by Yvette Depaepe
Published the 12^th of August 2024

For at least 30 years, Jean Vandijck  has been involved in photo clubs, where he was chairman and driving force for many years. After his retirement, his hobby "photography" gained momentum. About his photographic vision, he quotes: 'I'm taking pictures for myself and for the satisfaction it gives me. I'm not focused on competitions and on what the viewer thinks of my works. No, I really don't peddle my photos, but do it purely for the joy making them, both the shooting and the post-processing. If I post my photos on 1x, it is mainly to get substantive reactions (but that is rare), and certainly to see who the photographer is behind the reaction. You can learn something from that.'
Join me for a trip through Jean's portfolio and enjoy the personality hidden behind his images.

'northern lights on Senja'

Dear Jean, first I would like to thank you so much for taking the time to answer this questionnaire! To begin, please introduce yourself shortly and tell us more about you, your hobbies or other projects you are involved in!
My name is Jean Vandijck and I recently turned 70. My roots are in Belgian Limburg, where I still live with my wife near our 2 children and 5 grandchildren.
For most of my professional career, I ran my own company specialising in industrial electrical components. Especially in the first 10 or so years of this job, there was little room for hobby.
In the later period of my career, we made nice big trips to, for example, India, Vietnam, USA, Mexico, Indonesia, South Africa and so on, which also often resulted in beautiful photos.
For at least 30 years, I have been involved in photo clubs, where I was chairman and driving force for many years. After my retirement, my hobby "photography" gained momentum.

'Aditya is proud of his white beard'

When and how did you start your photographic journey?
My photographic journey started back in the late 1960s with the purchase of a reflex camera Yashica, still with film rolls, of course. When this brand was later taken over by Contax, I had my first camera in my hands with its own light meter. Now imagine this.
Later, I even bought a Mamiya camera with large film rolls for 6x7cm shots.
Very early in my photography career, I was "home photographer" of a local dance group "Imago Tijl" and later also of the "EMJ, music festival for youth" in our municipality.
Along with my travels, which yielded a lot of photographic material, I also had quite a job at the local pursuits if you can imagine that back then all the photos had to be developed analogue in a darkroom. Later, my darkroom then became a veritable colour lab. Is was busy but also fun times those were.

'Kirkja'

For many of us photography is either a hobby or a way of life. How would you define your relationship with photography?
My hobby "photography" is rather a common thread throughout my life. It had ups and downs but has always remained a passion, even to this day. My relationship with photography is almost a second marriage.

'Waves in Palau de les Arts'

What would be the most important experience so far that has influenced your steps in photography?
When I look back at what influenced me most to come to this hobby, it is the photography clubs I joined. You learn about just about every aspect of photography there and thus found your own way into where I have come to now. 

'The Bridge'

You have your own style but your work is very diversified.  I see mainly architecture photography, landscape photography, and even documentary photography. Can you explain why this is?
When I look at other photographers, I sometimes, not always, see their own distinctive style. Similarly, I wanted to develop my "own style" but that is something that comes naturally, especially through your specific interests and workflow. I can't judge from myself whether I have developed my own style, but I don't lose sleep over it either. My photographic works are very diverse and that is also because my interests are very diverse.
For instance, I really enjoy photographing people in countries where they like to have it (e.g. India), my common thread is of course landscape photography because I love being in nature, but especially in recent years I have come to love architectural photography. So you see, you follow your interests unconstrained

'I'm watching you'

What is more important to you, the mood,/story behind your images or the technical perfection?
What is important to me in the photo? By nature, I am a techie, so I must admit that I do work towards technical perfection in my photos. I try to strive for this both in shooting and in finishing. Atmosphere is of course also very important, especially playing with light and looking for circumstances where the light is at its best. I think every photographer knows that photography is an equivalent of "playing with light".
With the "story" behind the photo, I am not much concerned. I see many photos that tell a story. Sometimes I really have to look for that and it doesn't always appeal to me either. I don't want to detract from photography where a story is really being told. That is definitely an art.

'Steel and glass'

What generally is your relationship to your subject matter beyond being an observer?
My relationship to the subject is different in the various disciplines. In landscape photography, I often get sucked into the landscape, the wonder sometimes takes over. The grandeur of nature and the insignificance of us as "observers" does influence how I want to capture it.
But when I capture my annual music festival on film, for instance, it is not entirely without feelings either. I am then, looking through the viewfinder" overwhelmed by the beauty of the music brought by musicians I then hear to capture on film. In fact, sometimes I forget to press the shutter button because the event takes a bit of a hold of me.
In contrast, the relationship with the subject in architectural photography is completely different. There, I strive to find the right composition and technical perfection. I often have at the back of my mind already what I am going to do with that photo later in Lightroom.

'Stokksnes'

Do you prepare carefully the locations where you are intending to photograph?
Unlike before, my photo moments are well prepared. As it was in the early stages of my photography career, namely just shooting at hoc, I can no longer do that. On casual outings, I will still rarely take my camera out of the bag and have to admit that I sometimes reach for my smartphone where I am then amazed that it also takes good pictures.
But the real photo trips (one-day or multi-days) are prepared. The locations I go to, often with photo friends, are carefully mapped out.
For instance, I am already preparing an architectural photography trip to New York. All desired photo locations are mapped out, with a sample photo, the location (GPS coordinates) and the nearby underground station to get there easily.
Perhaps this also has to do with my old age not having to travel too many kilometres.

