Here I am. on Flickr.
Another one from the series. This shot is more bubbly, such an elegant woman. I like the results from this mini series, I hope ya’ll do too!
Robert Volkerts
This is a "Robert Volkerts Photography" Blog & Everything else Robert Volkerts.
I promise not to look back. on Flickr.
This also happens to work wonders in black and white. Her expression here is almost sad..nostalgic perhaps. Lovely.
Favela Cayena. on Flickr.
Such a lovely shot. This is from the series I did for the Antiliaans Dagblad. The lovely stylist SharonLie did a fantastic job on this one. I can see this on a canvas hanging over a fireplace somewhere.
Hi globetrotters,
I hope ya’ll are doing well wherever you are.
So here’s a mini update for everyone out there wondering “Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego” errr where in the world I’ve been.
Well as of a few days ago I started doing photography full time, meaning it’s my sole source of income and it’s a scary time. I must admit. But I intend to jump in feet first and see what I can do.
I also intend on doing some behind the scenes video of my shoots and some interviews and whatever else comes my way in the form of video. I now have my Youtube channel standing by and I’ll be posting, so stay tuned.
As you may or may not know I’m putting together a team to work with, this comprises of a make up artist or two, a hair stylist and a stylist.
I introduce you to my (not to say I own her, just that I’ve selected her) stylist, SharonLie! She is very good at what she does if you ask me, and is very creative. Like me, she’s infamous for doing a whole lot with just a little. And it’s in this thinking and state of mind that I think we’ll be able to pull many a rabbit from our hats, so keep your eyes peeled, because very soon, I’ll have my (again, not the owner, just a selection) team together and we’ll be pulling off some pretty cool stuff down here in the ol’ Caribe.
So as our first little assignment, the good people over at the ‘Antilliaans Dagblad’, which is a local news paper, wrote an article on my stylist, and she pushed that I be the photographer on duty to shoot two lovely gals she decided to style and to get some candid shots of the day.
This also completes my second shoot using lighting equipment, and it’s not half bad. The images following this article are from that session. I hope you enjoy!
If you would like to check out the newspaper article for yourself, you can do so HERE!
Until sometime soon,
Rob.
Hi planet Earth,
Now I know some of you might have prepared a really strong, very moving piece for me. A eulogy like no other. But I’m still here. Just been ‘under construction’ for way longer than I thought I would. I’ve been out of commission and I have alibis.
I’ll try and make this not too arduous a read (though I am notoriously known for doing just that).
This is what’s going on with me.
So in our last episode you saw me get a job as the sales manager and photographer for the brave new magazine named ‘Curacao Journal’. There were setbacks with that, and suffice it to say that that didn’t pan out. So, in other words I am now unemployed and just doing freelance photography. That’s a tough racket, I know. Oh, I know.
But I’m going to tough this one out. I’m going to keep hammering away and tinkering away at my new toys, which include my new camera, lenses and lights. I’ll be ordering up odds and ends to complete and round up my toolbox and toughing it out.
My work.
Right now I’m in the process of practicing with lights. Which is a long winding road, but I traverse it bravely armed with hope and a fistful of boomsticks. But it’s coming along steadily. For now I should have a series of little shoots with a high influence by yours truly. Nothing too complicated. Just practice.
Injecting creativity into the aesthetics tight now before I even dare to throw in some symbolism or easter egg or anything else. And therein lies a dilemma.
I have to get a team together to be able to do the kind of work I want to do, and now that my toolbox has gotten a big upgrade, it’s time to stop doing the whole Wolverine act for a bit, and setup the X-Men.
So right now I have a makeup artist that I’m trying out, with a potential second. A hair person waiting in the wings so we can have our first test together. And I am currently hard at work at hooking up with a designer or someone who is skillful in that area to be my wardrobe person, and I’m dialoguing back and forth with them as we speak.
My next shoot is lined up, all we still need is wardrobe, but the concept is complete and it should be a hoot. :)
I intend on doing plenty of little shoots in the coming months, trying out my lights and showing all of you the bold and beautiful new face of my craft. So here’s to succeeding with flying colors. Cheers!
