Equinox "shoot-all-day" day

Project name: Equinox "shoot-all-day" day
Status: [21/10/2006] Preparational phase.
Status: [14/04/2007] Finalising scanning and posting.

Project progress
WHAT: a "Shoot all day" event.

WHEN: Wednesday, March 21, 2007, a.k.a. "Autumn" (or "Spring" depending where you are) Equinox.

WHERE: anywhere on this planet.

WHO: anyone who is able and willing to spend some time (the more the better) on March 21, 2007, to shoot pictures for this worldwide event.

WHAT CAMERA / SUBJECTS / TECHNIQUE: this is all up to you. Anything goes (well I mean, as long as it is legal, it will be alright).

WHAT DO I DO NOW: just post to the "Shoot all day" on equinox thread on RFF thread, telling us "you're in" - or something like that.

WHAT DO I DO AFTER THAT: just wait for the day to come (3/21, 2007) then shoot as many pictures as you can that day, and submit your best ones (you'll be your own judge here). In the meantime, watch this thread from time to time, to learn about the details and/or to participate in the preparations phase.

WHY: to be shown in galleries in as many places as possible, to be published in a photo book, to be part of a worldwide event and to benefit charity (on which we will decide later on, in a poll).

Project progress
[14/04/2007]
The day was a success. I was able to shoot from midnight until about 8pm, when I got too tired and went to bed. Most of the negatives are scanned. They need to be posted still, for which I set up a photo blog: The Equinox Project photo blog.


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Fotobond wedstrijd Foto Individueel

Project name: Fotobond wedstrijd Foto Individueel
Status: [01/11/2006] Photo print ordered.

Project progress
This project is simply to participate in the Fotobond contest "Foto Individueel".

"Foto Individueel" is open to the individual photographer. It is a national contest under auspoices of the Fotobond. The contest is open to work of Dutch amateur photographers who do not (yet) belong to the crème de la crème of Dutch amateur photography. Participants can submit one photo.

The print of the photo I chose is ordered and will be available soon.


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Conquering Chinggis Khaan (photo and book project)

Project name: Conquering Chinggis Khaan
Status: [09/08/2006] Initial project definition.

Project progress
In this project I aim to travel through all of Mongolia, seeing places, meeting people, finding hidden treasures, running into dinosaurs, surviving clouds of mosquitos, and coming back home alive to tell the story. Mongolia is a diverse place with hot deserts, freezing mountains, short summers, long winters, endless forests, infinite steppes, and boundless Gobi. The Mongolians live in all of these places and climates. I'm going to see for myself how they do it.

A trip to Mongolia for this project is not planned for 2006. If time allows, a trip could be planned for summer 2007 or 2008. This project can be combined with the other projects concerning Dornod, Sukhbaatar and Khentii.

The project is only in initial project design. One or more books are expected to result from this project. As yet there is no end date fixed.


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Birth ground of Chinggis Khaan (photo and book project)

Project name: Birth ground of Chinggis Khaan
Status: [09/08/2006] Initial project definition.

Project progress
Khentii is the birth ground of Temujin, aka Chinggis Khaan. I aim to visit the area where Temujin is believed to have been born to get a feel for the man who ruled the largest land empire in the world.

A trip to Khentii is not planned for 2006. If time allows, a trip could be planned for summer 2007 or 2008.

The project is only in initial project design. One or more books are expected to result from this project. As yet there is no end date fixed.


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Unknown Sukhbaatar (photo and book project)

Project name: Unknown Sukhbaatar
Status: [09/08/2006] Initial project definition.

Project progress
Sukhbaatar is the birth aimag (province) of my wife's parents. Sukhbaatar is a remote aimag and most foreigners only see it from the window of the train to the border crossing with China at Zamiin Ude/Erlian. While this provence seems devoid of anything interesting, my aim is to show the world differently.

A trip to Sukhbaatar is not planned for 2006. If time allows, a trip could be planned for summer 2007 or 2008.

The project is only in initial project design. One or more books are expected to result from this project. As yet there is no end date fixed.


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Dornod through the lens (photo and book project)

Project name: Dornod through the lens
Status: [09/08/2006] Initial project definition.

