Chatting with Richard Heersmink

In my street photography, I’ve no particular strategy. I usually just take my camera, walk around in the city and see what happens.

Can you tell us a little about yourself?

I am a photographer who specializes in cityscapes and street photography. I was born in the Netherlands in 1981, moved to Sydney in 2010, and returned to the Netherlands in 2014. Initially trained in biology, I switched to philosophy and received my PhD in 2014. When I went to University, I had a general interest in 20th century art such as Cubism, Surrealism, Futurism, and also developed an interest in installation art. I remember doing a course in “Philosophical Anthropology and Technology” given by Petran Kockelkoren. For this course, we watched parts of Ron Fricke’s documentary, Koyanisquatsi, and I remember it fascinated me deeply, particularly the time-lapses of cities.

 Richard Heersmink

How did you get interested in photography?

I’ve had an interest in photography since I was a teenager, partly due to the photos my older brother took of cities in North America such as Toronto and New York City. After graduating from University in 2009, I went backpacking in Southeast Asia. Before I left, I bought some books on travel photography and learned the basic rules of composition and lighting. I really enjoyed photographing Southeast Asia, but I had a Canon point-and-shoot, so my creative options were limited. In 2010, I moved to Sydney, bought a DSLR in 2013, and got hoooked to photography, often spending many hours a day taking photographs. Sydney is a very photogenic city and there is something for everybody. Skylines, beaches, tropical parks, interesting buildings, markets, events, etc.

IMG_7147 Richard Heersmink

Who are some of your favorite classic photographers, and how did they influence you?

This may sound odd, but I’m not really influenced by classic photographers. For my street photography, I ’ve studied the classics such as Henri Cartier-Bresson, Eugene Atget, Vivian Maier, Fan Ho, Joel Mereyowitz, and many others. And I’m sure they have influenced me in some way, but not consciously or explicitely. Regarding cityscapes, I’m not sure whether there are any classic photographers in the same way as there are for street photography. Most of my inspiration comes from other photographers I follow on Flickr and 500px.
Examples include, in no specific order: Black Station, Navid Baraty, Tom Ryaboi, Mike Orso, Martin Dietrich, Jon Siegel, Ronnie Yip, and many others.

In addition to photography, other forms of visual art inspire me as well, for example 20th century Futurism, a form of art engaged with themes such as movement, technology, and industrialized cities. I particularly like how Futurists try to capture movement, something I try to do in my photographs as well. Futurists are great artists, but I’ve no affinity with their social and political values.

I’m also hugely inspired by the documentaries of Fricke, who made Koyaanisqatsi and Samsara, amongst others. Fricke’s documentaries tell an exclusively visual narrative of the development of human cultures in a variety of settings, sometimes using time-lapse photography. His work is visually stunning and a great source of inspiration for me. You can press pauze at any moment in his documentaries and you’ll have a great image. Some interpret Fricke’s work as criticism on our technological culture, which it might well be, but I’m mainly interested in the way he visualizes human culture.

IMG_7717 Richard Heersmink

How do you educate yourself to take better photos?

When I bought my first DSLR, I looked at blogs, websites, YouTube videos, and also bought some books on photography. These were definitely helpful, but I don’t think you need much information to master the basic skills of photography. What you do need, however, is a lot of practice and perseverance. Sometimes I go out shooting just to practice a certain technique. For example, I’ll put on my 50 mm lens with a low aperture and take pictures of random objects just to practice depth of field. Also, I’ve never been a member of a photo club, but I’m planning to join one, so I can learn from other photography enthusiasts.

How do you come up with ideas for your projects?

In my street photography, I’ve no particular strategy. I usually just take my camera, walk around in the city and see what happens. Sometimes I see an interesting background that allows me to frame a subject or has an interesting symmetry. I then wait patiently until a subject walks through the framed background. But more often, my street photography is a random activity without preset goals.

With my cityscapes, I often have a location in mind. When you’ve lived in a city for a while, you know where the interesting vantage points are. It might take some time to get there, particularly when you have no car, but it’s all about the hunt. When I finally make it to a location, I usually look for frame-filling cityscapes/skylines. I try different positions and angles, look for foreground/background contrasts, and take photos at different times during the blue hour (sometimes a few minutes make a significant difference).

IMG_9937 Richard Heersmink

Do you take photos more for yourself or for others?

This is a tough question. I think very few amateur photographers begin with photography to take pictures for others (unless your goal is to become a professional of course). But as you progress as a photographer and put your pictures online and enter into competitions, I guess they’re meant for others as well, otherwise you wouldn’t have put them online. At this point, I take photos neither purely for myself nor purely for others. It’s a bit of both, I suppose.

