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.

Istanbul - Me, my camera, and sometimes a pen...

only me
my camera
and sometimes a pen

time flies by too fast
and I am too slow...

will I ever have enough time?
I do my best...

it doesn't matter what I say
or do
I have no control

tijd om lost te laten
or hold on
it feels like sand

I called home
niemand thuis

sometimes it seems
that the people in the street
can read my mind

they look
they stare
they are like sculptures of what my heart feels

I sometimes say I never believed
but somehow
yet
from the beginning
I always did

I'm tired
Someone else falls asleep
another phone
should I pick up?

I see a tree
the sky turns bright
daglicht

a flock of birds
I wish they were
something else
time to go home...

Goodbye 2022...

08:00

… is the moment in time where I look outside the window, and ask the sun: Is it time for you to wake up as well?

Only sporadically he answers…

It is strange though. I sometimes feel like the sun, but the more I think about it. 2022 made me feel more and more like that big fuzzy ball in the sky. But only the sun in winter times. Just like now… Not knowing clearly if I am ready to show my face yet.

My balcony window is steamed up… A beam of light was coming through. The light deflects a bit and scatters all over my living room because of that…

It is beautiful.

There is a saying that the sun loves the moon so much, that he dies every night to let her breathe. It makes me think... Is the moon sometimes sad about that? Does she miss him? And does the sun sometimes get cold at night?

After breakfast and morning coffee I pack my gear and prepare to go out and shoot.

I felt lonely and depressed that day… Yet I go out. Back to work, back to the grind… The places I go, the people I meet. All seems connected, it makes me happy. At least outside of the city… Each moment I am done and I finish up my day and go back to the areas where normal life happens the loneliness returns… I see a lot of people. Afraid, and always in a rush… That what strikes me always more when I come back to the Netherlands from a trip sometimes close by… And sometimes far away…

It makes me think of “The Crunch“ by Bukowski…

“there is a loneliness in this world so great

that you can see it in the slow movement of

the hands of a clock

people so tired

mutilated

either by love or no love.

people just are not good to each other

one on one.

the rich are not good to the rich

the poor are not good to the poor.

we are afraid.”

I may be thinking about Bukowski but it is conflicted by my own longing. I am more of a Johnny Cash person anyway, and his description of paradise.

Something was gnawing on me though… If you read about the photography masters, they sometimes mention that photography is a mirror. What is really inside is what comes out. And they way you view the world is a part of who you are.

I explicitly say part and not just who. Since so many things in life are so more nuanced then meets the eye. And a lot of humans are just not really one thing.

Maybe they were right. Maybe that is the reason why my photographs are always filled with melancholia. Maybe it comes from scars in my heart from they pain I carried inside for a long time... Or that I never had a “Merry“ Christmas. And the times they were Merry they were based on a lie. Maybe it is because of a society that wants me to be normal “because being normal is crazy enough” and I just want to be full of emotion and not being afraid to express myself. Or when I was a little boy my piggy bank was suddenly empty and a month later it was full again. Only to discover on a later age that was because otherwise we wouldn’t have anything to eat.

Maybe it is just me…

My day continues…

I have a coffee. I make my food…

My phone buzzes…

I could have swore it was from someone I deeply care about since everyone I regularly speak to have their own sound.

Nothing… No message at all…

I must have gone crazy…

The news is real and I read it… I scroll through social media… I see stories passing by about Iran and Yemen. An energy crisis. A kitty was also saved from a tree.

It makes me think that despite I travelled so much and learned so much. I actually know nothing. I will never know how it is to flee from your home country or how it makes you feel when there is a revolution is going on. But know that every time you tell me about it I will have a tear in my eye.

Out for groceries… Next to the super market Christmas trees are being sold. Yet it reminds me of a story of someone told me that she couldn’t take a bath because with current energy prices the costs are just too high. Do I get a tree for myself this year? My decision ends up in a “no“ and get a big ball of dough we eat at the end of the year, baked in oil, named a “oliebol”, instead.

