Martijn Nugteren | Sunday

Discover the forest

Martijn Nugteren decided to follow his dream a few years ago. He exchanges the bustle of Vlaardingen for the peace and beauty of his favorite nature reserve: the Veluwe. He now walks daily through the woods and enjoys all the beauty that nature has to offer together with his dog.

During one of these walks, Martijn lets you look over his shoulder and through his lens and enjoy. And do you know what the beauty is? In this lecture he explains exactly how he works in the field. You will learn from him how to perfectly capture all those details of the forests. From a mushroom to a piece of moss, from the plumage of a great spotted woodpecker to the fur of a fox. It is precisely those details that make the forests such a beautiful landscape! Marvel at all those details that Martijn encounters along the way …

Stefan Gerrits | Sunday

‘Less is more’ – Low Key & High Key photography

Imaginative and minimalist are two keywords that characterize Stefan Gerrits’ photography style. He thinks it is important to respect nature while photographing. To present the subject and the environment in the simplest components: function over form. That is exactly how Stefan experiences nature and it is the core of who he is.

“Less is more” that’s exactly what a minimalist style of photography is all about. In this instructive lecture Stefan Gerrits explains the technique of simplifying via high key & low key photography. Minimalism through high & low key photography is about simplifying, or simplifying, reality. This by removing elements and details or making them disappear to the minimum necessary to get the focus directly on the subject and only on the subject. With the aim of strengthening the essence!

Jo-Anne McArthur | Sunday

Animals in the Anthropocene

Jo-Anne McArthur is an award-winning photographer, author and in-demand speaker. As an animal photojournalist, she has spent nearly twenty years highlighting the hidden animals (which we don’t see, but have a close relationship with) in our world.

Jo-Anne created the We Animals project to document human interactions with animals and show how ordinary situations can be seen from a different perspective. This proved to be very effective because people simply did not recognize common incidences for animal abuse.

The seed of the We Animals project was born when she was backpacking through Ecuador. There was a monkey chained to some window bars. The monkey could neither get in nor out, and was trained to pick-pocket the people going by. People took pictures of the monkey thinking it was cute or funny, but Jo-Anne stopped taking pictures because she thought it was terribly cruel. She wanted to do something with the image, help the monkey, or at least show the world that this sort of treatment of animals was unacceptable. She saw, then, quite clearly, that she saw animals differently than others did. She thought her point of view was important, that showing animals through her lens, so to speak, could help people see animals, and think critically about how we treat them. Jo-Anne thinks that education is one of the best ways to start a discussion, teaching people to think critically about animals and showing that they are not just objects we can use.

During this lecture you will travel with Jo-Anne to the cataclysmic climate fires in Australia, to monkey reserves in Africa and an Asian bear rescue in Vietnam. Through her lens, you also get a glimpse into the global industries that mass produce animals for consumption. You will come across various animals in the entertainment that have become victims of our custom.

And finally you also follow rescues of many animals.
Jo-Anne highlights the complexity and intelligence of the animals she meets. She shares stories of hope, redemption and a step forward. You will undoubtedly become very impressed and inspired!