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Rudy Ranke
@rudyrankephotography
Travel & fine art photographer based in the Netherlands
Learning about the world and its cultures came hand in hand with learning how to walk, talk, and multiply. My parents had a camper and every summer we would travel through some places in Europe. Whether it was a five-week trip through the beautiful nature of the Scandinavian countries or the formerly known as “Eastern Bloc countries” in the year of the fall of the Berlin wall (1989).
As I got older, I continued traveling by myself and bought a camera in 2003, a Canon 300D, to capture my trips just like my father always did on our family trips. I fell in love with the craft and while I was first shooting everything, I now focus on landscape, travel and fine art photography. Most of the holiday allowance I obtain at my full-time job as a Technical Designer I use for traveling. Besides my job, doing some interieur photography and selling some of my free work also allows me to finance my travels.
It’s simply addictive; the discovery, the encounters with people, and capturing all those moments. When it comes to landscape and travel photography, Daniel Kordan, Elia Locardi, Jimmy Nelson and Marcel Siebert are some of the artists that I admire and have been inspired by from the start.
"Nevertheless, fine art photography is what intrigues me even more than travel photography."
My main inspirations here are David Burdeny (whose work I discovered in 2008 and got me into fine art), Josef Hoflehner, Michael Kenna. Everything has to be right for this type of photos: the weather circumstances, the light… all in order to convey the peace and feel that is so characteristic to fine art photography.
It’s the long exposure while shooting and the dodge and burn technique in editing, together with minimalist compositions, clean lines and strong shapes that make this photography so distinctive. I really feel I can use my perfectionism in this timeless genre. While I aim for a natural look for my travel and landscape photos, it is a whole other story for my fine art photos. I clean them up till the finest details, and keep working on the photo until I really achieve the atmosphere I want the photo to have.
"This involves a longer editing process and generally more both technical approach and artistic approach."
Over the past years, I was lucky enough to win several awards in the genre of fine art, and my work was published in galleries in bigger cities such as Paris, Tokyo, New York and Dubai. Engaging in such things means that I keep pushing myself and raising the bar in terms of quality and improvement all the time. Being a perfectionist implies that satisfaction is hard to reach. Therefore, receiving praise from and being recognized by the people within the photography industry and artistic world feels really gratifying. At these kinds of contests, your work is being seriously judged by professionals in the field – that is why you often have to pay an amount of € 15-20 per photo. That said, perfectionism can be both beneficial and destructive at the same time, and it’s good to be conscious of your own thoughts and behavior in that sense, and whether it’s joy or suffer, development or limitation.
In each country and each region you can get awe-inspiring landscape shots, emotive fine art perspectives, and interesting street or architecture photographs. I am grateful to be able to say I have seen more than 40 countries so far and each of them left me speechless in a different way.
Japan, Tibet and Uganda in particular have a special place in my heart and memory. Japan is simply beautiful and incomparable with any other country. The people are friendly and respectful to each other, which is peaceful to experience. Then, it’s a place of extremes which makes it all so fascinating: Ancient cultural traditions contrast against the modern elements also part of their culture, the typical architecture of the old times are reflected on the shiny surfaces of modern skyscrapers, and you see almost as many people dressed in their traditional costumes as the distinct clothing the youth is wearing nowadays. In addition, the image of Tokyo many of us may have in mind when thinking about Japan doesn’t reflect the amazing nature and landscapes the country has to offer.
"I was there in autumn and can’t wait to go back to see how the whole ambiance changes in another season."
Tibet is a whole different story. A story that is being lived today as if it is about 50 years back in time. Though it were the mountains that struck me most here. Already as a kid the mountains are where I feel most home (yes, even though my home country is really flat…). I feel a specific energy that is calming and humbling, putting me in a place right where I should be as a human being, nothing less, nothing more, which is exactly what reveals the energy. And if you are so fond of mountains, Tibet has the one mountain that is the most thrilling: Mount Everest. I had seen many movies and documentaries but when I stood there on the foot of the mountain, the impact it had on me is indescribable.
"I spent one night in the base camp, where I witnessed the most beautiful sunset and starry sky. Just magical!"
Uganda is totally different again; an undiscovered land with little tourism and the most friendly people. The landscapes are quite green which is contradictory to the image people have in mind when thinking about Africa. But Africa is so much bigger and richer than we think. I’ve seen Kenya, Tanzania too, and wherever you are, the wildlife is impressive to see. This is again something we see on television but is so touching when you see those animals in real life in such a vast landscape. I will never forget the moment I “met” a mountain gorilla… Simply powerful.
So many impressions! I started in Russia and took the Trans–Mongolian Railway passing through Siberia to Mongolia. From there, I headed to Peking, China. The next train ride went from China to Tibet and from there I headed to Nepal and India, to finish my trip in Dubai.
The huge benefit of traveling through more countries in one trip is that you see a lot in a relatively short time and it’s cheaper than flying into every single country from home. I had planned it pretty well so I saved quite some time and stress on transportation, visas, and accommodation booking on the way, but this can also be tricky. If anything goes wrong or for some reason there’s a delay, your whole trip is kind of messed up. In this sense, it’s important to keep some flexibility in the itinerary and “book” some extra time here and there to be able to catch up if necessary.
"For this trip, I trained a lot to be physically in shape. Though, mentally such a trip is also very demanding."
You are responsible and accountable for but yourself and you are miles away from home. Your intuition is being proved, you learn to estimate and analyze situations from different perspectives and are confronted with so much newness. I guess the most important lessons I’ve learned on these trips have to deal with that; trusting in your abilities but being open to other perspectives and willing to reestablish your beliefs. Meeting people from seemingly such different cultures and actually making strong connections and building friendships is one of the most beautiful things of travel, together with the nature offered by our planet.
"As said, traveling is a humbling experience in any sense and provokes nothing but deep respect."
"Staying a bit closer to home, I’d like to point out some exceptional places in the Netherlands as well."
It’s a country with a huge diversity in landscapes and picturesque cities and towns considering its small surface. Peat meadow areas and reclaimed land are the most historically unique in Europe, and in terms of nature, the Wadden islands are exceptional. We have a tradition in “the lowlands” of fighting against the water, to drain and consolidate the land. The Dutch mainly see dikes, canals, polders and Delta Works as characteristic to the country. The most unique thing about the Netherlands is that it is completely flat, so no mountains; the highest point is 322 m above sea level!
A few of my favorite photo spots are Kinderdijk (with the typical windmills), the village of Zaanse Schans, the Veluwe (a beautiful natural area with heather, sandy plains and forest), the forest in Oisterwijkse, the tulip fields all over the country in April/May, and of course Amsterdam with the atmospheric canals and architecture of the old houses.
Despite that the Netherlands is a small country, there’s still so much left to discover and I will gladly do so with my camera. Nevertheless, I am also dreaming about adding photos of Antarctica, Patagonia, Myanmar, Pakistan and Lofoten to my portfolio, and to add to my memory, the experiences and learning that will be connected to those photos.
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