I punish myself by working out a little bit longer…

I cycle home…

Go to bed, and when and I wake up the next morning all the autumn leaves in my head are making way for blankets of snow that cover my ever lasting thoughts and turn into a beautiful winter landscape…

Frozen… For now… Until the sun shines bright again and it is time to show what is underneath. My head could have been a snow globe.

It makes me think about love. What is love, actually? And why are we so afraid of it? I know what it is for me. Love is freedom. Love is support and letting each other grow. Love is not possessive. Whatever kind of love you are seeking for in life, love is about being whole again. I know that, and believe in that with my heart and soul. Maybe that is why it is so scary? To get what we really want in life…?

My breakfast consists of my favourite coffee and my favourite crackers. I take a bite, my phone buzzes. This time it was real…

The text made me smile.

Time to go… Time to head out… Time for the grind… To work on that photographic dream. To express myself.

It was a beautiful foggy day in the Netherlands and the fog fell over the landscape like a magical cloud with treasure hidden inside it.

It was a good day. Cold, but good.

When I got home I started writing as well… This piece…

It makes me think about that I want to write a poem… I grabbed my typewriter and set it up on my living room table… A paper is inserted in the machine… I love this paper… Grain and structure are present all over. It is perfectly imperfect… Just like me. Just like you…

I write down the words…

“i am the story of a human being
I am the wound of time
I am falling rain…”

I pause… Is it done…?

Yes…

It is done…

Happy new year and a amazing 2023…

And isn’t art beautiful?

~ Cristian

P.S. Thank you every one that made my year amazing again. You are always in my thoughts and in my heart. You know who you are. You are the ones I feel safe with. My friends and my dearest. <3

Thank you Anna-Patricia for finding me. It is beautiful to have an amazing and super sweet gallery director in your life.

Thank you Fotovakhuis for supporting me and being my second home.

And thank you everyone that always follows my adventures. 2022 was amazing. But I promise you… There are plenty of more adventures to come. And I will hopefully will finish the project I am working on soon. Good things just take time… Just keep checking in on me… And I will do the same with you.

With all my love…

Thank you…

Me working snapped by other Chris.

Signing session at the ºCLAIRbyKahn booth at Paris Photo 2022.

Expired Agfa Record Rapid paper from somewhere late 80’s begin 90’s. I started with a proof of concept a month a go and wanted to make everything perfect before I started printing for real. It is the only box I had and this paper is not being made anymore. Expired paper is not only difficult to work with both also there are tonal shifts that can be aesthetically pleasing. I wanted to finish this idea this year. It may not be a conventional way of silver gelatin printing, but projects like this help make me become a better printer in general and it also helps me thing outside of the box.

Size 72cm x 53,4 cm. Edition of 1.

Happy New Year from my little place of magic…

Back from Paris Photo 2022...

Paris Photo is over and I had the best best best time. :) Anna-Patricia thank youuuuu you are the best! You have no idea how happy I was. And even better, being there with my handmade silver gelatin prints and leporello booklets. I just had the best of times. :)

Also of cours thank you Robert and Philipp. You all made feel at home. :)

Now back to the darkroom. :)

Experiment in oak toning

Experiment in oak toning.

I was looking to see if I could find a way to make prints more personal. So what I did was I collected oak bark and made a toner out of that.

I added the toner to my regular process which I do with selenium and it actually came out pretty well.

The goal was to make prints of photographs that you can easily put in a book or a journal or a book, and you discover as little treasures when you open it. The feeling it should give you when you discover them is nostalgia and give you a little smirk on your face. Similar to the smirk you get if you receive a hand written note of a loved one.

I wanted it to be with done with materials you can find around the area here in Haarlem and where certain photographs are taken to tie things in the concept together.

This does not mean all photographs will be done like this. Only when it is called for. But if you see the print for real it really does look pretty. :)

Lith printing.

If you have been following my stories a bit you've seen that I've been experimenting with alternative processes instead of my regular process. The reason is just to have a bigger pallet of skills in my regular practice. It's something I've learned from being an athlete. Broaden hour horizon, and you will have more insights in your main thing. :)

So in this case I've been figuring out the process called Lith printing. If you are a fan of i.e. Anton Corbijn there was a phase that his printer used the lith technique as well.

