Photographer Winter Vandenbrink is known for his seemingly random street photography, and the "fourth sex" teenager under his lens is full of energy and vitality. As a result, he has gained a lot of attention on social media and gained high popularity. Curious about Vandenbrink, we engaged him in a conversation and, based on his answers, compiled and compiled into a first-person, semi-fictional article. Of course, I would like to thank Vandenbrink once again for his active cooperation with this interview, as well as for the exclusive works he has provided for our magazine.
Paris in winter is very unfriendly to people, even if the sun is warm, but the wet and cold of the oceanic climate can soak into the bones.
My apartment had great lighting, it was south-facing, the sun was pouring down on my workbench, and there were a couple of cameras passing by —SLRs, film, Polaroids, and countless memory cards. In my previous apartment, I had to close the curtains and rinse my photos in the bathroom. Of course, this will now be done in my personal studio.
Yes, that's right, I'm a photographer, from the Netherlands, I live in Paris, you can call me Winter Vandenbrink, at least that's what actress Juliet Lewis called me—she thought my Dutch name was too awkward.
Called Winter but not very fond of Winter, the world should have some kind of humor that makes people laugh.
I have a stack of newly released albums on my desk – this is the blue photobook series by Études, and mine is the 24th issue of VANDALS. I love these beautiful independent visual magazines, I've worked with Hercules before, as well as Dust and ODDA. I love fashion photography and they are my inspiration. In fact, a lot of people in this industry are standing on the shoulders of giants, well, standing on their lenses. For example, fashion photographer Bruce Weber, such as documentary master Robert Bresson, and film director Apichatpong Weerasethakul, which is probably why some people can feel a "stills" atmosphere when they enjoy my work. But when I board the boat of fashion photography, I will unconsciously follow the footsteps of those giants, I will forget the inspiration brought to me by the young images that shuttle through the streets - from the endless thoughts that life itself brings me.
But when I got on the boat of fashion photography,
I will unconsciously follow in the footsteps of those giants,
I'll forget about the streets that go through the streets.
The inspiration of young images for me——
It comes from the endless thoughts that life itself brings me.
I am a fashion photographer and a street photographer, and the so-called "methodology" accumulated over the years is actually my "vipassana" and "self-contemplation". The poet Whitman once wrote: "I am huge, and I carry many of my own." In fact, just like us, in accordance with different environments, different angles, and different media, to contact and observe people and society, we are also exploring ourselves, hoping to find a kind of "social" and "belonging" among all sentient beings.
In addition to the documentary and photojournalism that the public is familiar with, in my cognition, fashion photography also has a strong social documentary nature, after all, clothing is a microcosm of the economy, system and spirit of the times, and it cannot exist independently from the current spirit of the times. In fact, looking at my works, you can clearly perceive how the dress has affected and changed people in recent years, especially during the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, and even the subtle differences in the style of the crowd between cities and cities, blocks and blocks. So my job is to observe and capture moments of these social attributes.
In the past, most of the places I photographed on the street were scenic spots — where you could meet a variety of people with their own unique identity background. After the pandemic and several lockdowns, I was forced to go to Republic Square and the Palais de Tokyo to "squat" because skateboarders there didn't have to wear masks.
Most of the subjects I capture in my street photographs are young people, especially boys, which is actually compensation for my own identity and the identity I lost in childhood. What I photograph is something very close to me, or what I once dreamed of becoming—an aesthetic code of identity and gender.
What I photographed,
It's all very close to me.
Or, I used to dream of what I wanted to be—
There are aesthetic codes about identity and gender.
Francis Bacon said, "You can't record the Buddha-figure of beauty through pictures. Fashion once had a kind of "perfection" that was illusory and non-existent in reality, and now everyone wants to highlight personality, even the so-called "defective beauty" and "imperfection is beauty". In fact, we are all trying to find beauty, whether it is perfect or imperfect. For me, this is not an aesthetic deviation, but a driving force for creation - for the desire to create images, to capture the unknown, I am very much looking forward to what will happen in the next moment, what will happen, what will be recorded, and this unknown, can you say whether it is perfect or imperfect?
