Well, that's me.. :-)
I was born in France in 1967 under the name of Jan Dewaegheneire, but I have the Belgian nationality. The reasons I work under an alias are various... First of all, I have no bloodties with my given family-name. Secondly, it seems a hard to write and to pronounce name for many people, as too many characters of our alphabet figure in it :-) And thirdly, my alias is an ode with much affection to the two people I love the most in this universe.
I started photography around the age of 11, when I nicked my dad's camera. It was a reflexcamera, I think it was a Yashica, but I never read any book or manual about photography at that time. The main problem then was that digital camera's were nonexistent, and we were living at that time in Africa. Because of that the films I shot were only developed once a year when we travelled back to Belgium during the summer holidays, and so it took many months for me before seeing what the results were. Gradually I learned about exposure and diafragm and other life-threatening technical stuff, and step by step I got more and more control over the way I wanted a photograph to look after processing.
In the summer of 2007 I bought my first digital reflex-camera, a Nikon D200, having tried to stop the progress of technological innovations for years as all old and stubborn men tend to do :-) Being a Nikon-addict since I bought my first of many at the age of 16, I tend to stick with this brand. Unfortunately Nikon has marketed later on newer models, like the D300 and the D700, and I couldn't withstand the temptation for long :-) Often I also revert to my old 'calssic' Nikon with black and white film, but that takes a bit more work to process.. The characterstics of Nikon I love are the robustness, the quality of the materials used, the perfection of the Nikkor-lenses, the good feeling a Nikon gives me when holding it (due to it's weight and ergonomics), and the absolute reliability the cameras give me under all circumstances. I have been shooting in temperatures over 40°C in Africa, and under -25°C high up in Canada, but the material just went on and on... As having been in the army for many years in a distant past, I like to compare Nikon with the Kalshnikov under firearms. They rarely jam, and always do what is expected of them... Fortunately Nikon is a lot more peaceminded! And I'm glad for that...
At this moment I am a kind of 'retired', having a long career as an airline pilot behind me. I flew the big ones all over the world, but still, I do not miss the stress and hassle and pressure this job daily gave me. Also the materialism and the superficiality of my former life meant a great obstacle for me to be able to live my life as a loving and happy human being. My 'retirement home' is at this moment located in Brussels, where I live in a loft big enough to accomodate my studio.
Having lived and travelled all over the world since my childhood, it is not surprising I still love to explore this world in every facet. Next to travelling, photography is my main passion, with my deceased example and hero Helmut Newton as my main inspiration. I tend to paint from time to time, and I would like to experiment with wood-sculpture in the future. My book-collection is also a reason for personal pride, although I have neglected that lately :-( In the past I spent some time and money on old books from past centuries, specialising in controversial biblical works, the Templars, alchemy, and aeronautics. But now this time is taken by my biggest passion: photography!
My main goal of every image I take of a model is to worship the beauty that emanates from every female human creature on this planet. The most amazing thing about it is that they are often not aware it themselves... And with that we may consider ourselves, poor males, as lucky men for if they grasped it fully, they would never ever want to socialize with us anymore! :-) Unfortunately photographs mainly depict the physical aspects of beings, but still I hope every picture I take of a woman is like a small window that opens up a little part of the female psyche, for us to observe and to admire...
My main rule in life is: enjoy! Enjoy to the max, enjoy to the fullest... In harmony with your heart, in harmony with your surroundings, in harmony with the world!
Enjoy!
Love, Yann.
I was born in France in 1967 under the name of Jan Dewaegheneire, but I have the Belgian nationality. The reasons I work under an alias are various... First of all, I have no bloodties with my given family-
I started photography around the age of 11, when I nicked my dad's camera. It was a reflexcamera, I think it was a Yashica, but I never read any book or manual about photography at that time. The main problem then was that digital camera's were nonexistent, and we were living at that time in Africa. Because of that the films I shot were only developed once a year when we travelled back to Belgium during the summer holidays, and so it took many months for me before seeing what the results were. Gradually I learned about exposure and diafragm and other life-
In the summer of 2007 I bought my first digital reflex-
At this moment I am a kind of 'retired', having a long career as an airline pilot behind me. I flew the big ones all over the world, but still, I do not miss the stress and hassle and pressure this job daily gave me. Also the materialism and the superficiality of my former life meant a great obstacle for me to be able to live my life as a loving and happy human being. My 'retirement home' is at this moment located in Brussels, where I live in a loft big enough to accomodate my studio.
Having lived and travelled all over the world since my childhood, it is not surprising I still love to explore this world in every facet. Next to travelling, photography is my main passion, with my deceased example and hero Helmut Newton as my main inspiration. I tend to paint from time to time, and I would like to experiment with wood-
My main goal of every image I take of a model is to worship the beauty that emanates from every female human creature on this planet. The most amazing thing about it is that they are often not aware it themselves... And with that we may consider ourselves, poor males, as lucky men for if they grasped it fully, they would never ever want to socialize with us anymore! :-
My main rule in life is: enjoy! Enjoy to the max, enjoy to the fullest... In harmony with your heart, in harmony with your surroundings, in harmony with the world!
Enjoy!
Love, Yann.