As you can see there is a heavy color to mine and to his are none. But that depends on so many variables as well as paper used. And the paper I used here was fomatone since it is easily available and liths very well. There are not many papers available nowadays that lith very well, so it seemed like a logical choice.

Anyways to make a long story short. Printing is amazing and I just wanted to share an experiment. :)

Thanks @hetfotovakhuishaarlem for the scan and @contrastique for helping out with the negative. And @captain.forkbeerd for being a the bearded day dreamer.

KAUNAS PHOTO festival.

Hey everyone,

Happy to announce that I will be part of the KAUNAS PHOTO festival!

And to make it even better, my art is going to be in a freaking castle!!!

I mean, how cool is that?

Never in my entire life I have thought that my photographs would be displayed in a castle, so that is super cool. And I can of course say it made me very happy and it feels like a result of all of the hard work I have put in creating my art.

I think I haven’t had a proper break since I came back from Myanmar. Woke up 06:00 in the morning just worked worked worked. So if this is the result I get from that it is all worth it. I literally did a dance in my living room haha. Every success need to be celebrated right? Doesn’t matter how big or small they are…

I am being accompanied by plenty of other cool and amazing artist. So if you are in the neighborhood of Kaunas in Lithuania go and check out all of it and all of them.

For a detailed overview of all of the artist and all the other news that is surrounding the festival, please check out the KAUNAS PHOTO festival news page which you can find here.

Hop everyone is having a great weekend. Or even more so, a great rest of the year. And with a bit of luck I will be having my first adventure since a long time, soon.

~ Cristian

Patty. - Memories of a man once there...

Patt - Memories of a man once there…

Kirsten

Two portraits I took of Kirsten with my new large format friend.

Waní-wí-ipȟá - A reflection of 2020...

Waní-wí-ipȟá

It’s December 21st. Brushed my teeth… Covered myself with my super warm winter blanket. And the last words I see passing by before I fall asleep are “Waní-wí-ipȟá“.

It’s Lakota and literally means winter solstice. Also a sacred date and an opportunity to share and remember stories from the year past.

If only I could meet the Lakota one day…

But for now they are right. It is a sacred date and it is an opportunity to remember stories of years past…

So why not shall I…

The darkest day…

It is the darkest day… Not only for the earth the sun and the moon, but also for me. And to be honest I’ve been struggling lately.

So the darkest day also felt like one of the darkest days that I have had in a long time myself.

Not every day I am able to be Super Cris. Some days I am just not that Super… It is fine. Luckily one of Super Cris’ powers is daring to be vulnerable so all of it is okay.

The details why are just for me and maybe some of my friends. But also the new lockdown didn’t help either. I guess that part counts for everyone and hit me a bit harder than expected.

But luckily the more the day progressed I felt better and better.

And as Seneca wrote: “There are more things, Lucilius, that frighten us than injure us, and we suffer more in imagination than in reality.“

Waní-wí-ipȟá did make me think about stories from last year. And when you are down or sad it’s easy to forget about the good things that have happened. Since negativity can be like a whirlpool of emotions that will drag you more to the center of sadness… But good things did happen, and actually a lot...

And by the time I am done with writing this it is right before New Year’s eve. So it is a good moment to reflect anyway…

Appreciation

So what are some of the good things that happened? Or some of the stories? Well if I want to tell all of them I need ten more blog posts because I just like to tell long long long stories. But for now, I will try to keep it short. And maybe a bit sweet, I don’t know. I’m still writing so who knows how it ends.

But one of the things that stood out was the appreciation I gained for a friend of mine. I’ve never seen someone putting so much effort in fixing a friendship. And that stuff is rare...

So I’m super grateful to her for that.

You will get your horse soon.

Writing as an exercise for the soul

Writing in general is a good exercise to reflect. And if you are a regular follower of my blog, my stories are more about me, my thoughts, philosophies, or other pickings of the brain. That in the end is what makes art. Not the chosen f-stop on your camera.

So what more things have to be grateful of and what more stories do I have? And how can I reflect?

Well my wet printing skills have improved.