What do you think makes a memorable photograph?

As you can see in my photos, I really like the blue hour, which is the time of day where two worlds meet: when natural light slowly fades away and artificial light slowly takes hold. I think this works particularly well for cityscapes, but also for street photography. The combination of different kinds of light make photos taken during the blue hour aesthetically very appealing. Photography, after all, is all about light and when you have two kinds if it, your creative options expand. Throw in some depth of field, an interesting subject, and you have all the ingredients for a great shot.

So aesthetics elements make a memorable photograph, but the memories you develop when taking photos are important too. For example, I remember I was shooting cityscapes of Sydney on the roof of a parking lot. A security guard came, he asked me what I was doing and told me I wasn’t allowed to be there. I explained him what I was doing and showed him the pictures I just took. He must have liked those pictures because the next thing he did was to help me to get on top of an elevator-shaft so that I had a better view on Sydney’s skyline. Such experiences make certain photos more memorable than others.

IMG_7644 Richard Heersmink

How important is an awesome website for your business?

I don’t have a business, so in that sense a website is not important for me. But I still think it’s important to disseminate my photo’s to a wider audience and for that reason a website is vital. For example, because the folks at Dodho found my website, they asked me for both a feature on my Street Photography and this interview. So a website is an essential marketing tool for any photographer, professional or otherwise.

How has social media played a role in your photography?

Social media has played a tremendously important role in my photography. The photographers are follow on Flickr and 500px are great sources of inspiration and the feedback I get on those sites is quite helpful. For instance, the amount of likes I get on photos is interesting and sometimes surprising. Occasionally, a photo I personally find really impressive, gets very few likes, while a photo I find aesthetically less appealing gets many likes. This helped me to understand the preferences of other photographers. It also show how subjective photography is. This sounds terribly cliché, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder. As a photographer I can see beauty in technique, rather than just composition. A particular photo may not be beautiful in a postcard-kind-of-way, but may have a brilliant use of depth of field or an interesting foreground/background contrast.

IMG_3827 Richard Heersmink

What are some tips you would give to yourself if you started photography all over again?

I wish I bought a DSLR earlier. For anyone who is reading this and is thinking about buying a DSLR or some other serious camera: do it. And if you cannot afford a new one, try to buy a second hand one. You cannot start soon enough with photography.

What is one question nobody has ever asked you that you wish they asked you?

Would you be interested in an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art? [Official Website]

IMG_2149 Richard Heersmink

 Richard Heersmink IMG_1811 Richard Heersmink  Richard Heersmink

IMG_1021

 Richard Heersmink

More Stories

Spooky Actions at a Distance

Spooky Actions at a Distance

Let me ask you a question. What is the hungriest you’ve ever been? I’m not talking about being hangry. I mean, have you ever been so hungry that perhaps you thought of selling your gear? Or maybe going to a pawn shop?
Lucie Nechanicka ; Nude photography

Lucie Nechanicka ; Nude photography

How to shoot at home and stay creative under bad conditions  I hope this article can serve as inspiration (not only) for all budget nude photographers who are lacking good quality equipment, a studio, lighting or any other 'necessary' things photographers can’t work without.
Oshichi by Michiko Chiyoda

Oshichi by Michiko Chiyoda

‘Oshichi’ is a name of the doll and ‘she’ played as a 16-year-old girl who was put to death by burning at the stake for committing arson.
https://www.dodho.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/bannerpr.jpg

We invite you to participate in the first edition of the Portrait Photography Awards. Our call is open to any artistic interpretation of portrait photography.

https://www.dodho.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/BAnImage.jpg

ImageRights provides intelligent image search and copyright enforcement services to photo agencies and professional photographers worldwide.

https://www.dodho.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/mono2022.jpg

The best 100 images along with the winning images published in the yearly book “Monochromatic – Best Photographers of 2022”

https://www.dodho.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/banner24.jpg

Call For Entries #24 | After 23 editions and more than 100 published photographers, our print edition has proven to be a simply effective promotional channel.