Of course, after so many years of edification and growth, everyone will have their own part of the solidified aesthetic and cognition, such as me, with a very strong Dutch design aesthetic, even if, sometimes my composition is not so exquisite. Therefore, I am also learning and growing, and I am constantly thinking about "what is beauty". You need to constantly challenge the boundaries of cognition, rather than jump into this trap.
Now, street photography may be a kind of conditioning for me, I am a recorder and a creator; I am both a social observer and a "snooper" - like a hunter hunting, I will slowly approach the "target", when I smell some very interesting information, through the shutter to "hunt" this moment and moment, is a very exciting thing. Through my street photography, I documented young people, and their clothing, hairstyles, and group behaviors, which can rise to a certain ideology and social rules.
Through my street photography, I recorded the young people,
and their clothing, hairstyles and group behavior,
This can completely rise to
Some ideology and social rules.
Of course, there have also been comments that have been quite critical of my approach, believing that my position with the photographer is not equal. In fact, I have also struggled. Transformed into their positions and angles, these photos may give others an atmosphere of voyeurism, but it has to be said that they also show the beauty of the human body. My work is completely different from the voyeuristic behavior of journalism, like paparazzi photographers. I promise that as long as your intentions are pure and neutral, then every shot must be reasonable and legal. So now, when these photos appear in groups, state and perception are properly integrated. Moreover, some of the subjects will also contact me on social media, add me as a friend, thank me for shooting, and ask me about some shooting knowledge. It's just so much fun.
So, I'm now trying a new kind of shooting – merging fashion photography with street photography. In fact, I have struggled with this practice before, but now I realize that photography is sporadic and can be "designed" and "participated". Some of the fashion photography jobs I've recently received have the stylists dressed up and the models blend in with these street kids: they talk and play, and this particular little group becomes the best backdrop for this group of fashion films. You must be able to present enough identities so that you are not diluted by industrial environments and social identities. I also add some random, even seemingly chaotic compositions to my shots so that they can be "real" enough, as if they were happening naturally on the street.
You have to be able to present enough identities,
Will not be affected by industrial environments
Diluted with social identity.
For me personally, or for any photographer, finding my own aesthetic, style, and character is an extremely long road, after all, photography is not a "friendly" industry. So at the moment, I can't tell others exactly whether my shooting style and technique are universal, and whether it is "suitable" is called a "methodology". I know that many people are following my example, and my own experience tells me that as an amateur photographer, the process of polishing and searching is very necessary. To this day, I take a full camera card, there will be about 600 of it, and I can only sift out about 10 to publish.
But I don't think every photographer will achieve it, after all, everyone now has a mobile phone, and everyone can call themselves a photographer. There are so many people shooting on the street at the moment, but how many well-known street photographers are there? There are good street shots and bad ones, which is not a matter of skill, but more of a matter of personal taste. In fact, I only realized when I reviewed my work in the past few years - when I pressed the shutter, even if the image presented was not "good-looking", it was "real" enough, that is, I was trained by myself to be conditioned reflexes.
Of course, I didn't blindly stop at what street photography brought me now, I began to lean towards traditional shooting and fashion photography – as a process of polishing and searching, which is necessary. At the start of Paris Menswear Week in January, I had to shuttle backstage from runway to show; I started two magazines in London with my friend Lee Crichton, one of which was published in Amsterdam; and my next personal album was in the works. I'm looking forward to going to Amsterdam soon to continue my creative and other work, and I also hope to be able to come to China after the pandemic and do some filming in your city. I believe that this will be a very interesting and unforgettable experience for me.
Interview and author of Flea Zhang
Edit Mark Liu
All of the above photographs are provided exclusively by Winter Vandenbrink