My project about my father is still going strong but it is hard. Not emotionally surprisingly... But more in the way that I’m trying to create something that doesn’t exist yet. And that is a super hard puzzle to solve.

I was gifted a printer for quick prints so I can edit easier.

My Hasselblad. I’m still so in love with it…

Some family members I’ve been come a bit closer with. Like my niece and one of my sisters.

Of course my friends. Peace homies!

I’ve learned a lot about myself when I was a host for a week to help out another friend. And it made me realize I have still some things to work on. Loved every second of it so no worries. Afterwards my house was way way to quiet.

And that I still need to fix my motorbike but somehow I don’t feel like a lazy bum for not doing it.

Also I recovered more stuff from my dad than I expected.

Talking about the project about my dad…

So this part is for the people that are genuinely interested in my progress with this project.

Well the good news is: There is progress.

The bad news is: I still have a freaking long way to go…

I you have ever been or are a musician you maybe know what I am talking about. Sometimes the licks and riffs flow from your mind and sometimes it feels like fighting an endless battle.

It is the same with photography. You start your project, and you have ideas, and one idea brings you to another idea. And it flows and it flows. And sometimes ideas will lead you to a dead end so you will have to explore some new ideas.

This is, in my humble opinion, the biggest reason why you shouldn’t share your work before it is done.

Maybe not a good fit for this instant gratification society. But it is what it is… Because the end product will have changed so much by the time that when it is done and will most likely be so different that it doesn’t look like what was shared or not. And most important. No more surprise effect…

Also an edit of your project can make it or break it. And a photograph does not have to mean anything by itself, or even can be boring. But when you put it into a sequence or in context it suddenly has meaning.

To put it even put the previous sentence into context. A “making-of” of an album from a band or from a movie is also shown when the movie is out. Not during the creation.

So there is a lot to digest. I have been sharing some little pieces of work with only two People that I completely trust. That is my dear friend Eelco which is an amazing art director, and Thana (She has a new book out. Go and check it out here besides that it is an amazing book you will learn a thing or two).

I think it is super important to be picky in who you trust because someone needs to be able to give honest feedback but at the same time also needs to be fully and totally aware in what your end goal is.

The risk of getting your feedback from i.e. a social media group or even during a workshop is that the people from that group or workshop teacher maybe not know your personality or what your end goal is. And how good of an artists they maybe are, they might not give you the right feedback. And therefore might not be a good match.

Therefore, trust is important.

If it is generic picture taking. Why not… Just do whatever you want.

I guess that is also the reason why you need to answer your own “why“.

I answered mine. And this is what came out…

Also stay curious and keep making an effort. Otherwise your project like any other relationship, either one from love or friendship, will die out.

Keeping on… Rollin on…

While summing up this year I also though about how much I shot and how it differed form when I was shooting digital.

So I shot about 170+ rolls of film this year. That doesn’t seem like much but it actually is when you cannot travel. And if it was digital I would have shot way way way more.

Went through copious amount of Rodinal.

Some Ilfotec-HC.

Plenty of Foma paper.

I’ve cried.

Was gifted 52 rolls of film (Thank you Stephen of Kosmo Foto for that.)

Added about 10 photography books to my collection.

Upgraded my darkroom with a beautiful Durst M605 and some amazing Rodagon and Nikon lenses.

Discovered coffee from Yemen and now I am hooked!

Found and bought some beautiful LP’s from the likes of Edith Piaf and Ella Fitzgerald.

And I was gifted a Koala! Not a real one, but it love it anyway.

I laughed a lot.

Fell a lot less asleep on the couch.

But two day before I have published this blog post I did fall through the basement floor while doing squats…

I am fine btw. Knees were a bit hurt but the more day progressed I felt better and better.

Had more and more articles published and some exhibitions.

Some nice print sales.

Jeej!

Alright one more…

One more story or reflection…

Well… Something like that…

I wrote down all of my fears, sadness, and unresolved emotions on a piece of paper and set fire to it.

It sounds cheesy but it helps.

It’s time to move on and it’s time to put some things to rest. I know I’m ready for the next big step in my life whatever that is. But that only will be achieved if I acknowledge but let go of the past.