I also intend to make my triumphant return to Aruba after about 2 years of not shooting there, I would like to make it down in the next couple of months, and from there on to make frequent returns to the happy island. So all of you Arubans out there, keep your radars on ‘scan’ for when I announce that.
And last but not least, this may be old news to some, but I did my first shoot with lights a few weeks back, which was a collaboration with “the makeup artist Beth” on a little something she cooked up in honor of the ‘Breast cancer awareness’ month. She had this concept where she wanted to create a pink warrior to represent the strength inherent in all these women going through the tragedy and travesty that is breast cancer. So she went and found herself a model, painted her in, and I took some pictures. The results of which you can see in the last couple of posts I made here in my blog. Enjoy!
I’ll try not to leave you guys hanging so much in the future.
So I suppose one could say this is the update many of you have been waiting for. An update where things have shifted, rocks have been kicked over and the fat lady appears to be going for the crescendo.
I won’t bore you with apologies as to why things have been quiet on my front, I have explained this numerous times before, besides reading this you’re likely to figure out the reason on your own anyhow.
So let’s get into the nitty gritty.
I lost my job.
My day..job that is. I did customer service for online casinos for close to three years now, but due to some laws recently passed in the United States and France we lost 80% of all clients and so the company threw in the towel.
Now for those of you who know my story, I’m sure you can imagine that this is great reason for concern as I have my share of responsibilities and the things I hold dear in life constantly hang by a very thin thread.
For those who don’t..well you can imagine that it sucks to say the very least, to lose your job.
To make matters worse, my camera was not working as it should and it had been for a while now. With no money to replace, I had been in a rut.
I had known for a little bit now that the office might be closing down as things have been stirring for a while now and many of us saw dark clouds on the horizon in there.
So I’ve been banging my head against a wall for a while now due to the fact that I was in between a rock and a hard place. With my job hanging by the ever present, ever-fucked thread and my equipment dying on me, I felt backed into a corner.
Realizing that change had to come in the form of a unicorn or in the form of a raging bull frightened me. But one thing was certain; Change had to come.
Now as many of you may or may not know I have been wanting to replace my equipment for a while now, replace them and add a little extra and take my work to the level where I desperately feel it should be. This has been something I have wanted desperately. I strongly feel that the only thing that has always kept me behind the herd was my financial situation. Everyone else was carrying bigger guns due to deeper pockets. It was that one factor that kept me rubbing shoulders with many others, and what kept me from feeding them stir fried dust with a side of rocks and mud.
Backed into the corner, desperate, I did what any responsible man would;
I took out a loan.
Let’s just say I’ll be spending a fair amount of time returning it.
But let’s also say that that ‘wall’ that separated the men from the boys has now crumbled.
I won’t bore you with the details, but I will say it’s a brave new world for Robert Volkerts Photography. More will be revealed in due time.
Now that we have covered the photography in my life, let’s get back to my day job.
Shortly after I lost my job, which was last week Wednesday to be precise, I received a rather interesting job offer. One that was quite unexpected.
See..there’s this really impressive magazine looming over the horizon. A magazine based here on the island and has a definite edge over anything out there.
This magazine is named Curacao Journal.
I am now officially its Advertisement Sales Manager and Photographer.
Which means I will be visiting a whole many businesses and establishments on the island to offer them ad space in this new magazine I’m raving about.
And I will also be the photographer for this magazine, so for those of you who like my work you may now look forward to checking it out on a regular basis. And I can promise you it will be refreshing.
Now it’s a little soon to give away too much but I can say that this will be a lifestyle magazine and that we have assembled a very exciting mix of young talents to contribute to it.
We have a demo website which has been out for a year, along with a demo magazine, which you can find in PDF format on the website. But, a year is a long time and as with most things that have the opportunity to sit and simmer, they change, they evolve.
The magazine has gone through some significant changes and some very exciting ones if I do say so myself. So whatever you see on that site, take it at face value as the magazine has undergone changes, but as you can see there, even what’s there already looks very nice.
