De Donkere Kamer

In deze aflevering van De Donkere Kamer praat ik met Rizon Parein: Antwerpse autodidact die startte als graffitikunstenaar met een liefde voor 3D-letterstyles, en die later campagnes maakte voor merken als Nike, Apple en Adidas. Maar zijn echte motor blijkt iets anders: community.
We duiken in het ontstaan van Us By Night (eerste editie in 2016): hoe een “braaf” conferentieformat werd omgebouwd tot een nachtelijk creativiteitsfestival waar talks, spel, club-vibes en ontmoetingen bewust door elkaar lopen. Rizon vertelt open over de rauwe realiteit achter festivals - fundraising, stress, partners die wegvallen - én over waarom integriteit voor hem niet onderhandelbaar is.
Ook fotografie komt uitgebreid aan bod: zijn honger naar échte mensen, zijn twijfel om zichzelf “fotograaf” te noemen, studio-ambities, en waarom hij AI fascinerend vindt maar het tegelijk uit zijn eigen beeldtaal wil houden. Dit gesprek gaat over maken, risico, identiteit en hoe je iets bouwt dat groter is dan jezelf zonder je ziel te verkopen.
Wil je gerichte feedback op jouw fotografie en een helder plan om verder te groeien? Boek dan een Review Sessie: een 1-op-1 feedbackmoment van 90 minuten waarin we jouw beelden, vragen en blokkades concreet aanpakken. Boek hier je sessie.

Na een maand in Patagonië kom ik terug met wat heimwee, veel helderheid en en zeker ook scherpe vragen. Over kernwaarden. Over hoe je je leven wil leiden. En over waarom je je fotopraktijk best bouwt rond dat leven niet omgekeerd. In deze aflevering neem ik je mee in mijn kijk op beweging versus stilstand, op zichtbaar zijn als fotograaf, en op de impact van AI op onze sector. AI is tegelijk een enorme kans én een reële bedreiging, zeker voor wie geen duidelijke identiteit, beleving en positionering heeft. We hebben het over relevant blijven, middelmatigheid vermijden, je eigen stem bewaken en durven kijken naar wat jou echt uniek maakt als beeldmaker.
Wil je hier dieper op ingaan? Op 12 februari om 15u organiseer ik een online masterclass met Lars Lindemann (ex-directeur fotografie bij GEO) over hoe je vandaag je projecten zichtbaar maakt, verkoopt en relevant blijft in een veranderende editorial wereld. Inclusief Q&A en ruimte voor persoonlijke vragen. Deelname €25, replay mogelijk. Inschrijven kan hier
En wil je graag close met me samenwerken? Misschien is mijn mentoring iets voor jou. Kijk hier even voor alle details.

Recorded in the West Village, this episode of the De Donkere Kamer Podcast features Aaron Stern, American artist, curator, and author based in New York City, working between the U.S. and Europe.
We talk about how New York shapes you as a creative, why Aaron moved from photographing to curating, and how presentation, scale, sequencing, framing, and installation, can completely change the meaning of an image.
Aaron shares his thoughts on photography in the age of endless images, the importance of problem-solving in creative work, and why he prefers collaborating with artists rather than positioning himself as the central author.
We also discuss books as “movies in printed form,” his role as Visuals Director at Family Style Magazine, and why curiosity, conversation, and staying connected to other artists are essential for a sustainable creative life.
A grounded conversation about images, process, generosity, and building meaning around photographs.
Here's Aaron's website.

Also looking for some grounding and inspiring? Join us June 2–6 in the French Alps for an intimate retreat with renowned Dutch photographer Awoiska van der Molen.
Not about creating a new project, but about defining your photographic core based on the work you’ve already made, so you leave with sharper clarity, stronger direction, and a deeper understanding of your own visual language.
Max 10 photographers · Portfolio check · Fully curated experience. More info here.

In this episode, I speak with Pauline Vermare, curator of Photography at the Brooklyn Museum in New York. Pauline is a photography historian, curator, and writer who previously worked at MoMA, the International Center of Photography (ICP), and as Curatorial Director at Magnum Photos. She shares how her path through these institutions shaped her vision, and what it means to work with photography inside a large encyclopedic museum like the Brooklyn Museum.
The conversation moves beyond career highlights into deeper territory: photography as a tool for representation, memory, conflict, and healing. Pauline reflects on her upbringing between France, Japan, and Hong Kong, the influence of her father, her long-standing connection to Japan, and her profound admiration for photographers such as Saul Leiter. She also speaks about museums as places of joy, agency, and responsibility, especially in times of political and social uncertainty.
This episode is an intimate and thoughtful exploration of lineage, curiosity, and a central question that runs through Pauline’s work: what can photography do; for individuals, for communities, and for the world at large?

Want to learn directly from international photographers? Each month, I host a live online masterclass with an international photographer who dives deep into a subject they have truly mastered. These sessions include space for personal questions and honest conversations about both the highs and lows of a photographic career. You can explore upcoming masterclasses and book your ticket ⁠here.⁠

In this episode I’m speaking to you from Patagonia, a place where you don’t only arrive physically, but also internally. A place that, quietly and steadily, is teaching me something very simple and very profound: to slow down. To soften. To loosen my grip.
I share my two words of the year: calmness and beauty. Not as concepts, but as lived experiences. As directions I’m consciously moving toward. And as qualities that are slowly reshaping how I work, how I create, how I relate, and how I run my business.
We’re living in a time where the photography industry is shifting fast. AI is changing how images are produced. Editorial markets are under pressure. Old structures are dissolving. That can feel unsettling. But here, in this landscape, I’m discovering that panic doesn’t create clarity. Forcing doesn’t create direction. And hustling harder is rarely the answer.
What does create space is calmness.
I talk about how slowing down is not the same as falling behind. How you can build, create and generate income from a calmer nervous system. How calmness is not passive, but rooted in self-trust. And how beauty, in nature, in work, in attention, can become a compass in times of transition.
This episode also connects to my upcoming online masterclass with Lars Lindemann, former Director of Photography at GEO Magazine and now working as a curator, mentor and strategist in the photo industry. He will share what is really happening inside the editorial world, why it is changing, and how photographers can reposition themselves not underneath editorial, but alongside it.
This masterclass is not only for editorial photographers. It’s for anyone who wants to understand the larger ecosystem of photography and explore new ways of positioning their work.
You can sign up here
I hope this episode invites you to slow down. To observe your own patterns. Maybe even to choose a word for your year. And to remember that sometimes you are only one small step away from a complete shift.