Giedo van der Zwan
I was born in Amsterdam, The Netherlands in September 1967.
Photography has been a part of who I am and the way I see the world since the age of 12.
I rediscovered photography in 2017 as my focus shifted to the street and I completely rediscovered my approach to photography.
In a much simpler and straightforward way, using my mind to pre-vision and getting rid of excess gear.
With just one camera/lens (Leica Q) and a flash I started to rediscover my world.
Working mostly from home and shooting daily life at the seaside close to where I live.
I also like to travel specifically for photography and preferably with fellow street photographers.
In the last 3 years I have met many of them all over the world and I’m planning to keep doing so for as long as I can.
In 2017 I also started my long-term project ‘Pier to Pier’ which is about the 2.5 km of beach
and boulevard in Scheveningen between the two main Piers.
In 2018 I published my first photobook under that name and my first solo exhibition,
which was outside on the Pier for 6 months, and has been visited by more than 200,000 people.
In the last 2 years I have been so lucky to be awarded by several international street photo festivals and platforms,
such as from Brussels, Miami, Paris, Trieste, Milan, Poland, Lensculture and Life Framer.
My work has been published by many different photo magazines and national newspapers online and in print.
This year my work from Scheveningen is being exhibited by Museum Panorama Mesdag in The Hague in an exhibition that I have been working on for the last two years together with three other photographers under the title ‘Candid’.
About The Collection
This selection is a mix from my local work and the work I made during travels over the last 3 years.
Inspired by many photographers I developed my own style. This can best be observed in my local work where I prefer to get as close to the seaside visitors as possible, while also aiming to photograph them candidly and using flash to bring out every detail.
I use different approaches depending on the situation and on my mood.
Sometimes I mingle with the beach goers and wait for them to get used to my presence and camera.
At other moments,I concentrate on a composition and/or light or I feel in the mood for hunting and set my camera in fixed manual settings so I can react in an instant when I see something happening.I also like to shoot together with other photographers.
It creates a different dynamic and inspiration and I often get back home with some new keepers.
My work is characterized by bright full colours and somewhat absurd looking scenes.
I like to create a look outside which is reminiscent of a studio shoot. This is why people sometimes think that I stage my shots. But I never do!
