Featured #5: Jasper van den Ham
Tell us something about yourself. I am Jasper van den Ham, 36 years old, from the Netherlands. I live in a small city called Woerden. For the past ten years I have been working as a web designer in The Hague. At the moment this is still my main occupation, but I’m planning to focus more on photography.
How did you start? I always had a special interest in photography but it never exceeded taking pictures on vacation. Until February 2013. That’s when I picked up a Polaroid SX-70 and from then on I devoted all my spare time to learn everything I need to know about photography.
Amongst all kinds of books I read the Ansel Adams trilogy, introducing me to the analog world and the Zone System. I started developing film recently and saving up for a darkroom at home. I’m a self-taught photographer, working intuitively and committed to make a living out of it. I always pre-visualize how the image is going to end up after post processing, as this is an important part in my work.
What inspires you? The interaction between urban environments and nature plays an important role in my photography. I am constantly looking for situations where nature influences urban environments, and man-made structures disturb nature. Mostly in the periphery, where the city blends with nature, it becomes visible they can both complement each other and cause friction.
What do you shoot with? It depends on the situation what I carry in my bag. Apart from the usual accessories I always carry my Nikon D3200 with 18-55mm and 28mm lens. And of course my Lumu for perfect light metering. When I like to take it slow I grab my Hasselblad 500 C/M or my Polaroid SX-70.
Does equipment affects your process? While shooting analog I take a lot more time making the shot, carefully positioning and extensively writing down every detail. This isn’t the case with digital photography, although I try to capture the moment with two or three shots.
Where are you now? I am currently working on a project called ‘Beneath the Surface’. It’s a project on Woerden, a city in the Netherlands known for being ‘most common’. When I moved here almost a year ago I didn’t consider this to be an interesting photographic environment, but that also inspired me. After a while I started discovering all the wonderful places that lie beneath the surface. My goal is to publish all the photos in a book when the project is done.
Where can we see you other work? http://www.jaspervandenham.com
http://www.facebook.com/jaspervandenhamphotography
–> Keep them coming Lumulovers! If you’re a Lumu user and want to show your work with other photographers, write us to mu[at]lu.mu and show us your work!
