More about Hennie Schaper

 

Photograph by Lu Schaper
(Regent's Park London)

My life in a few lines

Born in Enschede (NL), got a PhD in Chemistry at the Delft University of Technology, joined a large multinational company in 1984 and have worked for them in management positions in the Netherlands, Singapore and France. In 1999 I met my wife, a professional artist from Shanghai, while we were both working and living in Singapore. We got married in 2000. In 2012 I opted for early retirement, we moved to Kampen and opened our own art gallery there (Galerie LuS), which is still going strong. Main hobbies: art, music, sudoku and chess.


My development in photography
I had always been an occasional holiday snapshooter and nothing else. Around 2006, my wife started to apply her artistic talents (she majored from the finest Shanghai and Beijing art universities) to photography and I was intrigued to see what she could do with a camera. I followed suit, typically using cameras she no longer used, and found my own way into artistic photography. I never received any formal training but picked up things along the way, in particular thanks to the Flickr discussion groups Life thru a Lenz and Learn composition by example. As a result, my work has now been exhibited twice, appeared in Flickr Explore over seventy five times, was selected as illustration for numerous internet news sites, and has featured in an exhibition at the New York Museum for Architecture. In our gallery, I have a separate corner to display and sell my photographs.


My photography themes
Several themes recur in my photography, first and foremost abstractions of various types (the reason why I chose it as the theme for this web site). I also find inspiration in visiting great cities like Shanghai, Paris and London, and in the changes of the seasons. Almost always my shots are chance encounters, I rarely plan a shoot. Perhaps what sets me apart from many other photographers is a special "eye for the occasion". As one of my dearest Flickr friends once put it: "Hennie has the gift of a photographer's eye. His photographs are often surprising and always fascinating. I often find myself wondering how he saw what he captured with the camera. In addition to his eye, Hennie is a great technician. His sense of composition, color (or monochrome), and texture are enviable. It's always a pleasure to view his work and I'm fortunate to count him among my Flickr friends."

 

Photograph by Lu Schaper
(Montparnasse Paris)