To The Edge by Tom Chambers

To The Edge by Tom Chambers

What mattered was not right before my eyes, but delicately hidden in glaciers, volcanic rock, and ice, all of which have endured over many millennia.
Chasing spirits in Old Mexico by Alec Jacobson

Chasing spirits in Old Mexico by Alec Jacobson

Four generations of his ancestors have distilled the smoky spirit from ripe maguey, or agave, toiling under the Oaxacan sun in southern Mexico to provide the fuel for festivals and family celebrations in the village of San Juan del Rio.
Reborn – A performing art by Toru Takagi

Reborn – A performing art by Toru Takagi

There are several spaces formed by concrete walls and staircases, which is characteristic of Ando architecture, in the park beside the art museum, which was designed after the Great Hanshin Awaji earthquake by Tadao Ando.
Circuses by Nicola Smaldore

Circuses by Nicola Smaldore

This photographic project documents the harsh reality of a few circuses that are still active .. In the era of technology; internet, virtual reality and social networks, most traditional circuses with wild animals are closing rapidly because of more restrictive laws and also as a result of public disinterest in this type of art.
Indigenous communities; Jaguar by Camila Berrio

Indigenous communities; Jaguar by Camila Berrio

Getting into the jungle takes several days; understanding the rhythm of life of the indigenous communities that live there requires much more. During the months that I spent with them, I had the opportunity to contemplate how life is being woven by the skillful hands of indigenous women who, in each backpack and in each seam, express their sadness, joy, hope and frustration.
Marco Salvadori ; The Street, the largest photo shoot in the world.

Marco Salvadori ; The Street, the largest photo shoot in the world.

If you choose the Street as your photo shoot, telling a story is not easy. Hundreds of stories continuously follow each other on every corner, in every alley, around the world, and all at the same time.
BKK Series by Riccardo Magherini

BKK Series by Riccardo Magherini

Sometimes that sense of estrangement that catches you when you are far away from home, in a new and unknown place, among people who do not speak your language and signs that you do not understand
Urban environments; Mea Shearim by Alexandra Buxbaum

Urban environments; Mea Shearim by Alexandra Buxbaum

Alexandra Buxbaum’s work has focused on documenting the human experience of various people and cultures living in disparate urban environments around the world.
Day of glory by Pierre Delaunay

Day of glory by Pierre Delaunay

Rugby is the most beautiful, the biggest, the noblest of sports. Cycling, boxing and sailing are approaching. They also demand that they go to the paroxysm of pain. But these disciplines are practiced solo.
A Sort of Desperation: Self-Portraits by Jady Bates

A Sort of Desperation: Self-Portraits by Jady Bates

I have been locked inside since March. It has been almost a year and a sort of desperation is seeping in and seeping out. It is tangled and multi-layered, but deep and real.
Arcadia; Idyllic and pastoral vision of the landscape by Jason DeMarte

Arcadia; Idyllic and pastoral vision of the landscape by Jason DeMarte

Arcadia is an idyllic and pastoral vision of the landscape as an unspoiled wilderness. This image of natural perfection first gained popularity in the18th century during the rise of Romanticism, where artists, poets, and musicians sought to transport us there.
Abstraction by Mihai Florea

Abstraction by Mihai Florea

For me photography is a spiritual act, an inner conviction and a desire to abstract essence beyond the material world. I'm interested in something which is built up from within, rather than just a superficial image.
Landscapes; Our smallness to the world by Eduardo Almeida

Landscapes; Our smallness to the world by Eduardo Almeida

Lost in the mountains latent echo, in its overwhelming vastness and on the cold peaks covered by ice and snow, where the spirit flows like water into the rocks and releases from the imposed prison...
Denali

Denali

There's no easy way to say goodbye to a friend, especially when they've supported you through your darkest times. Made possible by Patagonia . Generous support from: First Descents, Ruffwear and Snow Peak
La danza de los Diablos by Leandro Viana

La danza de los Diablos by Leandro Viana

Through the Diablada, a folk dance with Andean origin that represents in a simple way the fight between the evil and good, the work investigates the struggle of the Bolivian immigrants living in a foreigner country.
Victims of immigration; Commemoriazione by Sonia Fattori

Victims of immigration; Commemoriazione by Sonia Fattori

03 October - Day in remembrance of the victims of immigration The survivors of 3 October 2013 arrive in Lampedusa from all over Europe. They return to the place and day when their lives changed.

Featured Stories

The ordinary by Lotta Lemetti

The ordinary by Lotta Lemetti

For me creating still life compositions is a form of self-exploration. The creating process is an intriguing and almost devotional journey through my mind. Through predilections in aesthetic decisions such as subject matter, color and composition the work reflects who I am, where I come from and what I have experienced.
Photochemistry : Pears in the afternoon by Karoline Schneider

Photochemistry : Pears in the afternoon by Karoline Schneider

Originally a fine artist, I swapped my brushes for a camera and my colours for photochemistry. That’s how the ‘paintings’ that I never painted emerged.
Nostalgia by Mauricio Candela

Nostalgia by Mauricio Candela

A reflection on how fast the world moves today because of technology. And as a result, how younger generations have walked away from the simplest and most basic things in life.
Hidden Landscape by Stefan Schlumpf

