Thursday, 2nd May 2019
6:06PM, Le Cafe, city center, Arnhem
Lunch meet with Zyanya Keizer!
Took the train at 9:54AM from Amsterdam Central Station to Arnhem (1hr5mins). Walked the city a little towards Zyanya’s atelier, about 20mins away. It was a nice quiet ‘village-y’ area where she was located. We met at 12PM and had tea in her work studio, which was shared with another designer friend of hers, Lisbeth Sterkenburg.
Zyanya was, to my surprise, not as quiet and reserved as I thought from that short meeting with her at her ‘Conatus 1’ preview show in Amsterdam. She is half Dutch and half Mexican – and I definitely could see her bubbly side. We connected easily and had a lot to talk about. We went to Caspar cafe nearby for lunch, and she treated me! She’s also having a presentation on the 23rd of May and asked if I would be interested to make photos of the looks before the presentation – of course!!
She told me that she used to intern with the amazing Iris van Herpen and that she’s a friend of hers. I’m of course amazed and admire that greatly. I’ve got a lot to learn from her. It would be a great opportunity to have Zyanya as a connection, and I am looking forward to photograph her creations.
Thursday, 23rd May 2019
7:58PM, Kunsthandel P. De Boer gallery, back garden
After the show of Zyanya Keizer’s ‘Conatus 1’ collection. My first backstage experience of a Dutch designer. Shot editorial-like images of her collection. Models were: Joline, Isabelle, Anne, Nele and Eva.
A really great afternoon and experience/opportunity to witness the behind-the-scenes process of Zyanya’s show. I arrived at 2PM at the gallery along the Herengracht. It was a historical house converted into a gallery, with beautiful interiors. I’ve always wanted to shoot in a historic European house from the early 18th century and this is a dream come through.
The light today was great (a clear and warm sunny day) but by the time I started shooting at about 3:30PM, the sun rays were no longer shining into the large rooms of this gallery-house, but that was totally fine. Started first with the full suit look with the covered headpiece that looks otherworldly, and got 2 images that I like. However, the most inspiring of the 5 girls was Nele Visschers. We shot for I think 30mins, and she was really inspiring. She wasn’t afraid to express herself, eg. climbing on the table, moving on the tabletop with her body. It is quite rare to find that in a model. Got the most number of images that I like with her!
Zyanya’s pieces work really well in black and white because of the textures in them. I definitely feel that it gave my work that ‘push’ it needed. Really happy and fortunate to be able to know and work with Zyanya.
