Arnold Bartman

His motto is simple: keep looking. He began photographing as a child, sometime in the sixties of the previous century, and that curious gaze has stayed with him. For Arnold, a subject can be found almost anywhere: on the street, in nature, at school, or even in something as everyday as a Dutch rusk with chocolate sprinkles. It is about the context, the light and the way you look at something.

Arnold mainly photographs street photography, nature photography and school photography. His style is pure and precise in its finishing. Not too much fiddling with a photograph, but careful attention to contrast, density, light, dark and color, much like in the darkroom in earlier days. For him, an image has to remain honest, while also being technically and visually right.

For Arnold, the core of photography lies in capturing a moment that will never return. That became especially tangible after a family shoot in which one family member died in an accident a few days later. At such moments, a photograph gains a value that goes far beyond being a beautiful image. Inspired by photographers including Vivian Maier, Arnold remains critical of his own work: you are only as good as your last photograph. A photograph is unforgiving; you need to know what you want to communicate and do that as well as possible within the circumstances.