Hans Neleman

INTERVIEW:
HansNeleman
By CharlieFishI PhotoByTejaLPatni
:
ans Ne lema nha sbe ena r at herf or t unat em an.TheDut c h - b o r n
!f
ea rne dhis f ir s tawar d,Kodak ' sYoungphot o g r a p h e r
I I photo gra ph er
of the Yea rAwardin
, 19 82whit ehe was s t it [in c ollege.Sinc et h e n ,
g0 - p l u s
he hasb ee nco Lte ctinmo
g r eawar dsinc
, ludinga s t agger ing
awards,title s,a nd ho no r sf r om t he USAaLone- inc luding
bein gn a m e da
HasseLb La
d
Master
Ph oto gr apher
{ henows hoot spr im ar iLy
with a d i g i t a t
H asselb ladHe
l. ha sworkedon m ajorc am paigns
s uc has Am e r i c a n
E xpre ss
an d Nlke .He ha ss hotf as hionedit or iat sc,r eat eds c u[ p t u r e s ,
direct edmusicvid eo s,pu blis hedbook sand
,
es t abLis hed
him s e Laf s b o t h
a comm erciaL
. t hiswouldbe eno u g ht o
an dfin eart phot ogr apherALL
givehim a rath erwe LL
de s er v ed,
giant - s iz ed
ego.y et ,t ik em ucho f i h e
work he ha sd on ein th e p as t ,NeLem an
pr ef er sdef y ingc onv e n t i o nS.o ,
whatdo esth e p ho tog rap her
who hasdoneit aLLdec idet o do f o r h i s n e x t
move?Wh y,he lpa LL
the ot herphot ogr apherins t he wor ldwho m a yn o t
havebee nas fo rtun atea s he was ,of c our s e.
C allhim th e "Patro nSain tof Phot ogr aphyif"y ouwit L,bui NeL e m ahna s
initiate da rath eru no rtho dox
and m agnanim ous
pr ac iic e.ForWI N - l n i t jat iveNe
, Le man
e ssen tiaLLy
f indsc r eat iv eindiv jduatar
s oundt h e g l o b e
{fif t eenco un triesso fa rl who hav es om et hingt o s ay v iaphot o g r a p hbyu t
mayno t h aveth e fa ncyg ear - or ar t s c hoolc r ed* t o do s o.W I Nt h e n
providesthe tooLs[andoftenthe know-how,throughits freeworkshops
a n d l e c t u r e stlo h e L pt u r n t h e s ef L e d g l i nsgh o o t e r si n t ot he ta L e npt o o l
of tomorrow.The result?A libraryof beautifut,internationaI
stock
i m a g e r yt a k e nf r o m t h e i n d i v i d u a l su'n i q u ep o i n to f v i e w.N e te m a nth e n
d i s t r i b u t etsh e s ei m a g e st h r o u g hG e t t yC
, o r b i sa n d ,e v e n tu a [ty,
th e WIN
w e b s i t eT. h ep r o f i ti s s h a r e dw i t h t h e p h o t o g r a p h e rsso, m eo f w h o co m e
f r o m a s f a r a w a ya s R u s s i aa n dC h i n as, o m ea s c l o s ea s ou r n e i g h b o r i n g
s i a t e s l. t i s - p u n i n t e n d e dh, o w e v ecr l i c h 6 - a w i n - w i ns i tu a ti o nfo r a l l .
Resource
had Lunchwith the ever-creative,
if not tangential.,
photogra,
p h e rt o f i n do u t m o r ea b o u t h e f u t u r eo f s t o c kp h o t o g r a p h y.
Howdid the ideafor WIN-lnitiative
comeabout?
l 'd b e e ns u b m i t t i n gm y i m a g e sf o r s t o c kf o r a L o n gt i m e ,bu t i t w a s
a l w a y sa n a f t e r t h o u g hats o p p o s e d
t o t h e d r i v i n gf o r c eb e h i n dm y sh o o ts
lhe more I traveLed,
the more I sawthe needfor picturesfrom alLthese
differenipLaces.
I m a d ea l o t o f c o n n e c t i o nas| , o n tgh e w a y .P e o p l eu s e dt o i n vi tem e to
I n d i a f, o r i n s t a n c et ,o t a I ka b o u tm y w o r k .Wh a te L s ec o u Ldl ta l k a b o u t?