Also as I’m the Ad Sales Manager and the Photographer, I will be able to have a very informed discussion with these business owners about Ad ideas and be completely free of the burden of having subtle and sensitive creative information get lost in translation. No middle man, no hassle. I will also of course be available to shoot ads for any of these businesses.
This coupled with my new equipment, well..I think it’s safe to say we have a recipe for something sweet on our hands.
The magazine is slated to launch in January of 2012 but I start work tomorrow.
If you’re a business owner, expect to see me real soon and prepare to be intrigued.
So without giving too much away too soon, let me say that the future is wide open and I dare say holds a fist full of promise for Robert Volkerts Photography.
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.
Next on my docket after Kayla’s project, was another project that came my way all the way from Holland. 
She came in the form of Nathaly Pater. She’s a designer from Holland that wanted to shoot a new collection on the island. She had a hard time getting a photographer to help her out at first. She wanted to bring her regular photographer down for the project, but he had other engagements to tend to, then she tried hiring one from St.Marten to come down to the island and do it for her. Everything bought and paid for for this photographer, ticket and all. Last minute she bails. So she was in a bind and decided to wing it and try out a local photographer.
I’m it.
So we got together a bunch of girls from the island which we thought would be good for the project. And we got started.
The theme she had in mind was a very adventurous diva shoot. I mean think Crocodile Dundee meets couture. It was supposed to be boots, cowboy hats, whips, knives, maps, compasses and wranglers.
We get to our first shoot.
The model in question was very very exotic. At least to me. I hadn’t seen her before the shoot, but she turned out to be great. I mean she reminded me of Grace Jones!
Her wardrobe was done, and it was time for makeup. When she was sitting there having make up applied to her wonderful liquorish skin. I had an epiphany. One of my infamous epiphanies where something blows my mind, and I start cursing uncontrollably.
She needed African make up. Not just any African make up. But something very special. Tribe specific. I knew what I wanted. Did some quick googling on the blackberry, and came up with an example for the makeup artists, she did it. It looked like what magic should look like. It looked perfect. The designer concurred. She scuttled about, grabbing twigs and corals, and she made some head gear for the sister, and she was golden. It was done.
In that one moment, the new look for the series was born. It was to be more aboriginal. So we tweaked it and we did it. 
We were met with shit weather throughout, but we got the job done, and if you ask me it was a job well done. I had a good time on the project, and I intend on going back to work with some of these girls again.
On the second photoshoot, we were at Kanoa. As you may or may not know, this is both one of the premiere surf locations on the island, and also Natoma Alley. In other words, people go back there to bury murder victims, or to rape future rape victims. So it has it’s stories.
I was there, and there were some abandoned houses. I opened one up, as the door was shut, so I could go inside and see what it’s like, see if we can use the spot.
It was dark. The model and I walk in. I hear this crying. Like a baby crying in there. Scares the Grey Poupon out of me! I look around, I see nothing. It’s too dark to make too much. I feel something tugging at my blue jeans. I look down to my surprise, to find a baby goat! I was instantly in love. I pick her up. She’s ravenous. Hungry. Skinny. She’d been there for a while. My heart melted.
I couldn’t even concentrate on the job at hand for quite a bit. I’m the biggest animal lover in case you didn’t know. Huge on animals. So naturally I wanted to feed her, and take care of her. I could not, as I don’t have the authority to get my own pet or whatever. So one of the models took her home.
For the remainder of the day she only wanted to be with me. I think she thought I was her mom. Which is cool by me. I’d gladly mother, nurture and breast feed, little Bartholomew. Yes, I named her Bartholomew. This was before I knew he was a she. I was too polity to look between her legs. I didn’t think it was fair, I mean…we’d just met, and I’m a gentleman. Someone else, with more Moxy than I, did the dirty work for me, and found out he was a girl. 
We had a fainting model, but she got back in tip top shape in no time, and we did good work.
And so my time with this project was well spend, we got great images, and another happy Robert Volkerts Photography client.