A year without adventure…

Maybe 2020 was not filled with beautiful travel stories and amazing suqs filled with smells of herbs and spices or oudh. Or indigenous beautiful humans in a certain part of the world who stuff me with food while they are telling me stories and hugging me.

I miss them all.

Every genuine beautiful single soul…

Luckily I have got Merry Christmas messages from all over the world.

But what 2020 did was, was a year filled with reflection, change, preparation, and release.

And also some anxiety and beer.

Onwards 2021…

I want to conclude 2020 by giving a big thank you to everyone that I love. You have no idea how much you mean to mean to me. You really don’t… I cannot seem to put it into words, but sometimes I do try.

A big thank you also to everyone who has given me a chance this year. I am still growing and evolving as a photographer, and I promise I will not waste any of my upcoming chances.

December 31st, 2020…

By the time this story ends it is December 31st, 2020…

Sipping on my morning coffee…

I got the special one today…

Ready to press publish.

2020 is almost over… Only a short while left…

Days from now on will be getting longer again.

Earth will be eased up a bit in the eternal dance between the sun and the moon.

Onwards to 2021.

You will see more of my work soon…

~ Cristian

P.S. I am totally fine. No worries. :)

Edge of Humanity Magazine - Souls of Iran.

Hey all,

Quick little update.

Some of my photographs can now be seen in the Edge of Humanity Magazine from my Souls of Iran series.

The article can be found here.

There will be some other news this week too. Stay tuned for that.

~ Cristian

P.S. I you like my work and my stories but the regular ways are not right at this moment for you. You can always support me though my Ko-fi page.

Going to Vietnam, Listening to an old lady singing Celine Dion songs, and freezing in China

Bags are packed…

I started writing this post in a stuffy hotel room in China. Meanwhile in the background the television was on, and a lady with a mustache singing Celine Dion songs. All of this together in a perfectly choreographed dance with her partner. Gotto love Chinese television…

So what the hell was I doing in a stuffy hotel room in China?

Well… I was on my way back from a trip I never would have expected to take this year. Vietnam!

I didn’t have that much time…

It was a short trip. I only had two weeks, and I had to make a short detour through China. Not that I was complaining, but China was freezing my balls of so cold was it! The downside was that having a long layover is that it will eat your time up at your final destination.

But with everything in life. You need to see the positives of it. And that gave me some thing to do some sightseeing in China itself. Despite I didn’t bring winter clothes. Silly me…

I just checked the weather in Ho Chi Minh and that is it!

The start of my adventure…

My adventure started about two weeks earlier give or take. Hopped on the plane in the middle of the day. Got all my baggage checked by security. And off I went.

In my research I looked for stores in Ho Chi Minh that sell Ilford film, and maybe some other analog stuff. This, because I was trying to minimize the chances of film going through an X-Ray scanner. Those scanners say they are film safe. But most of the time only to 800 ASA and I guess when you value your work you just don’t take the chance. It can leave some ugly glow across your film or some even more ugly lines. X-Ray is also light. Just very strong. The security personal did noticed my camera gear btw, and treated it with all of the care it needed. But more on that in the conclusion of my story.

The lady with the sign…

Anyways! After about and eleven hours I arrived in Beijing. And my whole plan for the layover was to do some sightseeing and maybe rent an sleeping pod for a couple of hours somewhere. But to my surprise there were two lovely Chinese ladies with a sign and my name on it! Also the name of some other travelers.

There was a little confusion because of the language barrier. But after a lot of talking with hand and feet the end conclusion was: Free hotel room!

Woohoo!

I like free stuff! But maybe that is because I am Dutch haha.

It turns out that you get a free hotel room with your plane ticket when you fly with China Southern airlines. Who would have known…

So got my 72 hour visa. Everyone got a sticker except for me. :( And took a long shower in the hotel room.

Sightseeing time!

My fellow companions of fate were a Dutch couple, a dude with a Roomba, and a German couple. We exchanged numbers during checking, because when you encounter these kind of surprises it is always smart to sort of have a line to each other in case something is the matter. And we all wanted to see the great wall of China.