Project progress
Dornod is the birth aimag (province) of my wife. Dornod is one of the aimags least visited by tourists. The general consent is that this aimag holds little interest for most foreigners. All the more reason for me to visit this remote part of Mongolia.

A trip to Dornod is not planned for 2006. If time allows, a trip could be planned for summer 2007 or 2008.

The project is only in initial project design. One or more books are expected to result from this project. As yet there is no end date fixed.


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Walkabouts (photo and book project)

Project name: Walkabouts
Status: [13/06/2006] Initial project definition.
            [07/08/2006] First walkabout, from Durgerdam along IJsselmeer coast to Marken & Volendam.

Project progress
In this big project I'll be photographing people, oddities, funny things, experiences, etc that I encounter on walkabouts that I'm planning to take. Initially, to gain experience, I'll be taking one-day walks from my home town to several others places and communities. In the future, the walking distance and the duration of the walks can be increased to two-day walks, one-week walk, or even longer. Transportation will be on foot, though occasional hitch-hiking, moped rides, horse rides, boat rides, etc might also be accepted.

Locations and final destinations might be:

• Utrecht, over Abcoude and Breukelen


• Amersfoort, over Weesp, Bussum, Hilversum, and Soest


• Zandvoort, over Haarlem


• Along the Noordzeekanaal to IJmuiden


• Along the IJsselmeer coast to Marken and/or Volendam

The project is only in initial project design. One or more books are expected to result from this project. As yet there is no end date fixed.


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Micro financing in Mongolia (photo and writing project)

Project name: Micro financing in Mongolia
Status: [13/06/2006] Negotiations with micro financeer.
            [04/08/2006] Meeting appointment negotiated for 18/08/2006 in UB, Mongolia.

Project progress
I'm currently negotiating one or more photo shoots in Mongolia, depicting one or more micro financing projects there. With these photos and the accompanying report, I want to raise awareness of these worthwhile, needed and useful projects.

The resulting photos and report are meant to appear in several Dutch and Mongolian (other countries?) newspapers, and on websites dedicated to Mongolian news and affairs. The photos might also get selected by a large Dutch bank to promote the micro financing projects they support.

The project is currently in negotiation with the micro financeer in Mongolia. One or more internet and newspaper publications are expected to result from this project. The shooting is destined to take place in August, with publications following later in the year.


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Mongolia at work (photo and book project)

Project name: Mongolia at work
Status: [13/06/2006] Initial project definition.

Project progress
In this project I aim to produce a series of portraits about people in different jobs, showing their daily life, their work, their experiences as a "day-in-the-life-of" serie. The people will all be Mongolians or foreigners who work for an extended period in Mongolia.

For this project I have already selected a few people who might want to participate:

• A Mongolian poet


• A bank administrator


• A seemstress/tailor


• A tourist guide


• A student


• A shop keeper


• A truck driver


• A stay-at-home mom

The project is only in initial project design. A book is expected to result from this project. As yet there is no end date fixed.


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Vanishing Mongolia (photo and book project)

Project name: Vanishing Mongolia
Status: [13/06/2006] Initial project definition.

Project progress
In this big project I'm photographing the rapidly vanishing aspects of Mongolia's capital city, Ulaanbaatar. The political and economic progress Mongolia is experiencing since going democratic in 1989, is at the root of many social changes. These changes impact on the way people live their lives and experience their traditional culture. The nomadic way of life is disappearing steadily, as are the traditional ways people brought with them when migrating to the capital. Now even those adapted traditional ways are disappearing, and with them important connections with the past. But most importantly are the ever encroaching new housing developments. These are slowly replacing the ubiquitous ger districts of Ulaanbaatar. My aim is to not only record the way it was but also to photograph the changes that take place.

This is a long-term project that can be split up in several sections of attention:

• Gandan ger district


• Belkh ger district


• gazar (yards)


• shops, workshops, etc.


• daily life


• animals


• people

The project is only in initial project design. One or more books are expected to result from this project. As yet there is no end date fixed.


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Photo book Monochrome Mongolia

Project name: Monochrome Mongolia
Status: Initial design.

