STORYTELLING PHOTOGRAPHY

Nowadays everything seems to be about ‘storytelling’ in every context you can imagine. In the end, there is the risk of becoming an empty slogan. No matter what, we will stick to this concept of storytelling. Why? Because for us storytelling has always been our main focus since we started our business back in the Dutch summer of 2012.

So, what does this all mean in our case, ‘storytelling photography’? Actually, it is exactly these two words, without any pretentious explanation. We tell your story in both words and images. Probably, this maybe still a bit too vague to you and therefore we invite you to have a look at the ‘fragments’ on this website.

We do both documentaries as reportages. Our documentaries are long-term projects. During a longer period, we focus on a certain aspect of daily life. For example, we are now working on a project about the Mahane Yehuda Market in Jerusalem. Before we head to the market we dive into the rich history of the ‘shuk’. At the market itself, we have conversations with merchants, visitors, etc. In the end, all this will result in our second photo book, which reads like a living history book, in English.

Earlier, in 2015, we published our first one in this genre, in Dutch: ‘Faces of Jerusalem’. Our urban photography always has the people as its main subject, with more or less iconic places as background. We firmly believe that human beings in all its beautiful variations (also called ‘diversity’), and far less empty streets or buildings, bring the actual spirit to a city. Take for example mass tourism in Prague:

As you might expect, our reportages are more short term. We cover all kinds of events. Its history always plays an important part in this. Festive fiestas in Spain, a corporate event in the Dutch city of Schiedam or Europe’s largest radio fair in Germany: there is always a story to tell based on an interesting piece of history.

For us, it’s all about capturing the true feeling of the day(s). Not a business like registration, but the excitement and the decisive moments. For instance, a demonstration of handicapped in Washington DC is more than a series of nice pictures. It’s also about talking to the organizers and participants. We listen to their strong opinions and motives. Only then can we present an authentic story in all its exciting glory. Our work is an homage to diverse authenticity in this more and more homogeneous world.

It’s very difficult to show a price tag at ‘storytelling photography à la us’. Customization is the keyword. After having got a crystal clear idea of your wishes, it will not surprise you that we are very willing to offer you a free quotation. You can contact us through our, surprise, contact form on this site or you can email us at info@kroon-en-vanmaanen.nl.

This site offers you an ultra-short portion of our portfolio. On Flickr, you can have a look at our full body of work. Over 30.000 pictures, very conveniently ordered into albums:

Anat Kroon: https://www.flickr.com/photos/anat_kroon/albums

Erwin van Maanen: https://www.flickr.com/photos/maanen1963/albums

Erwin also has a ‘private’ project: A view from the room. Here he captures daily life on a daily basis during many many years: https://www.aviewfromtheroom.nl