"Not Just a Photographer"
The label "Photographer" doesn't quite capture the breadth of my work.
I specialize in showcasing personalities in their best light, overseeing large-scale projects, coordinating exhibitions, staging project documentations, scouting locations, and managing teams of video and photography professionals.
I capture images of individuals ranging from ordinary folks to A-list celebrities.
I've always been described as a true all-rounder with a keen eye for managing complex art, personality, and photography projects in their entirety.
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My way began behind the scenes.
The fact that he has to offer many more skills than an average photographer, became obvious when André was only 23 years old. He stood at the gates of the Pinkpop Festival without a press ID – and ended up with the most popular backstage pictures of the event all over the media. This was his breakthrough in the music scene. What followed was the world of movie stars, fashion magazines, real estate photography, advertisement photos for renown companies and many more.
Unusual is my thing.
André is so successful in his work today because, among other things, no festival fence and no backstage bouncer could keep him back in the early years of his career.
He and his camera always got into the thick of the most exciting action. That’s not a big surprise as André had learned to fight his way through obstacles. When he dropped out of school at 21 in order to move to Amsterdam, he lived in a squat for several years, took photographs and worked in a thousand and one part-time jobs at night.
Sport is cool, photography is better.
He was happy with it as even during his time at an art school he had already spent more time in the darkroom than in class. That’s also why André hasn’t become a professional sportsman – even though many people had tried to convince the sport ace of this career in his teens when André was mastering basically every sport: In elementary school they threw him into the water and he could swim. He had barely started tae-kwon-do and gymnastics when he had already entered regional and national leagues.
But André recognized: He didn’t have a top sportsperson’s ambition in him.
He had too many other interests and anyhow, losing from time to time doesn’t mean the end of the world to him.
It just means he’ll try harder next time.
The open sky is my inspiration.
So André prefers to see sports as a welcome change to taking photographs as well as planning and managing projects. Nothing keeps him within four walls during his leisure time. Whether he’s taking his camper out into the country, riding his bike, training for his next marathon, or ploughing through the mud on his mountain bike – André loves physical challenges and spending time on his own. They provoke his brain waves, but also the deepest relaxation. He’s best in harmony with nature when he goes fly fishing and feels the river, the wind and the sun around him.