New Platinum Palladium print

Definitely falling more and more in love with this process and paper… Feels good to see something come to life which first was just an idea…

Work in progress

Platinum Palladium work print of the photograph named: “Sun (Son)” During the grey days I had the idea of photographing the sun when it was ready to come out again. So created some sunglasses for my camera from solar film and watercolour paper. Now it’s ready to print.

Closing words for 2024...

Frame straightened. Perfectly aligned with the other ones on the wall. Bit out centre to the left though. Or maybe a little bit more… The balance needs to be just right. Otherwise the other ones feel sad and neglected.

Could be a metaphor. But at least these photographs I brought back from Italy are hanging on my wall now… A mixture of Maria Callas and scenes from Teatro alla Scala are filling my hallway wall with grace, a pinch of melancholia, and paper I still need to bring to the recycle bin because it was too stuffed. So basically me after Christmas.

It made me want to write… Finally… And again…

Björk was playing in the background while fireworks are being lit right outside. Fireworks in a city where it is supposed to be prohibited.

A breeze enters my heart because the door to it was slightly open. Maybe it should have closed it since my feelings got infused with a little bit of rage. Words that arrived in a knapsack which were so ungentlemanlike. How could they know…

I will
remain
a gentleman

A video of Mazen al-Hamada passed by on my timeline on Instagram. How can a man that smuggled baby formula now be an angel… Maybe that is because many listened, but no one really understands…

Listen. See. With eyes wide open… What the hell are we doing on the brink of tumbling into 2025…

A tear gently leaves the cosiness of my right eye. Stay there, I tell you.

No! Get out… Why is it that society tells us when we cry we are weak. And man-up because holding back our feelings is the “manliest” thing you can do. As so they say… I say get out! Be naked! Flow free. Like a river of no regrets and let the world feel your stream that will smother this toxic mess and will be a bringer of life and empathy. Be brave…

Wear that heart on that sleeve. That sleeve that is full of holes but stitched together with golden threads and let the world know that this is not how it ends!

Scream…
Scream
Scream!

Even while I am screaming
I will remain
a gentleman

To the world I just want to say: please change... To the one in my dreams; don’t ever do. I love you just the way you are.

I shall be a rock for now. That bonded with that river. Shaped, split, and full of force. Daring to make the flow go both directions.

I slowly close the door to my heart. But no worries, there is not even a lock. I forced it out, so I can peak outside whenever I feel like it. It will open again, when the world decides to be kinder. Home, abroad… And wherever the fuck it is needed.

Cherish your artists… They are so much needed right now… A line breaks in poetry is not just a line break. And my art… Is, just that, too…

(Happy) 2025…

~ Cristian

New print. New work. New process.

Happy to show a work print of new work I have been slowly but steadily creating.

In spring I entertained the idea in my head that I wanted to work in a different way and have more freedom. Self imposed rules that were only applied forcefully in my own head made me feel so restrained. I wanted go get out of that. So I started learning another process.

Platinum / Palladium it became. Saved up some money and an endless amount of patience. I build my own exposure unit. Gathered books and supplies. Even a brush from Japan.

Definitely not abandoning the silver process because I still love that. But everything has its time and place. No more self imposed restrictions of tools or process. The Dutch greyness we have this time of year also comes in handy. Who would have known…

The entirety of the project/ series will become more clear later.

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Duncan Miller Gallery's Group Show

Happy to inform everyone that one of my pieces named “A river…” can be viewed during the Square Print group showing at Duncan Miller Gallery located at Venice Boulevard, Los Angeles. December 7th, from 18:00 until 20:00.

Unfortunately I won’t be there. But a part of me is. It would be wonderful if you can have a look.

The exact address is:

10959 Venice Boulevard

Los Angeles, California

United States

90034

My swan went around 74 countries

If you are a subscriber to the YourDailyPhotograph newsletter you might have seen it passing by. My swan…

Printed beautifully on Ise Wash Basewo paper, and part of their Square print sale.

It feels actually amazing to have it seen by people who are actively collecting fine art, spanning 74 countries… Crazy come to think of it. The internet is an amazing thing. :)

If you would ask ten year old me that I would be doing stuff like this nowadays he would say you are crazy. So many goals to achieve though… Anyways, I digress.

So, the newsletter went live. If you are a collector sign up to that wonderful platform. I you like my print, buy it. It would mean the world to me.

You can catch it here before it sells out. Only five of them are out there, and signed of course.

YourDailyPhotograph Square Print Sale

Thrilled to say I’m part of YourDailyPhotograph’s Square Print Sale with this piece “A river…”.