We L lm
, a y b et h e y 'dw a n tt o k n o wa b o u ts t o c kp h o t o g r a ph y* rst a g o o d
39
ands eewher et h i s
s o u rceof income -sole t me sh ar em y k nowt edge
g o es,I t hough t.Tenye arsLa terI go bac kt o I ndiaand m y c onnec t io n
t e L lsme, "l kn owma nyph oto gr apherlfs .y ougiv em e a bunc hof Lig h t s
a n dsomecame ras,I'tl.b ringa t l t hes eguy sint ot he f r ay . "Andt hat ' s
s . no w
tribeof four hundr edphot oEr apherAnd
h o ww e rais eda sma LL
t h a tw e' regettin go ur mo torru nning,it s bec om ingk indof t ik ea f or c e
,
his r ea l i y
a n dgrowingsu pe rfast.Sowe'r eabLet o do bigt hings whic
to a t ot of phot ogr apher s .
a mazing,andemp owe ring
Tettus more aboutthe WIN-lnitiative.
lm age
I s t a rt edW INa t the en do f 2 00 7.W I Ns t andsf or W or t dwide
im agesf r om
N a vigat ion.
I felt tha t'swha t I wou[ dbe doing,c oLlec t ing
p h ot ographers,
an d na vig atintghe im agesar oundt he wor t d.I n doin g
Not m a n y
s o , lcouLdheL pp eo pLaend lcouLds t ar tandbuilds om et hing.
y o u ngphotog rap he wou
rs ldknowhowor wher et o go t o s ellt heir im a g es,andtra ditio nasto
I ckisn ' tt hat pLac e.
The y
of what peopleneeded.
W e st artedthe bu sin essmod elbec aus e
L igh ting,
andc am er asW
. ewouLdc om et o di f n e ededthe t echn o[o gy,
ee
wit h t he peopLw
f e r entcountrie sa ndwe wo uldLeav tehe equipm ent
t hems c out s .
W. e c aLt ed
met,our f rie nd sa ndou r con nec t ions
comeabout?
Howdid the first picturesfor WIN-lnitiative
Per dom o.
We
W h iteon a fa sh ionsho otin UruguayI, m et Fer nando
wit h him in c as ehe or anyof h i s
b e c amef riend san d | left e qu ipm ent
to ta kepicture sands endt hemt o m e. He bec am eo u r
f ri endswanted
t o s ignwit h us . He k newa guy ,a
s c outandthe first p ho tog rap her
foundan otdwareFernando
waiter,who'dassisteda photographer.
h o u seandto ld h im, 'Lo ok,I g ot s om et ight sanda c am er a.You' v e
r; d on' twe s hoots om epic t ur es ?"
Thatw a s
a s sist eda pho tog rap hewhy
h o w I got my f irst h un dre dpict ur esf or W lN.Theydid phenom enaL t y
th eysh owe dre aLpeople.Theyhada goodener gyanda
w e [[because
Th ewaiterendedup t ak inghiss har eof pr of it s
s e nseof auth en ticity.
a n d buyinga ca meraa nda tick ett o NewYor k .He s t iL[s hoot sf or us o n
and h is picture sse LL .
o c casion
operate?
HowdoesWIN-lnitiative
W.e
of s t oc kphot ogr aphy
a sho pin the big m aLL
W I Nis, esse ntia Lty,
Were growd i s tribut ethr o ug hth e big matl but we' r eour own bout ique.
store ,b utwe 'r enot inv it ingm anypeopt ey et I at t ho u g h
i n g our fLagship
m anypeopleare he arin ga bo utus t hr ought he I nt er netand blogs )
w e d on 'twa ntclie ntsto c om et o t he s hopand not f indwha t
b e cause
t h eywant.We re at[yh an dp ickour t a[ ent s .
: et t y Cor
bisand
, our
our pic t ur esG
,
W e havethreewa yso f d istrib ut ing
In my
o w nw ebsiteAt
. th e mo men tw e' r es t iL[buit dingour c oI Lec t ion,
we ar e t r y ingt o do f or Spr ingof ne x t
m i n d,bef orewe La un ch -which
.
y e ar-w e wan tto b uitdthe co[ec t ionup t o t went yt hous andim age sWe
haveweLloverten thousandnow.
in the future?
Doyou want to "take on" Corbisand Getty,essentiatty,
It's more Likewe'repartnerswith them.I havemy ownwork with Getty,
so I havea [onghistoryof stockbecauseI startedat the endof the 80s
jus t c om ein,t ak et he pic t u r e s
w i th ImageBan k.Backth en ,th ey wouLd
y o udidn' tuse ,a ndth eywo uldgiv ey ou haLft he m oneyt heym ade.T h e n
at [ of a s uddenth e
c hangedbec aus e
a ndeverything
t h e lnterne came
t
p h ot ographer
wa s no t so imp or t antany m or e;he was a c om m odit y .
different?
Howis WIN-lnitiative
WI N h a st h e o p p o s i t ea p p r o a c hw, h e r ew e c h e r i s ht h e p h o t o gr a p h e r s.
