As 2021 is nearing an end, I wanted to do a round-up of the year. 2021 was an exciting year, exploring my freelance life, learning new things, and meeting a bunch of incredible people. Out of the many amazing moments that have happened, I have outlined a few highlights below.
HIGHLIGHT #1: SAP TALK
At the beginning of 2021, I was asked by SAP to be a guest lecture at their SAP Variaté. An event where during COVID times, art and culture are highlighted amongst the SAP employees. Here I shared my photographic journey! I have received such unbelievable support and positive comments before, during, and after the event! It motivated me to tell more stories of previous travels and photography I have done.
HIGHLIGHT #2: FBK GAMES
Last May, I was contacted to create some content for the FBK Games. This is one of the biggest athletics tournaments in the Netherlands, a pre-Olympic meet where the Olympic athletes come together to run their personal, and world records.
In June, I was off to the FBK Games. I was creating content for three days. The days before, I was following Sifan Hassan for a day, following her from interviews to her final trainings. The next day I followed the final training, and Sunday was the event day. On the event day, Sifan Hassan ran a World record on the 10k distance! You can see the content I shot for the FBK Games here.
HIGHLIGHT #3: PORTUGAL
In October, I decided to get on a flight and visit Lisbon. I had heard a lot of good things about the city, and could not wait to visit. I was able to combine the trip with visiting the Orca Nation office, and photographing for Xhapeland.
A few months later, I was off to Lisbon again to shoot for Wayks together with BonusRun Studios.
Wayks produces modular designed bags and is based in Berlin. We were out in Lisbon for a week, exploring and shooting at the Portuguese cliffs. It was an incredible project to be involved in, together with an amazing crew.
HIGHLIGHT #4: BERLIN MARATHON
In October 2021, one of the major marathons was happening: Berlin Marathon. I was privileged to be able to photograph the event, and one of the most prestigious marathon athletes. It was an unbelievable experience to be in Berlin and to generate content for the NN Running Team. The photographs created for Berlin Marathon can be seen here.
2022?
There are already various plans being made for 2022 and hope it will unfold positively. It looks like I will be involved with bigger productions with various brands. However, I also hope to focus a lot more on personal projects that I have in mind. This is something I have not been doing as much the past year and would like to explore more. There are a lot of ideas I have got in mind, and am excited to see how they will unfold.
Furthermore, in February there will be a charity project I will be involved in, and in April (if COVID allows), we will be off to Iran to hike with nomads, a trip that I won through a giveaway together with Iran Nomads.
I wish you all a lovely 2022, and hope our paths will cross soon!