'Ceiling with triangle'

Describe your overall photographic vision.
My photographic vision holds that you should take pictures for yourself. I see and hear in photography clubs many photographers who are focused on competitions and what the viewer thinks of their works. Sometimes they don't even tolerate (constructive) criticism of their works. No, I really don't peddle my photos, but do it purely for the satisfaction I have in making them, both the shooting and post-processing.
If I post my photos on 1x, it is mainly to get substantive reactions (but that is rare), and certainly to see who the photographer is behind the reaction. You can learn something from that.

'Blue window'

Can you please tell us something more about your workflow from the idea to the final product?
As I mentioned earlier, my modus operandi no longer consists of going out with a camera unprepared. Preparation has indeed become an important part of this hobby.  Nowadays, it has become easier for the photographer because of the existence of apps like Google Maps and Photopills, but also looking up in google provides interesting locations.
On location, it is always a bit of a search for the right point of view, everything has to be just about right: composition, light, do I have a good feeling about it.....
Even though I always use my histogram, I regularly bracketing shots so that I don't regret later that I just didn't get the right exposure.  I also don't delete photos on the road and take them all home. It's later on my PC that I delete the bad shots.
The fun of photographing is not over then because at home on PC a pleasant chapter of the hobby also begins. I load all photos into Lightroom Classic.
After the first round of cleaning up, I mark the photos that are provisionally eligible for editing.
Again, this is done almost entirely in Lightroom with the occasional small switch to Photoshop.
If they are finally approved by me, I export the photos to jpg files in a few different resolutions. That then becomes my portfolio.

'Jokulsarlon'

Where do you look to find inspiration and what inspires you the most?
Lately, I have been looking for my inspiration mainly from other photographers. A photography website like 1x is a source of inspiration for this. Location-scout is another site I visit several times to get ideas.
Looking at other works repeatedly gives me reason to look for similar locations.

'Hemisferic'

Many are of the opinion that the gear is not very important when the passion for photography is strong. However, can you please share with us what gear you use (camera, lenses, lighting, tripod, etc.)?
We regularly hear it pronounced : it is not the camera but the little man behind it that takes the picture.
There is, of course, a lot of truth in that. Yet....  Equipment is also important.
I would be lying if I didn't value equipment. As a born techie, I also always look at specifications of cameras and accessories before buying them.
Traditionally, I am a Nikon user and that is the logical consequence of buying lenses over the years. You can hardly switch to another brand then.
Currently, I use Nikon Z8 and Z6II bodies with an assortment of Z lenses such as 24-70mm, 70-200mm, 14-30mm, 50mm, 14mm as well as lenses via adapter 60-600mm and 300mm.
A solid Manfrotto tripod and flash from Nikon are of course also part of the equipment.

'Morning Ritual'

What would be your favourite photo? Please tell us the story behind it.
It is very difficult to choose my favourite photo because there are several I feel good about and have fond memories of. However, I would like to highlight this photo because for me everything was right here. This photo dates from 9 years ago but I still remember the moment very well.
During one of our travels in India, we happened to walk into a dusty dark shed where ginger was tied into bags.
The smell was unbearable and you couldn't see your hand in front of your face because of the dust. So after half a minute I wanted to walk out until I suddenly noticed a man in a corner at the back of the shed, beautifully lit by a hole in the roof. The wall behind him was in such beautiful harmony that I immediately knew this was going to be a good photo, and so it was.

'Sewing bags'

Who are your favourite photographers or mentors whose works have influenced you and your photography?
I have quite a few photography friends and much more than world photographers, they have influenced my photography journey.
With one of my good friends Lou Urlings (urlings), I had the opportunity to go on many beautiful trips and so he was always the inspiration, especially when photographing people and looking for the beautiful light.
In landscape photography, I was regularly inspired by another friend Wim Denijs (wimndenijs) who gave me a lot of inspiration in landscape photography.  With Maurits de Groen (maurits), I regularly went with him on architecture hunts, so that was the click for me to try out this discipline.
Of course, there are a whole series of photographers I do follow on 1x and who give me the necessary inspiration, but it is still my photographer friends who subconsciously ensured that I am where I am today in photography.

'shepherd in red'

Now, since we have almost reached the end of this interview, I would kindly ask you to share with us your plans or photographic projects you would like to be involved in.
Of course, I still have plans to pursue this hobby. Several photography trips are planned, such as New York (architecture), The Lofoten (landscape) and Iceland (landscape). One-day trips to cities such as Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Utrecht are also on the cards.

'Valencia'

Is there anything else you wish to add  and what do you think about 1X as a home base for your work?
To conclude, I would also like to put 1x.com in the flowers because, after all, this is also a source of inspiration for me with a never-ending stream of beautiful photos.
 

'Rainbow'

'De Overspanning'

'path to freedom'

'Farmer'

Greetings, Jean Vandijck 
a passionate hobby photographer.