So here we went! In the taxi, of to the great wall. And getting some Chinese money in the process. I called them Yen, but that is Japan. Sorry Japan! haha.

Because it was so freaking cold the great wall there were no crowds there. So for me that meant great photo opportunities!

Time for some noodles and onward with my journey…

And so I did…

After another six hour flight I arrived at Ho Chi Minh airport. We all split up to our final destination but the German couple was looking for a place to stay. And told them I was not staying in the party district, but in hostel at a district that was more easy going. I am not much of a party person, and my main goal was to photograph and chill out.

2019 is going to be a busy year for my with some hard to photograph places. So this was my sort of work / vacation trip.

They liked the sound of that and decided to join me.

I am so they did because they turned out to be this trips amazing souls.

If you follow me and my projects and travels I always met a person or persons that will make everything worth while. India there was the Professor. Claire and Ricky always have a special place in my heart. Chana. And the list goes on and on… If I didn’t name you, believe me, I didn’t forget you.

And now Tino and Alina. Thank you so much for the wonderful time I had while I was in your company.

Time to kill…

We could’t check into the hostel yet because we had to wait until two ‘o clock. So that meant time to kill.

Btw, the hostel I was staying in was DaBlend hostel. It was the cleanest hostel I have ever stayed in. Everything was so well organized. And the personal, especially Khoa are the coolest. So if you are like me and just want to do some work while chilling out if you are in Ho Chi Minh go to this place. Here is a link.

It turned out Alina is a photographer too. So after we dropped our bags and had some ice coffees we went out to do some photography. Got some great shots in, and walked a lot and had loads of fun.

Dragon Ball Z hands and time for bed…

We ended the super lang day with some beers and some food and some more beers on the roof. Apparently after I have had some Saigon beers I get Dragon Ball Z hands. Who would have known…

Time to rest…

Getting my hands on some film…

Ah morning! Time to be productive. I do my best photography alone and I also needed to get my hands on analog film I went out not too late. During my research I found the croplab.

Croplab didn’t have the film I normally use. I am a big fan of Ilford HP5+. But all they had of the Ilford brand was PAN 400 and Ilford Delta. In the end I chose to ho with the PAN 400.

Never had that one before and had to make a decision on the spot. So PAN 400 it was!

After I bought it I did some research during my rest moments. And it turns out it is not that common that you can get it here in western Europe. So that made it even more exciting for me! It was one big surprise how everything was going to turn out.

More on the results of the developed Ilford PAN 400 photographs in the blog post after this one.

The upcoming days…

The upcoming days were filled with everything I have planned. Went to a monastery close to the Cambodian border. Altough it was very cliche, but a big part of the history of Vietnam went to the Cu Chi tunnels and also shot some guns, and of course, plenty of more photography.

It broke my heart…

I do have to say this. And this is a reprimand to all tourist and I am very serious about it. At a couple of places. And especially the the religious places. There were a crapload of people misbehaving. And no, not young people. People of all ages, but especially the “elder” crowd.

It broke my heart that at a place where people were performing these very old traditions the tourists treated it like it was the McDonald’s.

Behave! Don’t be a dick! And keep your mouth shut! And also put that selfie stick in a place, or selfies in general, at a place where the sun doesn’t shine.

I am not doing that at your home either!

So if you read this. And you have the feeling that I am addressing you, I probably am.

Observe. Don’t consume!

You should know better…

Back to the fun stuff!

We took public transportation to most of the locations. But it takes a while. So at one time we were completely beat, and also a little scared that we weren’t able to get into the city because Vietnam was in the finals of the AFF Suzuki cup (Soccer). Luckily we entered the city just in time before the final whistle. Had to make one stop. But when the final whistle blew the city exploded in joy!

Haha at one point we had to celebrate with a group of Vietnamese people who were so excited to see us. Can’s of beers! Lot’s of photos with the foreigners! And chanting and cheering!

Congratulations Vietnam on the cup!

Time to get home…

Of course I want to tell you every other bit of this adventure. But i will spread those across future stories. Or maybe when you see me in real life, you can buy me a beer and I will tell you anyway.

It was time time for me to pack and head home. Lot’s of photos. Digital as well as analog.