Wes u p p o r t h e m ,e n c o u r a gteh e m ,a n dw e e m b r a c et h e m ,a n dw e ca r e
i n dw h a tt h e ym a k e ,w h e r e a st h a t 'sn o t n e ce ssa r i ty
a b o u tt h e c o n t e n a
t h e s a m ew a yw i t h t h e l o i h e r ls t o c ka g e n c i e tsh a t a r e o u t t h e re .
l yh a tto
We l e t p e o p l ed o w h a tt h e yw a n ta n dd o n 'tt e l l t h e m n e c e s s a r i w
d o ; w e o n L yg u i d ei h e m .A n do n o u r w e b s i t ew e h a v ea s m a Lct o m m u n i ty
w h e r eo u r p h o t o g r a p h e rhsa v et h e i ro w n g a L t e r i easn dc a nc o m m u n i catewiih eachother.
get so big,so fast?
Howdid WIN-lnitiative
, v i t e dm e t o i h e U k r a i n ew
, h e r eh i s wi few a s a
F e r n a n d of o
, r i n s t a n c ei n
m o d e la n d k n e wa b u n c ho f L o c apl h o t o g r a p h e rass, s i s t a n t se,tc.I w e n t
t h e r ea n da [ [ o f a s u d d e nw e 'r em e e t i n gw i t h f i f t yp e o p I .ien t e r e ste idn
y . t h e ne n d e du p g oi n gto
w h a t l w a s d o i n gw i t h s t o c kp h o t o g r a p hWe
R u s s i ab e c a u s e
a g u yi n U k r a i n ek n e wa g u yi n R u s s i aT. h e" g u yi n R u ss i a h a p p e n e tdo b e t h e e d i t o ro f Z o o mM a g a z i n ew,h o i n t r o d u ce ud s
t o p h o t o g r a p h e trhs e r e ., Aw h i l el a t e r ,w e h a v ea s h o wi n R u s si afo r o u r
bestpicturesfrom WIN'sfirst year.And peoptewouLdask, Wow.How'd
y o ug e t s o b i gs o f a s t ?" 1d u n n o , "I d s a y , B u t i t 'sa f r e es h o w.C o m e
y o uc a ng i v eb a c k .We 'r eat a p o i n i
o n i n a n ds i g nu p l " l t 's n i c eb e c a u s e
n o w ,a f t e rt w o y e a r s t, h a i w e 'r ec l o s ee n o u g ht o b e i n gs e L f - s u ffi ci e n t
a n ds e [ f - f u n d e d .
What kind of talentare you findingacrossthe gtobe?
tatent,verydiverse.
What'sgoodis that we havean across-the-board
T h e r ea r e t w o t y p e so f p e o p Lien t e r e s t e idn WI N :e s t a b t i s h epdh o to g r a p h e r sl w h ow a n tt o e x p a n dt h e i r b u s i n e s isn t os t o c k ] a, n d p e o p tea t
g f t h e i rc a r e e rw h o w a n tt o g r o ww i t h u s . F o ri n sta n ce ,
the beginnino
who are fifteen-years
old,and oneguy
we havetwo photographers
w h o 'se i g h t e e na n d I i v e si n C h i L eH. e n e v e r w e nt o a r t s c h o o t;o n L ysh o t
p i c t u r e so f h i m s e l fi n h i s r o o m .Wej u s t s i g n e df i v ep e o p l ei n Ch i n a l.'l L
r se s i g nw i tl
b e g o i n gt h e r ef o r w o r k s o o n ;s o m eo f t h e p h o t o g r a p h e w
c o m eo v e ro n t h e s h o o tI 'm d o i n ga n d h e l pu s .We 'LbLr i n ga n o th e rca m e r a a [ o n ga n dw e 'L L e a v iet w i t h t h e m .T h ec a m e r ai s $ 2 , 0 0 0b, u t l e t fo u r
p e o p t es h a r ei t , f i v ep e o p l ee v e n a
, n dt h e p i c t u r e s w eg e t b a c kp a yi t o ff
i n n o t i m e .A n dt h e w o r k - b e c a u s ew e 'v es e l e c t e dp e o p Lcea r euf t[yi h e yh a v em o r et o o ts,b e tte r
t h a t t h e yd o i s g o i n gt o g e t b e t t e rb e c a u s e
t o o L si,n t h e i r h a n d s .
I t h a sa c t u a L Lbye e na n h u m b l i n ge x p e r i e n cteo w o r kw i t h s o m eo f th e se
photographers
as theyare so creative.
We go to remoteptacesand
. h ew o r k i s h u m b l i n g
f i n da m a z i n gt a l e n t sa n da r ej u s t b L o w na w a yT
b e c a u s ei t 'ss o m u c hb e t t e rt h a nw h a tv o ut h i n kv o ud o .
booksare out nowr 'rVr?hf
HansNeleman'sphotography
Chicas","Moko:Maori Tattoos" and "Silence."