Hidden Landscape by Stefan Schlumpf

Grey, melted snow and ice runs like silent tears. Crumbling, ancient ice crunches. Tired from the fight against the warmth, the glaciers take flight, fleeing from human ignorance.
My Hearth is An Animal by Katarzyna & Marcin Owczarek

My Hearth is An Animal by Katarzyna & Marcin Owczarek

Telling stories is a part of our fine art photography project based on surrealistic imagery. Our new series titled "My Hearth is An Animal" brings elaborate compositions combining human and animal elements.
The Nenets by Sara Bianchi

The Nenets by Sara Bianchi

The Nenets are an ethnic minority with fewer than 50.000 people dedicated to reindeer breeding. They live in Yamal peninsula, Siberia. Yamal in the language of the indigenous means "the end of the world"
Heartfelt Welcome by Argus Paul Estabrook

Heartfelt Welcome by Argus Paul Estabrook

On November 7, 2017, South Korean President Moon Jae-in extended a “heartfelt welcome” towards US President Donald Trump as he arrived in South Korea for a two-day summit to reaffirm the Korea-US alliance.
Acid Survivors by Jan Møller Hansen

Acid Survivors by Jan Møller Hansen

Acid attacks in Bangladesh are usually the result of land disputes, rejected marriage proposals, refusal or inability to pay dowry, resistance of being trafficked as sex worker or simply the desire for revenge.
June Korea – Still Lives: Eva

June Korea – Still Lives: Eva

I began photographing dolls in 2001 to listen to their voices, and see their secret lives once again as I did in my childhood. And after a few years of inviting them into a photographic world I staged, I started asking myself, “Why do I really photograph dolls?”
Sandro Giordano ; In Extremis (bodies with no regret)

Sandro Giordano ; In Extremis (bodies with no regret)

My photographs are “short stories” about a world that is falling-down. Each shot tells about worn-out characters who, in a sudden black-out of mind and body, crash with no attempt to save themselves.
Reflection by Lilyan Aloma

Reflection by Lilyan Aloma

I have spent the greater part of my life living in Manhattan, a city with a constantly changing visual plan that continues to inspire me to explore its physical complexity.
Gili Yaari : Stranded in Greece – Greece Refugee Crisis

Gili Yaari : Stranded in Greece – Greece Refugee Crisis

Greece has become a flashpoint for the migrant crisis in Europe over the past year. More than 1 million people illegally crossed into Europe in 2015 alone, with some 800,000 of them arriving via Greece.
The Girl Who Escaped and Other Stories by Joan Haseltine

The Girl Who Escaped and Other Stories by Joan Haseltine

Some years after losing my husband I decided to reinvent my life, so I purchased a small ranch in Montana and a camera, neither of which I knew how to operate. I began visiting small towns at night. A woman standing alone on the streets after dark with a camera naturally aroused suspicion and distrust in these old Montana towns.
The last tide by Marco Campi

The last tide by Marco Campi

Last November Venice experienced the second highest tide in recorded history. Looking at the top 10 tides, we see that five have occurred in the past 20 years and the frequency of exceptional tidal flooding above 110 cm have ramped up dramatically through the years.
Street’s people; Hanoi by Riccardo Magherini

Street’s people; Hanoi by Riccardo Magherini

Hanoi series was selected and published in our print edition 19. All the images of the series are quite portraits of street’s people, surrounded by their environment.
Spirit of the Village by Oliver Klink

Spirit of the Village by Oliver Klink

Un-numbered homes are the norm, as everybody knows each other.Streets wind in un-orderly fashion over streams of running water, sometimes fresh often as open sewage.

Trending Stories

Calcio Storico Fiorentino by Marco Ponzianelli

Calcio Storico Fiorentino by Marco Ponzianelli

The Historical Football was born in Florence in the 16th century and it is a combination of soccer, rugby and wrestling world that nowadays is played in historical costumes.
London Underground; Surreal Line by Yusuf Ozkizil

London Underground; Surreal Line by Yusuf Ozkizil

The Surreal Line came about during another project to document my trips on the London Underground. At the time, I'd only recently developed an interest in photography, and always had my camera with me, ready for opportunities to take photos during my tube commutes.
Lapland Journey by Carole Glauber

Lapland Journey by Carole Glauber

The Arctic Circle cuts across Lapland with a palette of frigid winter light where colors are subtle and make a statement. With seven months of winter, such an environment heightens an awareness of isolation, vulnerability and trust.
The Un-Cinderella Man by Kanishka Mukherji

