The concept of family | Nikon ZOOM experience 2010

The Concept of Family

A story of life.
A lifetime.
Photographed in a bed.
Awareness of moments.
Just stop in your own image.
A lifetime.

I am ...

The empty bed represents the beginning, an empty place.
It is not a photographic symbolism of form without content

I am conception

From nothing comes something.
A conception, creation.
Man and woman, begetting a thing, a human life.
Sex, love, survival?

I am expecting

As then conceived, the expectation is growing.
A growth, growth of a baby in the belly.
Man and woman.
A big belly.
Where the fusion developed a singularity.
Forecast, pregnancy.

I am born

Whe are two, three, four in this case.
Expand, growing as a group, a family.
Where expectations become reality.
How special two cells have developed to a man.
Safety, responsibility.
But together.
Become a photographic cross.

I am family

Bigger with more identity.
Together as a whole from parts.

I am trouble

If larger identites struggle, an awareness can be
Your own place, your self, you loose.
Puberty with pimples, his selfishness, are uncertain.
Almost everything is in contact, but goes its own way.
The conflict of family life can create a dying of beauty.
Simultaneously a beauty of individuality that has developed.
I am content

The teenagers have grown up and have abandoned the nest.
Remains the
ex-provoking set
ex-pregnant couple
ex-family
and often ex-marriage
Yet a couple that continues to be, alone again together with
In a renewed peace
reached the expected.
Satisfaction .....?

I am proud

The children are grown
The big kids themselves are aged.
And the parents have become grandparents.
The bed gets full again
A proud

I am reproduced

And when the grandchildren have children again, the fourth generation there.
A reproduction of human life. A continuation of a cycle.
An awareness of what comes out ........

I am old

The realization that changes. The finite from visits.
The lonely is not always going to be divided anymore.
Expected to be finite.
Where consciousness and awareness lead to enjoyment.
Where fear and pain is a place.
What a lucky moment.
While beauty a new meaning.
The stigma itself dies differently.


I am gone

Where nothing started, it ends in the same
An observation sheet has become invisible ink
With the right light is visible.
If you want sense, it is also ..............



www.henkvankooten.com

christmas card

Eveninglecture 15 november 2010 with Jesus Miguel Muel De Dios

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7mPPlnWQCI

Evening Lecture Jesus Miguel Muel de Dios
Dutch School of Photography
November 15th 2010

All the way from Spain was Muel coming over to do an evening lecture about
Nudes and Portraits.
A evening with impact in photography.
The fantastic cropping of images, the showing images with no skin-cleaning.
Muel told about his growing and the importance of his family.
His consciousness in photography.
Some words to characterize Muels photography:
characterized simplicity
pure
daring compositions and crops
Than Muel told about his calenders with nudes. A volleyball team, the medical students.
All part of his very daring nudes.
The amazing part was Muel showing the nude-photography of colleague photographers.
Including himself.
Now there is a waiting-list from Dutch photographers coming over from Holland to Muels' Gijon, to be photographed........
Muel ended his talk with a very personal film. About his father, his family and realy beautyful spoken words by his mother. It made everybody quiet for some time.

Muel was happy his first talk in English went very good, broken-Spanish English is a kind of new international language now.

The warm voice and personality of Muel showed new kind of photography.
Although Muel always wants more, better, hating his old photography, it is good to know that learning and evolving your vision and your photography is only possible if you are kind of permanently unhappy with yourself as a photographer-artist.


Tis was the last lecture of this year.
In January we (the Dutch School of Photography) will launch a new programme for 2011.
Including a membership-option.
We can promise that this will be another great year of 'new ways of learning'


Henk & Christina van Kooten

Thank you Scotland!

'Identify Yourself'
a photographic identity by creating your own creativity
Monday 1st November 2010 - 10am-5pm
place: Loxley Colour Glasgow

A big thank you to the Scottish Region of the MPA.
The talk on the 1rst of november was really good to do.
Lots of positive feedback.
I thank also Loxley Colour for taking care of all of us.
The cooperation in the 'bookmarks' idea I did might work out as a new
marketing tool.
Maybe an extra in terms of a free crazy-face image is also part of a new marketing
strategy.