Project progress
This project came about as an extension of the Shards of Mongolia blog and my many travels to Mongolia since August 2000. In this project I show Mongolia's capital city, Ulaanbaatar, in a series of monochrome photos.

The book is still in initial design. There is no expected release date. The project is progressing very slowly due to problems keeping the choice of photos consistent with the chosen project angle. This project might be scrapped in favour of other, better defined, projects.


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Photo book Shards of Mongolia - Exploring Mongolian city life

Project name: Shards of Mongolia - Exploring Mongolian city life
Status: 13/06/2006 final proof reading.

Project progress
This project came about as an extension of the Shards of Mongolia blog and my many travels to Mongolia since August 2000. In this project I show Mongolia's capital city, Ulaanbaatar, in a way most tourists are not familiar with.

As in previous projects, this project suffered from a lack of immediately available digital photos and a lack of knowledge of the publishing methods I chose. The book is now in final proof reading. The expected release date is late summer/early autumn 2006.


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Photo book Views of Amsterdam

Project name: Views of Amsterdam
Status: Completed. Book available

Amsterdam is an old city. It started its life as a tiny fisherman's village along the shores of the then still untamed river Amstel. Over time a dam and dikes were erected to protect the village and its hinterland. In the early 13th century, the village was awarded city rights. By that time, the village must already have been important enough for the local lords to grant such rights.

The city kept growing and expanding but it wasn't until the Age of Exploration that Amsterdam got an enormous boost. The discovery and exploration of the Americas and the subsequent discovery and exploration of the Far East lead to the formation of trade organizations and companies, the most important of which was the VOC, the Dutch East India Company. The influx of money through the trade in spices, tea, sugar, slaves and other commodities, increased the importance of Amsterdam as the de facto capital of Holland. The Golden Age of Holland, as the 16th and 17th century are called, not only saw Amsterdam bloom as the artistic centre of Western Europe but also as the technological, military and political centre. Amsterdam's historic city centre still shows clearly this power and wealth.

After a few centuries of stagnation, Amsterdam is now once again an energetic, vibrant city. Much has changed over those centuries but much has remained the same, most obviously the city's old centre, it's importance as the capital of Holland and as a hotbed for art and cultural expressions.

Amsterdam is for many visitors the first and often only glimpse of Holland. In this book I want to show some other glimpses of Amsterdam that most visitors hardly ever see: the daily life of the common man and woman. I hope that Views of Amsterdam will persuade you to come to Amsterdam, stay for some time and help you explore the city outside the beaten roads of the tourist areas.

Project progress
The idea for this project came from rummaging through my old photos. I ran into a large number of photos of Amsterdam that, after some consideration, seemed interesting enough to show to a larger audience. Additionally, I wanted to show a less common view of Amsterdam, weary of the widely abundant touristy shots. Amsterdam is more than canals, tulips and old houses.

This project suffered from a lack of immediately available digital photos. Most photos I selected were shot on film and, though they were scanned previously, were often not readily usable. Retrieving, (re)scanning and preparing the photos took an immense amount of time. Laying out the book, finding an arrangement that would work, and getting the book ready for a proof print also took a lot of time. All in all it took a good 18 months, with long interruptions due to unrelated activities, before the book was available for sale.

Main lesson from this project is that having all the digital files and photos ready, in the right size, with the right resolution, properly formatted, is important for a smooth work flow. Having to retrieve old film negatives, (re)scanning them and preparing them in an image editing program, consumes a lot of time and increases the chances of unavoidable but inconvenient interruptions and delays.

Views of Amsterdam


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Photo book Tsagaan Sar - Mongolian New Year

Project name: Tsagaan Sar - Mongolian New Year
Status: Completed. Book available

Tsagaan Sar, White Month, is the Mongolian New Year. Usually celebrated in February (the exact date is dictated by the moon calendar of Mahayana Buddhism), it is one of the most important festive days in Mongolia. The three days of Tsagaan Sar are filled with visits to family and friends, eating, drinking and gift giving. These are very busy and long days indeed.