YourDailyPhotograph is a service for collectors of Fine Art Photography and is run by Duncan Miller Gallery located in Los Angeles.

Collect the 7x7” inch (18x18 CM) archival pigment print on Ise Washi Basewo paper. The print is signed print on the front and is available in an edition of 5 for $100,- Dollar.

You can get these limited made prints here.

Cyanotype

Cyanotype on 54 grams Tosa Shi paper.

I totally forgot I made this cyanotype a while back. I left it in my drying book for my gelatin silver prints and found it again when I needed to flatten some new ones. I like it even more now.

Experimental Gelatin Silver prints

Lately my words have not been flowing so much. That is fine… Sometimes you just need photographs without much words.

Anyways… Here is a set of 4 experimental Gelatin Silver photographs, toned, and painted on. Sizes 14x21.5 CM.

Hopefully they will brighten your day.

I am ready to photograph humans again...

For a long time I wasn’t interested in photographing humans. I don’t know why that was… I pondered and pondered, wondered and wondered, until I could make sense of it.

I so far have yet to find an answer.

But in a way aren’t all photographs you take portraits? Portraits of nature, the elements, portraits of feelings. I have to admit, it made things infinitely harder. Somehow I have an tendency for that. I also don’t consider myself as a landscape photographer, or solely a portrait photographer. Just a photographer. Nothing more, nothing less.

One day I will maybe go more in depth about the last personal project I finished “I started writing you this letter in autumn…” Maybe if I will ever give a talk or something. But for now it is time for new beginnings.

A new personal project which I am pretty excited about to work on. And alongside my interpretation of portrait and fashion photography.

To get things moving again, mainly in my overly strangely working brain. I did my first session with a dear friend of mine, Kirsten. It is always a pleasure to have her in front of my camera. No pressure, just fun. It is definitely good to see that we both have grown a lot. Same goes for the camera as well, since my little 35mm Nikon which I started out photographing with eventually became by now a 4x5 large format camera.

We shots some other frames too. But as soon as we progressed during the session I realized I wanted to create a diptych. I prefer to see these two photographs together. But realized that they work individually as well.

For now… I am ready to photograph humans again. That it may become a fruitful time.

~ Cristian

“When I see you again…”

As I lie in my bed, my heart and mind are fighting an endless battle with my soul. I find solace in listening to a song that I suddenly started humming in the shower.

It’s hard not to get lost in a maze of words friends say, but are of those only lovers speak. Until you see a shooting star and all I could wish for was you.

Your laughter and pain is tugging at me. My end of the thread feels full of tension. And when you cry, I cry. It’s a comforting thought that your cookies are safe, and I hid the ones that belong to all the meanies.

In this moment of sleep I will transcend distance and time and we will tell mesmerizing stories from when we were young. Or hundreds and hundreds of years ago. Whichever comes first… Dreams that act like a road full of autumn leaves that only we can walk.

The morning starts with a cup of coffee that will be drank in the company of birds. A pigeon says hello while my last sip reminds me of the footprints you left in my soul. I will give you flowers when I see you again. I hope you think they are beautiful.

I went to the forest and everyone knew your name

I went to the forest and everyone knew your name. The deers, the foxes… During the evening the stars and the moon… The branches and the leaves whispered letters that sound like you, and etch you in my thoughts. So every time when I hear the wind sing, they can’t float away.

Last night's thunderstorm and something with rain.

New series: "The lost art of having a deep conversation... "

Exciting…

It is always scary to show new work. Especially when it is different than usual. Scary but in a good way and exciting. That’s the case with this series as well…

“The lost of of having a deep conversation…” started in Morocco. I was having a well deserved holiday which in it’s original incarnation would only consist out of eating a copious amount of delicious food as well as waking up with a view over the old city of Marrakesh, in the company of a good cup of coffee.

Well I go that. And more… I like taking photographs and wiring so much that I do it in my free time as well. Same goes for print making. And during one of the morning I just started shoot… Simple things. Incredible inspiring though. Things don’t always have to be over complicated. Sometimes things are just what they are. And this situation, just incredibly beautiful, is what came to mind. And it is hard not to see why Morocco has not inspired many many many artist.

I didn’t even bring fresh film. Just old expired film that at one point in time was gifted to me and was kept safe in the fridge. Also not even the same types and brands, and took only a couple of rolls. It is what it is and these are the things I have to work with.