Also to let you all know I was feeling welcome and saw many 'open minded' faces.
Willing to change the industry of professional photography.
Willing to change MPA into a more interactive instrument.
Merchandising MPA as a professional must for customers.
Also the new ideas for the magazine:
- unannounced website-visits and discussion/report by a webdesigner and professional
photographer.
– “doctor” Henk answers questions about problems in the industry, personal marketing in the
photostudio, lighting problems, sales etc etc etc
– New Competition Ideas:
Best Crazy Face of the Year (sposored by toy-industry)
Most Erotic Portrait of the Year (sponsored by PlayBoy magazine)
Love at first Bite (Wedding, Sponsored by MacDonalds)

Lots of support in these is very important.
We need to have the MPA as an instrument that is known by all photographers, but ALSO by all customers.

I will try to be back in January-february to do print-critique, and to do a masterclass/workshop.
This will be coordinated by Seppi.
Even possible to arrange a visit and masterclasses in my studio!!!!!


Lets make our new Slogan for MPA working:

We Are ….....
Professionals
Masters of Light
Emotion
Moving


All the Best and hope to see you all soon,

Henk van Kooten

Workshop Norway, 11th and 12th of october 2010

What a experience to be in this country.
Also the very welcome feeling.
To talk and demonstrate about photography.
The vision, the motivating.
The live photoshoots, how challenging to do.
I will work out all my images to show the final results.
Already one of the images I showed.
The concept of Family in its being.
The 'Change' of photography is something that
needs to be profiled by photographers. All together.
To make the universal language visually talk.

Thanks for giving me and Christina a lifetime experience!


Henk van Kooten

Henk president of the MPA

And this is the moment to be proud.
I now can announce that I am president of the Master Photographers Association.
In my opinion the most prestigious organisation in the United Kingdom.
Already being the chairman of the judges and also being next years chairman of the judges,
this a new achievement to be proud of.
The special chain that is always within my reach for a whole year.
And this is also the platform to promote professional photography.
To change an awareness. To motivate and establish our profession. To show professional identity.
So since october the 17th I am THE PRESIDENT.
Just to let you all know.
And as being a Dutchman I was introduced as the flying dutchman. I used the opportunity to show up in a completely orange suit, with red white and blue buttons and inside a lot of my images printed in the fabric.
I feel proud to be part of this industry.

Henk van Kooten

Eveninglecture 15 november 2010 with Jesus Miguel Muel De Dios

Avondlezing
Evening Lecture
Jesús Miguel Muel de Dios

As we call him Muel.
Knowing his name represents something special: 'de Dios' means 'from God',
we can expect something special this evening.
Muel is a photographer I know as a very good friend and photographer.
We met in the year I was judging the Spanish Valencia competition and doing a lecture
at the convention.
I did not know his work, nor his name or his existence.
Judging one of the most 'moving' pictures I ever saw, I was overwhelmed by emotion.
This image won the category.
At the evening of the awards dinner I was going to the conference centre, walking up to the building. I saw a person standing. Like first love we looked at each other and were already friends. That is how I met Muel.
Now it happens that in this awards-evening the image I wanted to win came up, and only than I knew it was Muel's image.

Muel is a very gifted and very pure photographer. His communication, his being as a person is already an experience to meet.
He is a very warm personality, and that shows in his images.
Muel is one of those photographers that I would say is a true artist.
Always experimenting, but also aware about the realism to make money for a living.
His struggle between the two worlds will never end.

In Spain he is known very well for his creative being, and rewarded a lot of times.
He jokes a lot with his colleagues, his English is 'broken Spanish English' but very well to understand.

The beauty of Muel's Nude photography (he has one of himself on his website), is that it is very much like normal. No glamorous over retouched imaging, but just as it is.

Do not miss this unique photographer.
Only 30 places ! On first come bases.

Have a look at www.dutchschoolofphotography.com for his portfolio and the programma

It may be clear already, but the lecture will be in English
See you all in november.
Henk