Fotoğrafçı Ruud Claessen

—Fotojenik olduğunuzu düşünüyor musunuz?

—No! I much rather be behind a camera.

—Fotoğrafçılık endüstrisine nasıl giriş yaptınız?

—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.

—Sizce iyi bir fotoğrafın en önemli bileşenleri nelerdir?

—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.

—Seyahat etmeyi sever misiniz?

—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.

—Mesleğinizle ilgili en sevdiğiniz şey nedir?

—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.

—Mesleğinizin en zor tarafı nedir?

—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.

—Fotoğrafçılığının geleceği konusunda neler düşünüyorsunuz?

—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.

—Uzmanlaştığınız fotoğrafçılık türünü özel kılan şey nedir?

—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.

—Eleştiriler karşısında yaklaşımınız nasıl oluyor?

—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.

—Fotoğrafçılığı ile ilgili yeni trendler var mı?

—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.

—Müşteriler fotoğrafçı seçerken ne gibi kriterleri göz önünde bulundurmalıdırlar?

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

—Fotoğraf çekimi sırasında kesinlikle izin vermeyeceğiniz şeyler nelerdir?

—'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.

—Bir fotoğrafçı diğerlerinin görmediği hangi detayları yakalayabilir?

—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.

—Fotoğrafın değerini belirleyen şey nedir? Ne gibi unsurları vardır?

—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.

—Sizce 21. yüzyılın sembolü kim olabilir?

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

—Kimi fotoğraflamak istersiniz?

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

—Mesleğinizle ilgili tabularınız var mı?

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

—Birlikte fotoğraf çekmek istediğiniz birisi var mı?

—Too many to mention.

—Hangi konularda endişeleriniz var ve neden?

—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.

—Hayatınızda sizi en çok etkileyen an?

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

—Kısaca başarıyı tanımlar mısınız? Başarıyı nasıl ölçersiniz?

—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.

—Beğenilmeyi mi yoksa saygınlığı mı tercih edersiniz?

—Liked by my clients, respected by my colleagues.

—Bugüne kadar işinizle ilgili yaptığınız en büyük hatanız nedir?

—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.

—Bir seyahate giderken yanınıza alacağınız şey nedir? Niçin?

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

—Kullandığınız cihazlar arasında keşke satın almasaydım dediğiniz bir cihaz var mı? Neden?

—Nope.

—Daha iyi fotoğraflar çekmek adına kendinizi nasıl geliştiriyorsunuz?

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

—Bir fotoğrafçısı olarak çalışmalarından en çok etkilendiğiniz kişi kimdir?

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

—Fotoğraf çekmeye başladığınızda bilmeyi istediğiniz en önemli şey nedir?

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

—Fotoğraflarınızda neleri anlatmak istersiniz?

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

—Neler fotoğraf çekme arzunuzu motive ediyor?

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

—Ailem daha otoriter veya daha özgürlükçü olmalıydı diye hiç düşündünüz mü?

—They have been perfect.

—Geçmişe gidebilseydin neyi değiştirmeyi isterdin?

—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.

—Diğer gezegenlerde de yaşam olduğunu düşünüyor musunuz?

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

—Herhangi bir kahramanınız var mı?

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

—Kime saygı duymazsınız?

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

—Boş zamanlarınızda neler yaparsınız?

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

—Diğer insanların hiç bilmediği farklı bir yönünüz var mı?

—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.

—Şu ana kadar tam olarak tatmin olduğun bir çalışma oldu mu?

—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.

—Kadınların ve erkeklerin geleneksel rolleri hakkında neler düşünüyorsunuz?

—Absolutely not.

—İnsanlarla hemen arkadaş olabilir misiniz?

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

—Nerede yaşamayı isterdiniz?

—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.

—Kesinlikle yapmayı kabul etmediğiniz en aptalca şey nedir?

—In photography...or... ;-)

—Evlilik sonrası hayat konusunda neler düşünüyorsunuz?

—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.

—Çok sevdiğiniz bir fıkra var mı? Eğer varsa bizimle paylaşır mısınız?

—I can't. It's too gross.

—Kedileri veya köpekleri sever misiniz?

—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.

—Kimden veya ne yapmaktan nefret edersiniz?

—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.

—Hayatınızdaki en iyi şey:

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

—Hayatınızdaki en sinir bozucu şey:

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

—Çevrenizde değiştirmek istediğiniz bir şeyler var mı?

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

—Kendinizde neyi değiştirmek isterdiniz?

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

—Dünyadaki neleri değiştirmek isterdiniz?

—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.

—Fotoğrafçılığına yeni başlayanlar için birkaç ipucu verebilirsiniz?

—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.

—Uzaylılar dünyaya gelse ve onların karşısına çıkan ilk kişi siz olsanız, onlara ne derdiniz?

—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.

—Sizden bir film çekmeniz istenseydi, bu ne tür bir film olurdu?

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

—Yarın yapacağım...

—shoot a wedding!