摄影师Ruud Claessen

—您上相吗？

—No! I much rather be behind a camera.

—您是如何进入摄影行业的？

—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.

—在您看来，一张好的照片最重要的组成部分有哪些？

—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.

—您热爱旅行吗？

—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.

—对于您的职业，您最喜欢什么地方？

—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.

—对于您的职业，您最不喜欢什么地方？

—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.

—摄影的前景如何？

—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.

—您专长的摄影风格有什么特别？

—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.

—您如何应对批评？

—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.

—摄影有什么趋势？

—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.

—客户选择摄影师时应该遵循什么标准？

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

—拍摄时绝不允许什么事情？

—'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.

—有哪些摄影师可以捕捉的通常会被忽略的细节？

—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.

—什么影响照片的价值？它的元素有哪些？

—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.

—在您看来，什么人可以成为 21 世纪的代表人物？

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

—您想要为谁拍摄？

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

—您有职业禁忌吗？

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

—您想与谁一起拍摄？

—Too many to mention.

—您担心什么？为什么担心？

—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.

—在生命中，给您印象最深的时刻是什么？

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

—您如何定义成功？如何衡量它？

—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.

—您非常受人喜欢或尊敬吗？

—Liked by my clients, respected by my colleagues.

—您在工作中犯过的最大错误是什么？

—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.

—当您准备去旅行时，要携带什么？为什么？

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

—在您拥有的器材中，是否有一些是您后悔购买的？为什么？

—Nope.

—您如何提高自己以拍摄出更好的照片？

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

—谁的作品对您作为摄影师的影响最大？

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

—开始拍摄时，您最想知道什么？

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

—您想对自己的照片说什么？

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

—什么激励您继续拍摄下去？

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

—您的父母是否应该更严厉或变得温和一点呢？

—They have been perfect.

—如果能够回到过去，您会有什么不同的举动？

—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.

—对于其他星球上的生命，您有何看法？

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

—谁是您的英雄？

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

—您不尊重谁？

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

—您在业余时间会做什么？

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

—公众从不会看到您的哪一面？

—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.

—什么时候您对自己的作品完全满意？

—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.

—您主张男人和女人的传统角色吗？

—Absolutely not.

—您很容易就会交到朋友吗？

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

—您想生活在什么地方？

—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.

—您答应做的最愚蠢的事情是什么？

—In photography...or... ;-)

—结婚之后生活的质量高吗？

—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.

—您有最喜欢的玩笑吗？请告诉我们。

—I can't. It's too gross.

—您喜欢狗还是喜欢猫？

—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.

—您讨厌谁，或者厌恶什么？

—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.

—生活中最美好的事情是：

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

—生活中最让人烦心的事情是：

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

—您是否想改变周围的一些事情？

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

—您希望改变自己的哪些方面？

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

—您希望改变世界什么地方？

—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.

—对于刚入行的摄影师，您能提供一些建议吗？

—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.

—如果外星人来到地球并且您是他们见到的第一个人，您会跟他们说什么？

—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.

—如果您被邀请去拍一部电影，您希望是什么流派？

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

—明天我会去做...

—shoot a wedding!