I finally had a chance to celebrate Tsagaan Sar in February 2005. I had celebrated (western) New Year in Mongolia in 2002, and I had even been to a Mongolian wedding or two before, but nothing had prepared me properly for what I experienced during Tsagaan Sar. This is one festival that éveryone celebrates.

Things usually start months in advance: people start saving money and order new deels (traditional Mongolian caftans). In the weeks before Tsagaan Sar, people start to make repairs to their houses and gers (traditional Mongolian nomad's dwelling) and stock up on vodka and airak (an alcoholic beverage made from fermented mare's milk). The day before Tsagaan Sar, people clean their houses or gers, prepare all the food, and get all the drinks and presents ready. Everything must be perfect.

Tsagaan Sar starts early in the morning when people perform their mör gargakh, which literally means "to start a journey". It is a special New Year horoscope that will show you the way for the coming year.

After performing this short, and very personal, ritual, the children go to visit their parents first. This even means that grown up people visit their parents; first the husband's parents, then the wife's parents. This visit can be a short one or a long one, depending on what is customary in one's family. Many people celebrate the first day of Tsagaan Sar at their parents' house or ger.

Over the next days, people visit their older siblings, in descending order, their friends and the people who are important in their lives. After three days everyone is tired of eating, drinking and the never-ending traveling to and fro' but satisfied they could pay their respects and wish everyone a good beginning of the new year.

Project progress
This project had been in my mind from the moment I realised that celebrating Tsagaan Sar with my family-in-law would be a good opportunity to take photos of as many as possible of them. In the day running up to Tsagaan Sar, I was already taking photos of the preparations at my mother-in-law's house. It was then that I got the idea of extending my goals and shoot also as much as possible of the celebrations.

This turned out to be a bit of a challenge. Not only was my mother-in-law's house packed with people and were the dimensions rather cramped to walk around and shoot freely, but celebrating Tsagaan Sar often turns into a sitting and talking contest with eating and drinking in between: not much action going to shoot. This meant that I had to concentrate from the start on the details: the sheep's head on the table, the look in a father's eye, the sturring of the milk, etc. This focus on the details has turned the project into a personal and close-up account of the celebrations.

I shot most of the photos with a digital SLR, on which I had a wide angle zoom lens. Previous experience with shooting inside the Mongolian ger had revealed the necessity of such a lens. A wide angle lens also means that the photographer has to come up close to the people, increasing the immediacy and intimacy of the photos.

After I returned home to Holland, I took a long time to chew on the photos, select the photos that would relate my experiences best, and those that were appropriate to publish. This process took nearly six months, with other activities interfering regularly, and with my starting over the whole process a few times as I was not satisfied that I had found the right photos.

Putting the photos together in book form also took some time, though this preocess speeded up considerably when I had decided on the book format I wanted to use, the lay-out I wanted and, most importantly, the arrangement of the photos. It was only natural to go for the traditional family hierarchy: parents, oldest son, younger sons, oldest daughter, younger daughters.

As soon as the book was finished, I decided on using Lulu.com to publish my book. Here is where I hit most trouble. It was my first experience with Lulu.com's processes and it took me quite some time to get it all working, also due to the lack of attention I could give to learning these processes. When I had finally mastered producing a proper pdf-file, the whole process of publishing went smoothly. I ordered one proof copy, after which I was satisfied enough to let the book be available for the world.

Main lesson from this project is that it saves time and effort to fully understand not just your equipment but also the publishing methods and processes.

Tsagaan Sar - Mongolian New Year


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Keeping track of my photo projects

I created this blog especially to keep track of my photo projects. I have several finished projects already but there are also several that I'm (still) working on, and others that are in design or preparation state. On this blog I'll write down my project descriptions, modes of working, experiences and post (some of) the results.

Don't expect this blog to be updated regularly. I'll only update it when I have something to tell or results to show. That means there could be a long period of inactivity followed by a flurry of posts in a short time. :) Most of my projects don't have a hard deadline, and I only impose deadlines to myself (for example, to have a book finished and ready for publication by Christmas).

If you have any comments, suggestions or advice, don't hesitate to leave it on this blog. Or email me at ShardsOfPhotography at Gmail dot com.


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