How to pronounce his in Dutch?

If you look at something...

...you can get touched and you don't even need to know why.

It could be three lines on a piece of paper and when you look at it you suddenly think...

'This is so beautiful'

...or you think 'I want to look at it more often'

'I want to be touched by it more often'.

I think that's the essence of art.

And that you can enjoy the beautiful things and that it touches you,

and that you want to keep it with you, you know.

We are in Morocco because I won a prize through the Van Vlissingen Art Foundation.

Every year they name an artist as 'artist of the year',

and as a prize the artist is allowed to go on a journey of inspiration to a nice destination...  

...where they are able to create new work.

I want to take everything in and see where it brings me.

I have a few elements that have been brought together here:

the country, the way of transport,

my camera equipment...

...and myself.

And we mix up all of that and...

yeah, I hope, and also think beautiful things will arise from this.

I’m not really into prizes, but this isn’t just a prize.

It’s actually a grant that enables you to set up that project.

An exposition, a book, a journey,

those are quite some things.

And of course every artist is jealous of those things,

and especially photographers who know what a large investment it is...

...to be able to complete such a project.

Especially with an exposition, with printing, framing.

It's very expensive and Bastiaan was granted that opportunity.

It took us about four hours with the car...

...to get to El Jadidha.

It really took a while to get the right feeling.

I think I need to get over my apprehension to be able to photograph the first people here.

I keep finding it difficult.                                       

You see, in The Netherlands it feels safe as I photograph people in a studio where I direct everything.

When travelling that’s different.

It’s a challenge, but it’s something that needs to develop.

Yeah...

For my pictures it’s important not to smile, just look.

Usually I know within two seconds whether I want to photograph someone or not.

I chose to photograph the two men who were sitting there...

...to help me take the first step.                                                   

And I didn’t immediately feel like they were interesting subjects for my work.

Like I said before, this is the man that came and sat down on the same terrace.

He sat down with his cigarette.

When I saw him sitting there, I thought...

...I need to photograph him.

Such a face full of character.

Yeah, for me everything feels right about this portrait.

At that moment everything just goes and everything feels right.

Within two seconds I know I want to photograph that person,

the conversation feels right and goes well, and the person who is being photographed...

...is open to it and understands it.                         

At these moments everything comes together and a picture is taken that I’m very pleased with.

It’s very easy to photograph something that’s photogenic,

because nowadays everybody with an Iphone can snap a nice picture.

And Morocco is so photogenic that it’s a pitfall to only take pictures of the clichés.

And how can you transform a cliché into something special.

And thats's what he does, and that's how you recognize his style and his signature.

To abstract, almost bringing graphic design into a picture,

bringing clarity into the picture, that’s what he’s good at.

You won't see a lot of chaotic pictures from him.

Or the chaos becomes a bigger whole and it comes back to the graphic design.

So it's the simplicity of an image through which you recognize his style.

[Yes, we begin in Marrakesh and we end in Marrakesh so... just a circle.]

[Yeah]

[It's nice, yeah...]

[So eh...]

<i>[It's wonderful.]</i>

                                                  [Yeah.]

[Is it possible if I make a portrait of you?]

[Is it ok with you?]

[Because I think it’s great to have like a conversation and then have a memory of it by a picture.]

[Yes]

[Maybe look at me?]

[Beautiful, thank you so much.]

<i>[Very welcome]</i>

[I'll give you my card. You have e-mail?]

Last night I really had a moment that, well....

...I found myself worrying about the fact that I wasn’t taking many photographs here,

because there aren't too many opportunities to take a photograph, and...

...I then worry whether I’m making enough portraits,

...and whether I’m even happy with what I make.

I was going through my work and I kept thinking that I need to take more photos.,

but I think more will come now.

We’re now going to places where the scenery is going to play a bigger part.

I feel like I didn't even take one landscape photo yet.

I'm starting to see more of the graphics of this country and that's...

...that's really something I was waiting for, you know.

Some sort of emptiness.

Yeah, I find that interesting.

I have expectations about the work that I am going to make.

When I’m in The Netherlands I have certain expectations and ideas about my work and I know what I’m good at.

And I have some sort of idea about what I think is beautiful, and...

...I’m trying to find that here but that’s very difficult.

I don’t know the area, I don’t know the customs, the culture...

...I don't know the language, that is definitely a barrier.

It might be naïf to think that I can make exactly what I want to make here.

Yesterday was a good example. I had an expectation of the city, the old Medina...

...and I was completely overwhelmed by the size of it.

I've been told that there's 9600 streets and we've been wandering around for a couple of hours,

and it's really like an anthill. There’s something happening on every square centimeter.

And while I was walking there I really enjoyed the moment, it's an amazing experience,

but when it came down to the photography, I completely shut down.

