A special portrait session

Not too long ago I was asked by Henriette Meppelink – a journalism student from my year – to photograph Dick Bruna – creator of nijntje and other world famous characters.  I was pretty nervous about it, she had an interview with him in his studio in Utrecht, The Netherlands and I was supposed to make photos of the happening.

I did not have any experience with portrait photography at that time because I was only doing freeride mountain biking photography. I did not know what to expect and what to do and the whole situation was far from ideal to say the least. A better situation would have been me using a full frame DSLR with a few portrait lenses, but at that time I only owned a Nikon D300 and a 17-55mm 2.8 lens I think.

At the other side, with no experience with portrait photography and a simple outfit, it was a pretty pure photo shoot the whole way. My D300, who has a great quality sensor and with light sensitive lens, it allowed me to photograph without the use of a flash. People who know me always see me with a load of remote flashes, but not this time folks.

When we arrived at Bruna’s studio I was overwhelmed by the possibilities. He’s studio is the best, so motivating and such a beautiful location in the centre of Utrecht City. It’s a very light space with a lot of different structures. Everywhere you look has something special to please the eye. Bruna – who was born in 1927 – leaves his wife every morning for his studio and pencils. He rides his bike to work and will only return for a quick nap and lunch. But I won’t be surprised to see him taking a nap in the studio also.

Although Bruna is not someone who likes to be photographed – he does not like it – I asked him if it was oke to take some photo’s in the studio. He was oke with it and I started to wonder around and shooting photos while having respect for his designs. I did not want to disturb him with taking photos of private things.  But it was really funny to see it without photographing it. I will remember it always, like all the letters from Japan – He is also famous over there – and his handwritten letters in reply to the ones that he got. The fans from Japan are great, they send him handmade gifts and a lot of love and Bruna enjoys it a lot.

While my colleague was interviewing Bruna I also took some photos of him, some of them are really great from my perspective. I like to believe that he got used of me taking photos along the way. I made one or two close ups, but most of the photo’s where made as interior photos with Bruna in it to respect him being nervous about the whole situation. After the interview I asked him if I could make a photo of him and he said yes, and he walked to one of his favorite spots in the studio and I snapped a few.

Luckily for me I had taken some other shots during the interview who were more pure, but it doesn’t matter because he took a little time as an artist for another artist that he doesn’t know. I think that’s really cool of him to do.

The whole experience was a great one. I have so much respect for Bruna as a artist and as a person. Check out the results, I’m really happy with it.

For everyone who wants to know all about Dick Bruna and his creations go to www.nijntje.nl or www.dickbrunahuis.com