To freelance photographer Jules den Boer (1967) photography is a passion. In 1997 he signed up for a training 'analogue black & white photography'. Nowadays he's gone completely digital concerning processing and printing his photos. "The advantages of digital are too big to spend my time any longer in the darkroom to get a respectable print on paper. The printer I use produces high quality prints that can compete with the 'old fashioned' baryt prints. May be the prints are even better... " I always print my portraits in monochrome and my own sepia toning. To me that's the best. Not being distracted by colours. Other subjects lend themselves admirably in colour. Despite it all my first thought always is: "What will this look like in black and white?".
He likes to shoot his images of industrial and urban landscapes, natural sceneries and people. "The old steel factories of the 'Industrial culture route' (Ruhr area, Germany) and abandonded coal mines in Belgium are a favourite spot to roam for a day.
Besides that it is also fantastic to really take the time for a portrait. As straightforward as possible, nothing artificial." One thing doens't change and that's his approach to a subject. "I always try to catch the heart of the subject in a frame. In other words: only what's needed."
PUBLICATIONS
Black & White Photography: sept. 2006 website review
july 2008 Ilford Gold Awards: Portraits
aug. 2008 Ilford Gold Awards: Still life
sept. 2008 Ilford Gold Awards: Landscape BOVO-guide Tilburg 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 photos