The Un-Cinderella Man by Kanishka Mukherji

Dreams. What are dreams? Are they only, the sweet luxury of the rich man's incorrigible son? Who does not have to bother about earning his bread and butter, or are poor men allowed to have dreams too?
The human soul by Dominic Rouse

The human soul by Dominic Rouse

Dominic Rouse was born in England in 1959. His career began in photojournalism in 1977 and has progressed through various stages into the world of fine art.
Fictional narrative photography; Birth Undisturbed by Natalie Lennard

Fictional narrative photography; Birth Undisturbed by Natalie Lennard

Birth Undisturbed is a fictional narrative photography series by Natalie Lennard, that brings scenes of natural childbirth into cinematic fine-art tableaux.
Five minutes with Francisco Arteaga

Five minutes with Francisco Arteaga

I just focus on the subject, the situation and try to frame following technic and personal criteria.
Don’t look for success, look for happiness

Don’t look for success, look for happiness

The title of this article I have borrowed by Ferran Adriá. In 2015 I visited a groundbreaking and innovative exhibition in Madrid at the Fundación Telefónica, “Auditing the creative process” by the Catalan master chef.
Inspiration and photography; The creativity of Sonja Hesslow

Inspiration and photography; The creativity of Sonja Hesslow

My name is Sonja. I’m 25 years old and living in Gothenburg in Sweden. I bought my first camera 3,5 years ago and then I was stucked. I had not enought time to work all day long and then have photography as a hobby.
Childhood memories by Honger Li

Childhood memories by Honger Li

Childhood memories who never had! The memories are full of playmates chase between frolic dreams of Meng Meng.
Little houses of Tibetan Buddhist nuns and monks by Shinya Itahana

Little houses of Tibetan Buddhist nuns and monks by Shinya Itahana

This series was taken in the Larung Valley in Sichuan, China (in Tibetan area of Kham). Little houses expanse of Tibetan Buddhist nuns and monks seems like a quiet wave on a beautiful lake. It feel as if the teachings of Tibetan Buddhism seems like spreading.
Native by Justine Tjallinks

Native by Justine Tjallinks

The ever evolving and growing reach of media erases all borders and makes it possible to stay in tune with global occurrences.

Other Stories

stay in touch
Join our mailing list and we'll keep you up to date with all the latest stories, opportunities, calls and more.
We use Sendinblue as our marketing platform. By Clicking below to submit this form, you acknowledge that the information you provided will be transferred to Sendinblue for processing in accordance with their terms of use
We’d love to
Thank you for subscribing!
Submission
Dodho Magazine accepts submissions from emerging and professional photographers from around the world.
Their projects can be published among the best photographers and be viewed by the best professionals in the industry and thousands of photography enthusiasts. Dodho magazine reserves the right to accept or reject any submitted project. Due to the large number of presentations received daily and the need to treat them with the greatest respect and the time necessary for a correct interpretation our average response time is around 5/10 business days in the case of being accepted.
- Between 10/30 images of your best images, in case your project contains a greater number of images which are part of the same indivisible body of work will also be accepted. You must send the images in jpg format to 1200px and 72dpi and quality 9. (No borders or watermarks)
- A short biography along with your photograph. (It must be written in the third person)
- Title and full text of the project with a minimum length of 300 words. (Texts with lesser number of words will not be accepted)
This is the information you need to start preparing your project for its presentation
To send it, you must compress the folder in .ZIP format and use our Wetransfer channel specially dedicated to the reception of works. Links or projects in PDF format will not be accepted. All presentations are carefully reviewed based on their content and final quality of the project or portfolio. If your work is selected for publication in the online version, it will be communicated to you via email and subsequently it will be published.
Contact
How can we help? Got an idea or something you'd like share? Please use the adjacent form, or contact contact@dodho.com
Thank You. We will contact you as soon as possible.
Submission
Dodho Magazine accepts submissions from emerging and professional photographers from around the world.
Their projects can be published among the best photographers and be viewed by the best professionals in the industry and thousands of photography enthusiasts. Dodho magazine reserves the right to accept or reject any submitted project. Due to the large number of presentations received daily and the need to treat them with the greatest respect and the time necessary for a correct interpretation our average response time is around 5/10 business days in the case of being accepted. This is the information you need to start preparing your project for its presentation.
To send it, you must compress the folder in .ZIP format and use our Wetransfer channel specially dedicated to the reception of works. Links or projects in PDF format will not be accepted. All presentations are carefully reviewed based on their content and final quality of the project or portfolio. If your work is selected for publication in the online version, it will be communicated to you via email and subsequently it will be published.
Get in Touch
How can we help? Got an idea or something you'd like share? Please use the adjacent form, or contact contact@dodho.com
Thank You. We will contact you as soon as possible.