He knows
He stares into the distance. Is it a he? I think so. It seems as though he’s understanding something or coming to a realization. His brows are furrowed. His green eyes gaze into the distance. Let’s not disturb him—that would be rude. With his headscarf, he could be a pirate. Pirate Bay exists on Curaçao, […]
Caribbean hummingbird
There are more birds that can hover in mid-air. Birds of prey “pray” in the sky, scanning for prey. But only one can hover stationary in front of a flower: the hummingbird. It turns out there are two types of hummingbirds on Curaçao—the Ruby-Topaz Hummingbird and the Blue-tailed Emerald Hummingbird. How they ever got there […]
Less is more
An ordinary wall in Otrobanda. With a very ordinary door. But what a stunning combination of colors, the yellow and the purple. I debated for a long time whether to leave the bare wall as it was or to add graffiti. As you can see, I chose not to. Sometimes less is more. In that […]
Ephemeral beauty
I love the vulnerability and transience of graffiti. On Curaçao, much of the graffiti is still in pristine condition, often on a neat background. So, I do something about that. I’ve photographed countless walls in Otrobanda and use them as backgrounds. This way, the image becomes more dynamic, layered, raw. This artist has adorned many […]
The trade wind
The wind on Curaçao plays a crucial role; it cools, but can also strike with destructive force. The wind shapes the island, with the northeast being raw and rugged due to the Northeast trade winds. The wind, combined with the salty air, means that murals on the island often have a short lifespan. This image […]
Protest
This composition is full of protest. An angry person, wearing a Chanel shirt, throws a bottle. You’d expect a stone or a Molotov cocktail, but it’s a bottle with a Chanel logo. There are also letters on the right, referencing the protests by women in Iran—women who no longer wanted to be forced to wear […]
Say Yes
Just say YES—someone really did that and ended up having all sorts of adventures. Jim Carrey portrayed this in 2008 in the movie Yes Man and won an MTV Movie Award for it. Saying YES has something incredibly positive about it, which is why I find this message so beautiful. Say yes—yes to yourself, to […]
People are good
Rutger Bregman is a well-known Dutch historian who stirred things up at the 2019 Davos meeting of the world’s wealthy elite when he spoke about tax avoidance. We had already observed that the rich were getting richer at a rapid pace, and that hasn’t changed. Between 2019 and 2021, 63% of all wealth went to […]
Not so fluffy
Three images of the same rabbit, standing alert on its hind legs with a Kalashnikov at the ready. Normally, rabbits evoke a kind of affection, a desire to pet them. But I wouldn’t recommend that with this one. In any case, rabbits aren’t fond of being petted, as I know from experience. They’re prey animals, […]
ZAAP
I stumbled upon this by chance in Amsterdam Noord. I was doing a photoshoot with a well-known DJ and wandered around the area with him. The shoot went okay, though I thought it could’ve been better—but then again, I always think that. This composition was a nice bonus. It’s really just color, except for the […]