It’s been a while.
Oh, I know it’s been a while. But my inspiration has run rather dry, so forgive me. I will write an all around article of what I’ve been up to lately sometime soon. In the meantime, let me tell you what I have been doing with photography…
Not very much.
Unfortunately, this is the truth. I have not been doing much. You see, the lens that got busted last year, has gotten busted again and this time, I don’t intend to pay an arm and a leg to get it fixed somewhere off in the States, which will surely keep me out of action for a few months. No more of that Kool-Aid! The camera itself appears to be acting up some, and I have no cash for a replacement, and I am in no position to walk the usual route of finances to acquire the money to do something about it. So I am in between a rock and a hard place. Does this mean I am dropping the mantel and throwing in the towel? Well if it were up to me, no. But it’s not, so we’ll see what happens with Le Photography.
There were some bad juju projects in between, that left me with a bad taste in my mouth as always. I won’t bore you with the technicalities of these projects but let’s just say it’s been a bad combination of unprofessionalism, misinformation and my failure to meet the ‘industry standards’ nowadays.
You guessed it, I’m back in my cave. Chillin’ like a villain.
All the wonderful photography projects have been put on hold until further notice, and for now, I’m sort of biding my time, and picking my battles when it comes to assignments I take.
I took two recently.
One of which was a lovely little engagement shoot with a couple, whom I will be doing their wedding as well as some additional photos in between now and then to give them a lovely little book filled with memories of youth, fire and angst. Oh, the days of thunder. And also of course, the big day itself.
The other one, which I received a bit more fanfare and attention for, was the Radulphus College yearbook for 2011.
It was funny going back to school, eventhough I never attended RC, I attended PSC, or as it’s now called “Vruminganan Brabu di den Dijn” College…errr whateverrr..
So they contacted me with a simple enough assignment, to shoot roughly 90 kids, one portrait each. A normal everyday “hey how are ya” face, and a funny face. As you can guess, the funny face got all the attention.
All in all I think I headed out to the school about 3 or 4 times in total to shoot the kids and also some of the teachers at the school.
I had me a jolly good time, and I’d like to thank them again for their hospitality and I wish them all the best in their individual little lives. Trust me, if I could document your lives from behind my little box, always, I would.
Going back to school felt funny enough though, I must say. Being 26 now and having dropped out of highschool at the age of 19, it’s been a while.
Believe it or not, my first time out, I felt anxiety and all. Got knots in my gut. God knows how many thoughts went through my head. I guess it was a combination of nostalgia, bad memories and also I guess like my experience there would be sort of a measuring tool to see how much I’d grown up and if I’d still fit in in an atmosphere like that, or whether I’d be looked upon as “the ol’ guy” now.
I mean I don’t have much of a social life as is, and the little I do have is seldom spent with people the age of highschoolers. And I guess as you get older, time whizzes by and you just don’t realize how much of it has gone by until I guess…well..you get an assignment to go to a highschool and just sort of be smack dab in the middle of all this..teen angst..this anger..lust..curiosity..culture clash..ego zoo..this rebellion..this “fuck you”..that “baby, i love you..the romance..the heartbreak..the friendships made and lost..the list goes on. I mean this is a period in my life where I did much brainstorming, and in which I grew allot as an individual.
So to go back to that after my life has changed so much in so little time, I just wasn’t sure what level of contrast we would be dealing with.
But I must say that shortly after arriving at the school, and being greeted by the yearbook committee which consisted of old faces I had known for a while, and new knew ones which I would see for the first time, I felt right at home.
Though right away I was faced with the fact that I had grown older. I didn’t think I had outgrown my highschool shell so much. I mean I didn’t think I’d jump right in and it would be like getting on an old bike, but I guess I forgot how much a jungle highschool can be, and let me assure you, I mean that in such a good way. I really missed it. Though I highly doubt I have the sheer untapped ore, that super energy it takes to be a teen anymore, but I suppose I can spar a little. It brought back good and bad memories of my time spent in highschools both here and in Aruba. But all in all it was a well lived nostalgia. And I’m glad I did it.
Thanks, again, to all of you at Radulphus, for making a teen past his prime feel at home again. You guys were fine hosts.
You guys were great.
As for what’s next for Robert Volkerts Photography…
I don’t know. I’m waiting on a few things to pan out so I know where I go from here. The big projects are on hold. A few weddings on the way, and some individual shoots for now.
The rest is a mystery.
This has been a random, strange and ,dare I say, a little awkward update from your friendly neighborhood photographer. Sorry about that guys, I’ll try to have better news next time.
