Long-time photographer across formats, processes and subjects — from medium format film to mobile snapshots. Occasional painter, working in the spirit of abstract expressionism. Strip cartoonist, co-creating the Knakkie universe with my son. Writer of short fiction, children's stories and haiku. Author of several self-published works on photography and haiku.
Keywords
Photography ; Street photography ; Film photography ; Holga ; Tortuographie ; Comics & illustration ; Haiku ; Abstract painting ; Calligraphy ; Knakkie Knakworst
Photography has been part of my life for decades — across formats, processes and subjects, from medium format film to the camera in my pocket. Drawing, painting, writing and calligraphy came later, developed more slowly, and occupy a different register.
This creative work is not an extension of my professional practice. It is separate from it — a domain where different rules apply, where process matters more than outcome, and where experimentation is the point rather than the risk.
I have been photographing seriously since the late 1980s, initially in black-and-white, later across all formats and processes. Over time, a body of work emerged around specific themes and obsessions, alongside teaching, presenting and publishing.
More recently, creating Knakkie Knakworst together with my son Maxi has opened up drawing, storytelling and comics as active practices — informed by a lifetime of reading strips and watching animation, and now shaped as much by his enthusiasm as by mine.
Drawn to the street photography tradition — Winogrand, Frank, Doisneau, Van der Elsken, Maier, Parr, Eggleston — without ever wanting to photograph people up close myself. Martin Parr taught me to love the banal. Eggleston showed me that colour can carry meaning no one else sees. Winogrand remains a constant source of energy and inspiration.
Technically at home across formats and processes: medium format and 35mm, rangefinder and SLR, colour and black-and-white, including experimental silver film development. Also: Holga — deliberately lo-fi, plastic lens, unpredictable results. These days, mostly a phone camera — for private use.
Work organised around recurring themes and obsessions: reflections, trees, clouds, abstract form, the flattening of three-dimensional space into two dimensions without spatial reference. A long series documenting one view, repeated daily. A body of work from Mongolia.
Also taught photography and presented to amateur audiences.
Knakkie Knakworst is an opinionated sausage with a talent for getting lost in his own adventures. Created together with my son Maxi — stories, strips, characters and a universe that keeps expanding. Lives at knakkie.nl and on Instagram as @knakkieknakworst.
Shaped by a childhood of Eppo, Asterix, Lucky Luke, Agent 327, Storm and Franka — and the anarchic energy of Looney Tunes, Tom & Jerry and Tex Avery. Currently learning from Dog Man, kawaii drawing guides and manga instruction books, mostly together with Maxi.
Children's stories about Knakkie Knakworst — short, absurd, told aloud to Maxi at bedtime, transcribed with AI assistance and edited afterwards.
Haiku, written mostly between 2010 and 2011 — a daily practice, often composed during the commute. Published as Haiku. Fleeting Moments (Lulu, ebook).
Short fiction, unpublished.
Working in abstract and non-figurative modes — not by conviction, but by honest assessment of where the hands can go. Inspired by Pollock, CoBra and Picasso, but equally drawn to Matisse, Renoir, the Impressionists, Japonisme and Van Gogh. Admiring Rococo from a safe distance.
Also: Cubism, Bauhaus, Pop Art, Warhol, Nam June Paik, Zero, Lucio Fontana, Tinguely — and much more besides.
A great admirer of calligraphy, particularly modern Mongolian calligraphy.
A practice in progress. No pretensions, genuine curiosity.
Tortuographie — a personal visual and conceptual practice at the intersection of photography, calligraphy, painting and drawing. Defined by its own manifesto.
Shards of Photography — a long-running photography blog with photographs and writing. Also: Shards of Photography 2, a Photo A Week series running from 2003 to 2010.
Also maintained blogs on wine and on SparkleCraft, a self-development project for young people.
Views of Amsterdam (2005–2006, Lulu, paperback)
Tsagaan Sar — Mongolian New Year (2005–2006)
Shards of Mongolia: Exploring Mongolian City Life (2008–2011, Lulu, ebook)
Haiku. Fleeting Moments (Lulu, ebook)
Contributor to Rangefinder Photography: 25 Photographers — One Passion (2005) and Rangefinder Photography: A Gathering (2006).
Photography for GUNU magazine.