All smiles.
I hope you’ll enjoy this series, as I feel it should be given a little bit of your attention.
Voila && if you’d like to see more from this series or Kayla’s simply click HERE!
So there is a remarkable new talent.
Her name is Kayla Ursula, and I had the pleasure of doing the photography on her first album. I did the album cover, plus any and all professional images you’ll be seeing of her. It was a long, arduous, painstaking labor, but it was well worth it, and by the looks of it, very well received.
So the other members “Team Kayla” or the “K-Team” as we later came to be called, contacted me because they were getting ready to put together their debut album, and they absolutely wanted an artistic eye, and wanted to make it something special.
So there we sat; Manager, Kayla, her Mother and Event Organizer.
They explain a little bit about themselves and then they ask me to listen to some of Kayla’s music.
After carefully listening to the hit single, I ask Kayla to explain the lyrics to me, and to go over some of the themes she was touching and playing with on the album. As soon as she explained I knew what this needed to be, aesthetically. Coincidentally, by the time I was explaining my vision, the remaining members of the K-Team, nodded along and added to my vision. Ultimately it appears we were all on the same page from the get go, and we were pretty much on the right path. 
The music was simple. It took me back to when I was a kid. Growing up in Aruba, but being from Curacao, I had plenty of family in Curacao, and mostly spent my summer vacations in Curacao. When I was a kid my aunt would come visit, and take me on rides in School Buses and buy me soft ice cream. It took me back then. When the people here were all care free and beautiful. When the expressions were not of envy or anger but of humility and camaraderie was a priority for our people.
This is what the sound beckoned for. I didn’t have to search long, it was all there in front of me. The sound came with it’s own image, I just had to do some interpreting and do my best so that too much wouldn’t get lost in translation, which some did, but considering the circumstances, we did alright.
So that is what I wanted to portray. A time, post slavery, when things were peaceful and right, before all the noise and violence. To do so we would have to tread carefully, because a project like this can go wrong real fast unless you’re careful.
Keep this in mind, add a blackberry smartphone to any picture pre-1960’s and you kill it, if authenticity is what you’re going for. Everything in that frame has to be authentic.E double AA battery can make Joan of Ark look like Lady Ga Ga. Think about it.
So we had homework to do, and museums to visit, and people to talk to. Old people, wise people, beautiful people.
I have learned much about our culture and our history working on this project. And it’s pretty damn interesting when you’re actually in the middle of all of it. When you see all of these old artifacts, and you have some old school islanders explaining all of it to you.
Come shoot day, the weather was not in our favor. We ended up shooting for ten straight hours. In the middle of heavy rain, thunder and lightning. Breaking damn and flash floods. I shot, until I couldn’t anymore. 
The deadline was the following day, so I got home from that long shoot, ate some Chinese food, and did some post production until the wee hours of the morning.
But, as always, I was done on time. I made my deadline.
Everyone was more than pleased with my work, and it was well received..until printing time.
When it came time to print my work onto the album, some unmentionable fuck-o-sapien informed me that this would not be possible due to my colors. They told me my colors would not work, that they are unacceptable. They print ugly is what was said.
This is the first time anyone told me this. My work has been printed in numerous countries across the world, and this is the first time someone told me “Your work prints ugly”, which in turn made the K-Team nervous, which in turn almost cost me all my hard work.
Needless to say I was less than pleased, but assured the K-Team that my colors are fine, and that they should go ahead with the print, because I know what I am talking about, and Mr. Sapien does not.
Subsequently my work was printed per my instructions, and they came out, pardon my Italian, “Pico Bello” !
Faith was restored in the world, my work was loved, and another notch on my belt.
Needless to say, I will never work on a project where Mr.Sapien is involved again.
But, in closing, the project was a success. It knocked the wind out of me for a bit, but it was great. Can’t wait for the next album! So without further a do, here are some of the pictures from that project, and also in my next few posts, some of her music. Enjoy!
If you like what you hear, you can purchase her album “Amor di Nort Ost” at pretty much anywhere music is sold on the island.
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