Interview: Hans Kemp
Asia-based Dutch photographer; founder of Visionary World

Hans Kemp

By Nana Chen - I met with photographer Hans Kemp in Taipei this year. He had been in town on assignment and agreed to meet. For once, food at the table became the side dish of the conversation as we had an intense discussion about photography. Self-taught, Hans has been taking photographs for over 20 years, focusing on travel photography in Asia. Based in Ho Chi Min City, Hans has collected some breathtaking images of his adopted home.

After turning down a book offer with a major photo and art publisher, Kemp founded Visionary World, the publishing house he now runs in Hong Kong. Throughout dinner, as I listened to Hans, I kept thinking how rare it was for someone like him not only to share his knowledge so readily, but to be open about his future projects, ideas while helping me brainstorm my own. The four hours went by too quickly, and had we found an open café, I’m sure we would have continued the discussion all night.

Before parting, Hans left me with a postcard featuring a single image from Ardent Eye, the title of his upcoming photography book. It is a collection of images from the past 20 years in and around Asia. A personalized, limited special edition will be available soon. For more information and to order, visit: www.visionary-world.com/ardent-eye/. Also visit Hans’ personal website at: www.hanskemp.com. I just love what life brings sometimes.

Nana: To start with, I’d like to thank you for agreeing to this interview. I’m honored that you’ve accepted the invitation. I’ve gone through your website countless times and each time there’s something different, equally breathtaking. Could you please tell me when you started taking pictures? Was there a moment when you said, “I want to be a photographer”? Or even a reason why you chose still photography over motion pictures?

Hans: I started taking photographs when I was about 13 years old. I used a camera my father had given me—a very simple rangefinder type camera called Adox. My moment with that camera came when I dropped it on the floor of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. It was during Mass and it made quite a sound but didn’t break. I can’t really recall the photos I took with it.

Later, after saving enough money from my newspaper round, I bought my first camera: a Nikon FE. I had that camera for a long time. Other cameras I owned were the Nikons F3, F4, F100; a Leica M5 and Konica Hexar (both stolen); a Mamiya 645, and a Noblex 120 panorama camera.

Last year I made the switch to digital. That was not an easy change. Not because of the technical aspects but actually what was inside my head. I’d always been a Nikon man but for digital I only considered Canon. I had to order the whole new system and when it finally came, the night before I was going to pick it up I felt restless, like I was betraying an old love, or going to betray an old love.

But then, when I saw the body appearing out of the box and felt how its curves sat perfectly and effortlessly in my hand, that feeling vanished. To me, it is another tool. I do like film, like looking at strips of positives returned from the lab. Technically, shooting digital is easier. But that is OK. I have learned the skills from shooting film and really what counts is the eye.

There was not really a moment I consciously made the decision to become a photographer. I always felt comfortable with the camera, using it in my interaction with people. And I loved traveling. I am a nomad at heart. Photography fits that feeling of restlessness for me, enables me to be a nomad, choose my projects, my destinations.
I like looking at photos, at books, it makes me restless, it makes me want to go out and make something beautiful. But I never really studied a certain photographer, a typical style. The common factor in all the works of photographers I like is people. I like photographing people, getting so close that there is no way they don’t know that they are being photographed and yet they don’t pay attention to you. Those are the greatest images.

One of my dreams is actually being a film director. Not of documentaries but of stories. No action but stories well told, originating from my own mind. Like a Fellini movie or one of my all time favorite movies Death in Venice, directed by Visconti. Now I try to tell stories with my still camera, you are more independent, you can do it all by yourself. But who knows, maybe I’ll make that movie one day.

On the dragon's back, by Hans Kemp

Nana: Could you please tell us if you’ve received any formal training in photography? Many photographers are self-taught. In your opinion, what are the advantages/disadvantages of this? Please tell us what you consider the best approach in learning to shoot. Or is having “the eye” something one is born with which can’t be taught?

Hans: I did some courses: darkroom techniques, composition, studio, when I was at high school, but nothing more. Nothing very complicated. I don’t think self-taught is the right word. Your surroundings teach you, your subjects teach you, other images teach you. I don’t have to do much for that. I have to look, I have to have an open mind, a passionate mind, seeing possibilities. An ardent eye. I love that: Ardent Eye. I used that for my latest book title. I got it from a quote from Kierkegaard, “If I were to wish for anything I shouldn’t wish for wealth or power but for the passionate sense of the potential. For the eye, which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible. Pleasure disappoints, possibility never.”

When I read that the first time I couldn’t help but say out loud, “This man knows what he is talking about. Right on! These could have been my words!’ All I could hope for is to have that passionate sense for the potential. That is what fires me, that is “the Eye”. It is an attitude, something inside. Technically you can learn to take great images but you still have to “see” them first. You cannot approach a situation rationally and deduct the best picture possible. At least I cannot. I am an emotional man, I may not use many words to say that but my photos should show, or else I have failed.

Nana: Anybody with the means can get a decent camera these days and call themselves a photographer. In your opinion, what separates an amateur from a professional and at what point did you consider yourself a professional? Please tell us how or when your first professional break came.

Hans: It’s not what you call yourself, those are just words. I am a photographer because I take photos? That is correct for amateurs and professionals alike. Professional means being able to make a living from it. That requires a whole different set of skills. Skills I have learned (a bit) and am still learning like marketing, negotiating, etc. I admire the photographers who can really only take photos and not have to bother anymore with the selling. It could mean they work for a paper or an organization. That is not what I mean. I couldn’t do that. I like the free in freelance. It could also mean they are independently wealthy and take photos because it gives them satisfaction. I am not that either so I have to sell my work. I am getting better at it.

I also admire the photographers who through relentlessly working hard have reached a stage where they don’t have to try and sell their work anymore. It sells. I made a somewhat different turn and am getting into book publishing. It so happened because I wished to have control over my work—the way it should look—besides I couldn’t see a reason why someone else should get paid more for the fruits of my work than I would get.

I hope to continue on this path: work on my own book projects (several are in various stages of completion) and maybe publish others' work as well. I like the whole process of working together with writers, designers, etc. In an ideal world though I would spend the majority of my time taking photographs, let other people do the hard work (working for me–the publisher). I am going in the right direction so have nothing to complain about.

Nana: Could you please share what copyright issues you struggle with as a photographer? In working with such widely distributed images, how are you able to protect your work in this regard?

Hans: In Vietnam, where I live, I have seen my images being reproduced as oil paintings, as lacquerware and embroidery. I feel flattered. People look at photos and don’t understand the amount of work that went into getting the image. Dutch nature photographer Frans Lanting was asked about a particular image and how long it took him to make. The expected answer would have been along the lines of a week to build this platform and then another week to wait for the animal, His answer was: fifteen years.
That is the real work: the sum of all photos taken, opportunities missed, mistakes made, etc. It would be nice if people realized this rather than treating images as another commodity.
In cases where I have spotted my photos being reproduced without my permission I try to get the infringer to pay. But I cannot be on the constant lookout for that. I do ask friends to tell me if they have seen my images somewhere.