After completing his education at the Photo Academy in Haarlem,Wouter Jansen (1962, Dalfsen) travelled the world as an assistant to various
photographers including Aernout Overbeeke. He established himself as an independent photographer in Amsterdam. His portrait of the Arveladze
brothers, the footballers, was nominated for the Silver Camera prize, and the photo ‘Sailing #3 Hellevoetsluis’ was named Hiswa Watersports Photo of the
Year 1997. Jansen exhibits his work regularly in galleries in The Netherlands and abroad.
“Photography is capturing a moment, but that
fraction of a second is preceded by a specific
moment which you are dependent on in order to
get what you want. It doesn’t matter how complex
a situation is, or how much time and preparation
you’ve put into setting the scene; you have to be
prepared to let it happen. You can’t let go without
trust. A farmer once said, ‘The fact that you don’t
know something, that can happen, but that you
don’t see something, that’s just stupid.”
Wouter Jansen:
“Hollowed out tree trunks to sail on the Suriname River near Djoemoe. For the locals it is the only means of transport to the rest of the civilized world. Since the early existence of man, he has trusted the buoyant power of a hollow shape on the water. In the most diverse places on our earth, people travel daily in the most primitive vessels - blindly leaving one place in order to reach their destination.”
“Hollowed out tree trunks to sail on the Suriname River near Djoemoe. For the locals it is the only means of transport to the rest of the civilized world. Since the early existence of man, he has trusted the buoyant power of a hollow shape on the water. In the most diverse places on our earth, people travel daily in the most primitive vessels - blindly leaving one place in order to reach their destination.”