Cabbagecon 2013

The circumstances which brought me to a hotel in the windy coastal town of Zandvoort-aan-zee might, with a measure of generosity, be described thus: I was on assignment, as a photographer, with a journalist writing for the Independent. The penthouse floor of this nondescript hotel played host to a curious, wonderful little event: Cabbagecon, a […]

Self-Portraits in Studio

In an unusual fit of householdy ambition, I cleared out half of my cluttered home office to create a tiny, tiny studio space. Using only the lighting gear I already have, a very modest set of two flashes and stands, plus a few light modifiers, I’ve been experimenting with self-portraits. I’m not a huge fan […]

Queen’s Day

I have hazy memories from my earliest childhood of the festivity and excitement of Koninginnedag, Queen’s Day, which is not the Queen’s birthday, but never mind that now. I’ve stopped going to Amsterdam for the celebration, way too busy. If you need to pee, you’ll soon be in dire straits — and this is in […]

Spring Constitutional

As they say, “a walk in the park”. Spring can’t seem to make her mind up this year. She dips her toe into the world, uncorking our pent-up optimism, only to shy away and let winter take care of business for another few weeks. It bodes poorly for the summer, though we’ve had years before […]

Eddie Izzard Live: Force Majeure

Tonight we went to see comedian and “Action Transvestite” Eddie Izzard at the Heineken Music Hall, my second experience of the high-heeled madman’s performance. The show was a bit short, it seemed, but I only noticed that in retrospect. He’s an acquired taste for some, but I’ve always found him an utterly intoxicating raconteur. He […]

Elf Fantasy Fair

This afternoon, my friends and I visited the Elf Fantasy Fair, on the grounds of the beautiful castle De Haar. Last time I attended a fair like this I’d brought my 85mm – a splendid portrait lens – but given the magnificent weather I suspected the crowd would be too dense for that this time. […]

Portraits in the park.

Fellow photographer, DJ and engineer Daniel Wood had a guest this weekend. Alex, who’s best described as the bastard love-child of the tenth and eleventh Doctor Who, was visiting from England. Spring sprung upon the country and apologized for her tardiness with a splendid, warm weekend, so we took to the park for some portraits. […]

Seamus’ birthday (and workshop move)

For his birthday, my friend Seamus asked that we help him move his workshop into a new space he’d rented. Way to party, dude. The space was an abandoned primary school attached to a still-functioning daycare centre. The school looked marvellous; lots of floors connected by spiral staircases, loads of open space that begged to […]

35mm street shooting

An early birthday present to myself, on behalf of my partner, was the superb Sigma 35mm F/1.4 lens. Brilliantly sharp even at its widest aperture, it has displaced (and I don’t say this lightly) my Canon 85mm f/1.2 as my very favorite lens. The 35mm angle of view is a classic for street photography, but […]

Pasar Malam

Dad decided to celebrate his birthday at the Pasar Malam, an Indonesian market, which was held at Burger’s Zoo. He helped an old friend run her stall, where she sold hand-made batik clothing and ornaments for the benefit of Indonesian schools. The market was set up across several floors in the zoo’s tropics habitat, so […]