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21STREETZ
@21streetz
Photographer based in Belgium
I remember when I was about 14 years old. I was watching a French vlogger who was sharing videos of his travel around the world. I was amazed by the beauty of the world and I was totally inspired to travel myself as well. He isn’t half aware of how much he influenced my life… I wanted to do the same as my favorite vlogger, so I started with videography, creating videos about my travels.
"I finished school back in 2014, but I didn’t really know what major I wanted to study at university. I decided to take a gap year and travel to Australia, where I have some family."
This was my first big trip and first move, but excitement predominated fear. After eight months it was time to go back home and start university, but you can imagine that after having had eight months of complete freedom it is hard to get back into university mode; I dropped out the first year. I started working in a bar for a few months, bought a new camera to make videos and at the end decided to go back to university. My desire to travel was strong and at that time I thought that studying was my ticket to travel.
"At the time, I was living in Brussels and every moment I had some spare time I would go out and take some photos instead of videos. Funny enough, I bought the camera to make videos but I ended up taking photos instead."
Going out and photographing was a way to clear my head of all the thoughts I had. I didn’t feel happy and I understood that university life wasn’t for me… At the same time, my girlfriend broke up with me. This was a life changing moment. I was so in love with her that I built my life around her, I was ready to give up on my dreams for her… But building your world around someone is not a healthy way of living and I learned it the hard way. A few weeks before breaking up, a friend asked if I was interested to go with him to New Zealand but I said no because I thought I would create a life together with my girlfriend… The kind of things you do when you’re in love. When she broke up with me, I felt empty, like my world had stopped and my future was upside down.
"I asked my friend if the offer for New Zealand was still available; it was, and the rest is history. I dropped out of university again, this time with a mission."
I knew I would find the right path for me to follow. I worked again in the same bar for six months to save money and in September 2017 we headed off to New Zealand. It was literally the best decision till this date! I experienced many new things, took some amazing photos and made some really good friends. After such an awesome travel, I dedicated myself to learn photography and become a professional.
"I finally had found my path."
While doing lots of self-study by watching YouTube tutorials and Skillshare, reading books and magazines and listening to podcasts, I went back to my bartender job to be able to buy more professional photography gear. I met many other photographers who were making a living out of their passion and they inspired me; they proved it was possible, so I could make it possible too. In August 2019, I decided to take the leap. I’m now freelancing and even though it’s not easy at times to find clients I know it will work out in the end – with the right mindset.
"Photography is not just a passion, neither just a job. It’s my life."
In my opinion, if you want to be good at something, you need to be interested in the work of others. That’s why I dedicate some time to really analyze the work of others, what techniques they use, what light they’re working with, etc. I take the time to write down what I like about their images so I can maybe use that in my own images. Sometimes it’s composition related, other times it’s hardware stuff.
So if I didn’t really see the work of others and what it is composed of, I couldn’t use it or implement it in my own work. That’s why I take observing the work of others very seriously; it’s important. I truly like seeing the work of Giulia Woergartner aka @giuligartner and also @samalive. I believe that writing things down is very helpful; when I analyze a photo, watch a tutorial or read a photography magazine, I always write down the ideas that pop up in my head. That way I don’t forget them and I can easily build further upon these ideas.
"I enjoy different types of photography and I like to challenge myself in that sense. After each trip I come back with new ideas and find ways to implement them."
After my trip to New Zealand I began to shoot more street photography in Brussels. But when coming back from my recent trip to China, impressed by the modern jungle of Shanghai, I had the need and desire to shoot something completely different and go back to nature. Now I would like to explore my country and see what landscapes images I can produce because Belgium is full of hidden gems and I’d like to shed light on it.
"The nice thing of doing more types of photography is that you can follow your inspiration and adapt according to the weather and light."
This is very important in landscape photography and most landscape photographers use the light that comes with either sunrise or sunset. Plus, with a certain type of weather it could happen that the camera doesn’t even gets out of his pocket because the conditions aren’t favorable. However in street photography, I feel you could shoot in any type of weather cause it brings out differents types of subjects and radiates different atmospheres. Besides, being able to shoot in any type of light will not restrict me to only shoot certain moments of the day. What is good to know though, and which is directly an important part of preparation, is where the sun will be rising or setting.
"This applies to both landscape and street photography; know in what street or what side of the mountain to be!"
When I just started out with photography, I thought that the heavier my edit was the better. With time, I saw that my images were over edited. I also understood that if I wanted my images to be timeless, I would need to edit my images more realistically, meaning without changing the color drastically. Now I’m usually looking to capture a scene like how I saw it, although I also tend to add vintage vibes to those photos. That’s why I like to crush my blacks a lot, it creates a fade that reminds me of the past. I moved away from heavy editing to just enhancing the image. I’m not here to create the shot in post production but to enhance what’s already there with a minimalistic approach. Less is more. It would be interesting to go back to New Zealand, where I was just discovering the effects of shutter speed, aperture…
"It’s would be a great manner to measure your improvements I think, going back to a place you shot before with new perspectives and ideas."
"Actually, by improving my photography I also got to enrich my vision of the world."
Like in the Limitless movie: “I was blind but now I see.” It made me pay attention to my surroundings so much more, it’s crazy how many things and places we pass by everyday without noticing their beauty. It’s even funnier that such a little piece of technology can help us to pay more attention to our world and see how gorgeous it really is. Photography is also a way for me to remember some moments of my life that otherwise would pop up in my mind every once in while and eventually be gone forever. It made me as well go to places I would never have gone if I hadn’t picked up a camera.
"The world is so big and beautiful, it would be a shame not to see it all, or at least as much as you can."
"In many ways photography improved my life; and that’s mainly because it made me step out of my comfort zone."
I’m an introvert person and when I started photography I said I would never shoot portraits… After spending more time doing photography, I gave that statement another thought and now I shoot portraits. I also said that I would never shoot weddings, but I now I have one scheduled for August and I am even excited about it. Also, I made new friends and connections, I even talk to strangers without feeling awkward like before. Getting through difficult situations I encountered in photography helped me grow my self confidence and this extended to other aspects of my life. And if there is one thing I learnt through photography, it’s that emotions and tough moments help you to get to know what you really want and redirect you to your goal. The moment I felt like my world was derailed, I actually found the right direction. Now I am a freelance photographer, working hard to achieve financial stability with doing something I truly love.
"Starting freelancing isn’t easy, but I don’t lose hope and have faith that each difficult moment will get me closer to my goal."
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