The route i was going to take was the same one as I took on my way towards Vietnam. But now with a crapload of analog film.

I told all of you earlier that film can’t really handle X-Ray scanners that well. So I asked everyone security officer if they were able to hand check my film by hand.

And they did!

I guess this also counts like everything in life. Just ask politely, put up a big smile, and tell passionate about the gear you have. And don’t feel entitled to anything.

All of the security officers treated my film with all the care they could give it. As they did with me. Some even got excited to see it. That gave me a comfortable feeling.

If you don’t want to risk it anyway. The alternative is to find a place that can process your film. Developed film can not be harmed by scanners.

The reason I bring undeveloped film home with me is because I want to be in complete control of the developing process.

A couple of days later…

Now I am back at home. Already thinking of the next adventures I will have in 2019…

Not listening to Chinese Celine Dion, but to the Doors on vinyl.

Having the daunting task to go trough all of my work. That is always quite the project by itself…

Alina and Tino thanks again!

Merry Christmas you all of your that have taken the time to read this blog post.

The next one will be about the analog photographs I took and the developing process.

And remember…

It is Christmas 365 days a year…

- Cristian

Introducing Andante - Portrait series of the soul. No 1.

Monday night... 23:03... 2018...

I should be sleeping but I put up a record of one of mine favorite classical pieces.

Symphonie Espagnole, Op. 21 IV. Andante...

I never knew I like classical music until I picked up a box of LP records from my uncle's place, which I inherited from my dad. Thanks dad...

Years later everything falls into place. Classical music... Photography... And a Russian photographer named Alexey Titarenko.

When I discovered his work I was blown away. I was exactly how I look at the world! He describes his work in one of his interviews as a cello playing... Long... And slow... The state of despair of cold war Russia put in an image only he could make. A real "City of Shadows..."

Later it was the name of one of his books. The other one is "The city is a novel..."

Inspired by him, and my own views of the world, I created a concept in my mind. And for two years it was brewing... Forming... Shaping... And waiting for the right moment.

An visual representation of my own cello in my monkey mind. Only my monkey plays more of a violin. But still slow!

Slow... Seeing people like a sea of souls in a world full of contradictions... Sadness and joy... Beauty and pain... Truth and lies... The ultimate form in shapes of what people really want but actually do...

It is like writing my own novel...

Only with the camera.

Or is it more an autobiography?

I truly believe that something magical happens when you press the shutter button. The visual representation you see might be a composition. But for me it feels like opening up my own soul, bare naked, to express how I see this giant magic ball floating in space we live on but can't put it into words...

Luckily I shoot work full of joy too. But both sides are a part of life. The sad needs to be there to enjoy the beautiful even more. Balance... And my close friends know that I always say...

As above, so below...

Art is a good way to vent. And something can be beautiful, and sad, and full of joy at the same time. A dramatic depiction of life! And do we need more drama? Maybe... It creates a lot. From connections, to romance, and even substance and depth. Maybe it is even a message of the things we tend to forget. And maybe not even forgotten but put aside because of the rat race we are stuck in... No matter which mask you are wearing or character playing...

I guess I am sidetracking now... Back on topic!

I should be a story teller...

None of my street, travel, or documentary work is staged. Everything is real. And I take my pride in that. That means also this portrait series. The only thing I added to the composition is the model... Which I was looking for a long time...

Finally the right moment came when I was contacted by Roos Tulen. She is the resident artist of the city of Leiden. She decided to start her own project. And that project became herself. She signed up for a fitness competition where you had to stand in a bikini on a big stage. And that meant a completely different lifestyle than then weightlifting she was used to.

That also meant a lot of physical changes. And because of that she asked twenty photographers to capture her journey... And every photographer would capture her in his or her unique way. In the end it will become an art project by itself presented in the city of Leiden.

All the details of that I will tell in a later story. So stay tuned!

This is where I played my part. Finally I could make the concept what I had in mind for a long time reality.

Within time this concept will become a series. When I find the right soul that needs to be captured. Some of them will be made here in the Netherlands. Others during one of my travels...

Let's see...

Andante - Portrait series of the soul. No 1.