Well, Bastiaan is a real go-getter you know.

When he doesn’t feel comfortable in such a city and he can’t produce the amount of work that he would like,

-he does have the eagerness and energy-

then he either panics or it hurts him in such a way,

of which I think, maybe that's exactly what you need.

I think that maybe he needs the panic to realise that he needs to go back to what he’s good at.

So then you escape the craziness of the city and go to the countryside.

Or you start looking for it in a courtyard or somewhere else where you can find it.

When I’m walking through the Medina and I find myself shutting down in the middle of this chaos,

and everyone wants something from you and you can’t find a quiet place for yourself to create some work,

Then... then... it can really get me down.

It doesn't work, things ain't going well...

You know, I’ve never had a fear of failure in my life, but at those moments it almost seems like it.

At those moments you just feel like it's not working.

<i>In a certain way that's kind of confronting right?</i> <i>When you...</i>

Yes, I need a certain...

...certain...

...mindset, but also a situation to be able to function well.

If that’s not there, then I can get really moody.

Or I can get... for example when I watch a documentary about another photographer, especially street photographers,

who do all these things so easily, I can get a little jealous, you know.

But on the other hand, that's who they are, they're someone else.

And I am... me, and I'm doing it my way.

A good example is that later that day we were driving through the hills,

where it was completely empty and nobody else was around,

until we stopped by a herd of sheep with a shepherd.

And I stepped out of the car and I noticed that the shepherd started walking away...

...until at one point I got a little closer and asked if I could take a photo.

The shepherd was almost proud, you know, and stood there with his hand on his hip...

                          ...really posing for me.

                              At that moment...

I felt like I had the peace of mind.

There was nobody else around me. I can only talk to him, or maybe give him directions,

and then suddenly it works.

So for me personally that's an affirmation; I need peace, but also some feeling of security to be able to do that.

By moving away from the hustle and bustle to find something simple, he’s embracing his own signature and his own style.

And he didn’t have that two years ago, so that’s how fast it can happen.

He did make it then, but he wasn’t conscious of it.

The nice thing about it is, searching for the hustle of Morocco in a city like that,

with all the alleyways and all the sounds and smells, and all those influences, really took him right out of his comfort zone.

Within the context outside of your comfort zone, you can focus more on your strengths.

As he had recognized his strengths, he managed to save himself from the situation.

[two hundred and fifty-eight]

The expectations of photography here are very difficult here,

because this are the sand dunes, and these sand dunes  have been photographed probably ten million times before.

You can keep on taking photos of them, but I was looking for something else.

I was looking for more movement in the picture instead of the still picture of the sand dunes that everyone already knows.

I was actually looking for movement, for camels, for people.

I think I’ve managed to do it. I don’t think I was expecting to photograph the sand dunes here.

because, like I said before, that’s already been done so many times and I wanted to do something different.

The main thing about myself that I saw confirmed -and actually I knew it already, but this time it definitely got confirmed-

...is that I really hold on to a certain way of working.

I need some sort of quietness in the situation that I am working in.

Besides the situation...          160 00:20:20,640 --> 00:20:26,680 ...for example, if I approach someone on the street and I don't think the situation is suitable,

-and I'm not talking about the background because there are thousands of beautiful walls here that are excellent as a backdrop-

I'm talking about all the people and chaos around.

That just doesn’t fit with my way of working and maybe I just wasn’t born to be a street photographer.

I’m not the sort of person to just approach someone and ask them if I can take a photo, I find that difficult.

When it’s about creating work, and I want to achieve something, then that doesn’t work.

You could say it’s a way of working or maybe it's character, I wouldn't know.

This is my favourite combination. I can really see Bastiaan Woudt in this one.

The simplicity, the graphics of the image, the contrast. Everything that makes a real Bastiaan Woudt, is in this image.

The moment that he embraced his own signature and style, he knew what his strength was.

And I've told him once before 'You're very good with people. Whether that’s someone in the studio or someone in the street...'

'...you’re always able to capture the characteristics or the mere beauty of the person'.

'But you’re also very good at still pictures, whether that’s a pot or a pan that you find on a street in Morocco...'

...or an African mask or a beautiful vase'.

In a certain way, he treats it in the same way as a portrait.

And the third line in his work, are the still landscape portraits.

Because it really is a portrait of the landscape.

And also withing his landscapes he's looking for the stillness or clarity.

Whether that’s a group of sand dunes, or an island, or one tree in a landscape,

he's always looking for the peace and stillness in a picture.

And the combination of these three: stills, portraits and the landscapes, together they make Bastiaan Woudt.

Because of all this he will create an oeuvre -that hopefully will entail more far destinations-

which you’ll always be able to recognise as his work.