'I took this photo for ING Bank about 1.5 years ago. Besides simply being a beautiful image, it also symbolizes my transition from journalistic photojournalist to a photographer who mainly takes on commercial assignments.
For years, I did nothing but chase the news, mostly shooting analog in black and white. That was simply because newspapers could not print anything else. It was also a period that saw the rise of color, followed by the rise of the digital camera. There was a great deal of debate: could you photograph in color after working exclusively in black and white for so long? Later came the still-ongoing debate about potential digital manipulation.
I then discovered that I enjoyed other forms of photography just as much and found the results at least as satisfying. Combining the two, however, proved difficult.
For the past several years, I have worked mainly on assignments for advertising agencies. I made this photo for BVH, an agency specializing in recruitment communications. The assignment was to create an image that would entice talented economics students to attend an ING seminar in Bucharest, one of the emerging markets at the time. There, they would have to start a company—fictitiously—within three days.
There was no budget to send an entire crew to Eastern Europe, so a local fixer and I drove through Romania for three days. During the day, I took photos that brought together the themes of commerce and Eastern Europe. In the evenings, I sent the images to the art director, who provided feedback. On the final day, shortly before dusk, we came across this scene.
I had actually finished for the day, but I could not pass this up. I took the photo quickly, and we went home with some cheese and a piece of sausage. We decided to leave the homemade liquor alone. Unfortunately, the photo was never used because it did not fit the layout. To me, it is a documentary-style image created from a commercial perspective. It now covers an entire wall in the art director's home.'
Text: Marcel Molle
Name: Marcel Molle (1964)
Place of residence: Landsmeer
Info: www.marcelmolle.com