It just flowed. And I like it when things just flow. :)

Morocco has a big photographic history, and I can advice anyone who visits the country to dive into this. There is a reason why you see gorgeous photographs in plenty of places around the country. Just be aware and look around you with a open mind. They are everywhere.

I do also recommend going to the House of Photography located in Marrakesh. Besides the gorgeous, and I do mean gorgeous photographs you will see there, you will learn a thing or two about Morocco and their history and photography. Current and classical.

I was looking for a way to print them differently so I experimented with a multitude of alternative processes before I eventually came back to, you can guess it, Gelatin Silver again… I just really love that process that much. Nothing wrong with all the others. But this is just me. I do see the advantages of the others though through the capabilities of artistic freedom they have. If you study the Japanese masters and how they embrace their paper and Platinum Palladium process that is awes inspiring. So I started working with liquid Gelatin Silver as a middle ground. The rich tonalities of silver, yet the freedom of alt.

Somehow I stumbled upon Sandararc varnish which is actually made from a tree from Morocco to finish it. It gives the prints a bit more of a depth and increases the dynamic range a bit. The blacks pop way more, and has a certain 3 dimensional feel to it which does not come across on a computer screen. But to be fair, I am a firm believer in experiencing things for real anyway.

The entire series took about 3 months. From the developing of the film part to the last print.

This, in a way is just a technical explanations though. Which does not matter at all…

I would like to see that everyone who takes their valuable time who has a look at it. Hopefully during an exhibition one day, or on their computer. To experience it the same way as I do. So please don’t look at it on your phone.

It is a poem. Nothing more, nothing less…

The words go along with the photographs and are intertwined. You cannot have one without the other. What it is about, it on the viewer and reader to decide that. And in a way it can be anything if you approach it like that.

That is the beauty of art, no?

It is nothing more than just the result of a hopeless romantic which shares a connection with his cup of coffee, the morning sun, and a cat.

~ Cristian

You can find the new series on the project page or just use the navigation bar.

"Heavier than heaven..."

“Heavier than heaven…“

Happy Valentine's Day.

The Hand Magazine issue 43

Happy to see my work in The Hand Magazine Issue 43. Not only that, but I have the cover as well! The back cover nonetheless. But a cover is a cover. I’ll take it, and I am proud of it. And it definitely makes me happy.

The Hand Magazine is a magazine the focuses on print based art. Very interesting to see all of the processes of all the artists as well.

After the news broke I have gotten so many sweet messages that the Swan is their favourite photograph. And that definitely made my day.

Thanks for The Hand Magazine for having me. And thanks everyone for the messages.

~Cristian

Grid of moons

9 grid matrix of different perspectives on “I will paint the moon for you…” in Gelatin Silver toned with selenium on baryta paper. Individual sizes of 17.5 x 11 CM total size of 52.5 x 33 CM

Salt prints on unconventional paper and other news

The weather in the Netherlands was shitty. It was dark, grey, boring and without any life. Got hit by the flu for the first time since yeaaaarrrs. And while I was hiding under my blankets I had the idea to print on unconventional paper. Just to mix things up. So as soon as I got better I was looking for the best way to do it. Gelatin Silver I want to use for my “regular” prints. So I ended up with choosing between Cyanotype, Salt process, or Platinum / Palladium. Eventually I opted for the Salt process. This since I could tone this with gold to make it more archival. Cyanotype are cool but not for now. And Platinum / Palladium is more for like the really really really special prints.

For the ones who don’t know Salt Printing is. Salt Printing is when you combine salt with Silver Nitrate and that creates a light sensitive surface. It was invented by Henry Fox Talbot and was the main process before Gelatin Silver. So it is super cool and super old. About 200 years…

The paper I used was stationary from Italy and an empty page of a super old book I got from the thrift store.

Another empty page I had left I put in my old DDR era typewriter and got a small excerpt from one of my poems.

In other news: I am also a contributor to the latest edition of The Hand Magazine. It is a magazine that focusses specifically on print makers from all different kinds of disciplines. So that is really cool. I always love to see other works of art besides photography. Check out the latest edition at their website.

Also when I was in Morocco last October I couldn’t help myself to shoot some work instead of just stuffing my face with food. So I created a small series which has a working title for now “Secret Conversations” and consists of twelve photographs and will be printed in a super special way. But like everything I do, it takes time. I do everything by hand so bear with me. More on that later.

Salt on stationary toned with gold.

Salt on purposed old book page toned with gold.

Excerpt from one if my poem on my DDR era typewriter.

Yet untitled addition to "I started writing you this letter in autumn..."