ่ายภาพจะเป็นอย่างไร?

—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.

—อะไรคือความพิเศษของแนวการถ่ายภาพที่คุณเชี่ยวชาญ?

—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.

—คุณรับมือกับคำวิจารณ์อย่างไร?

—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.

—มีเทรนด์ใดๆ ในการถ่ายภาพหรือไม่?

—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.

—อะไรควรเป็นเกณฑ์ของลูกค้าในการเลือกช่างภาพ?

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

—สิ่งใดบ้างที่ควรหลีกเลี่ยงเวลาถ่ายภาพนิ่ง?

—'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.

—รายละเอียดใดบ้างที่มักถูกมองข้าม แต่ช่างภาพสามารถสังเกตเห็นได้?

—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.

—สิ่งที่มีผลต่อคุณค่าของภาพถ่ายคืออะไร? มีองค์ประกอบอะไรบ้าง?

—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.

—บุคคลใดสามารถเป็นสัญลักษณ์ของศตวรรษที่ 21 ได้ในความคิดของคุณ?

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

—คุณอยากถ่ายรูปใคร?

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

—คุณมีข้อห้ามใดๆ ในอาชีพหรือไม่?

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

—คุณอยากร่วมงานในการถ่ายภาพกับใคร?

—Too many to mention.

—คุณกังวลเกี่ยวกับเรื่องอะไร และทำไม?

—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.

—ช่วงเวลาที่น่าประทับใจที่สุดในชีวิตของคุณคือช่วงใด?

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

—คุณนิยามความสำเร็จอย่างไร? คุณวัดสิ่งนี้อย่างไร?

—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.

—คุณอยากเป็นที่ชื่นชอบหรือเป็นที่เคารพมากกว่ากัน?

—Liked by my clients, respected by my colleagues.

—ความผิดพลาดครั้งใหญ่หลวงที่สุดที่คุณเคยทำในที่ทำงานคืออะไร?

—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.

—เมื่อคุณกำลังจะเดินทาง คุณนำสิ่งใดไปด้วย และทำไม?

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

—ในหมู่อุปกรณ์ที่คุณเป็นเจ้าของ มีอุปกรณ์ใดที่คุณคิดว่าไม่น่าซื้อมาเลย? เพราะอะไร?

—Nope.

—คุณศึกษาด้วยตนเองเพื่อถ่ายภาพให้ดีขึ้นได้อย่างไร?

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

—ผลงานของใครมีอิทธิพลต่อคุณมากที่สุดในฐานะช่างภาพ?

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

—สิ่งหนึ่งที่คุณคิดว่าถ้ารู้ตั้งแต่เริ่มถ่ายภาพก็คงจะดีคืออะไร?

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

—คุณอยากสื่ออะไรผ่านภาพถ่ายของคุณ?

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

—สิ่งที่จูงใจให้คุณถ่ายภาพเรื่อยมาคืออะไร?

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

—สมัยก่อน พ่อแม่ของคุณควรจะเข้มงวดมากกว่านี้หรือน้อยกว่านี้?

—They have been perfect.

—หากคุณสามารถย้อนเวลากลับไปได้ คุณจะทำสิ่งใดให้ต่างไปจากเดิม?

—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.

—แล้วเรื่องสิ่งมีชีวิตบนดาวเคราะห์ดวงอื่นๆ ล่ะ?

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

—ใครคือฮีโร่ของคุณ?

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

—ใครคือผู้ที่คุณไม่เคารพ?

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

—คุณทำอะไรในเวลาว่าง?

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

—ด้านใดของคุณที่สาธารณชนไม่เคยได้เห็น?

—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.

—คุณพอใจกับงานของคุณอย่างเต็มที่เมื่อไหร่?

—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.

—คุณเชื่อในบทบาทตามธรรมเนียมดั้งเดิมของชายและหญิงหรือไม่?

—Absolutely not.

—คุณผูกมิตรง่ายหรือไม่?

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

—คุณอยากอยู่ที่ไหน?

—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.

—เรื่องงี่เง่าที่สุดที่คุณเคยตกลงทำคืออะไร?

—In photography...or... ;-)

—ชีวิตหลังแต่งงานมีจริงหรือไม่?

—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.

—คุณมีมุขโปรดไหม? เล่าให้เราฟังบ้างสิ

—I can't. It's too gross.

—คุณชอบสุนัขหรือแมว?

—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.

—คุณเกลียดใครหรือสิ่งใด?

—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.

—สิ่งที่ดีที่สุดในชีวิตคือ:

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

—สิ่งที่น่ารำคาญที่สุดในชีวิตคือ:

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

—มีสิ่งใดรอบตัวคุณที่คุณอยากเปลี่ยนแปลงหรือไม่?

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

—คุณอยากเปลี่ยนอะไรในตัวคุณเอง?

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

—คุณต้องการเปลี่ยนอะไรในโลก?

—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.

—คุณสามารถให้เคล็ดลับสองสามข้อสำหรับช่างภาพมือใหม่ได้หรือไม่?

—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.

—ถ้าเอเลี่ยนบุกโลกแล้วคุณเป็นคนแรกที่พวกมันพบ คุณจะบอกอะไรกับเอเลี่ยนพวกนั้น?

—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.

—ถ้าคุณถูกเรียกไปถ่ายทำภาพยนตร์ จะเป็นภาพยนตร์ประเภทใด?

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

—พรุ่งนี้ฉันจะไปทำสิ่งนี้...

—shoot a wedding!