Explore every episode of the podcast De Donkere Kamer (English)
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| #59 - Why that restlessness during your holiday has nothing to do with summer | 20 Aug 2026 | 00:35:09 | |
Do you feel restless the moment you go on holiday, while your business simply quiets down? In this solo episode, Kaat walks you through the difference between taking rest and actually experiencing it, and explains why a summer income gap is rarely a coincidence. She shares how she finds rest herself, not by sitting still, but by staying in motion, why the classic work-life balance doesn't work for her, and which questions you can ask yourself to figure out what your ideal holiday actually looks like. From there, she dives into revenue planning: how to calculate in advance what buffer you need for your holiday weeks, how to make your photography practice scalable, and why entrepreneurship runs in seasons. She closes with a personal message about belief: what you believe about yourself and your craft eventually becomes your reality. An episode for every photographer who wants more rest this summer, and no more surprise income gaps next year. What you'll learn in this episode
The Daily Frame – Kaat's summer podcast series, 28 days with 21 short episodes, made to keep photographers moving and creative throughout the summer. €10. Link in the show notes. Our podcast partner! CameranuFor honest advice on lenses and cameras you can rely on during a client shoot. Go to cameranu.be and use code DDK10 for 10% off. Ready to work on your photography or your business? At donkerekamer.com you'll find everything about mentoring, masterclasses and workshops.
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| #58 - From Magnum Photos to the Banlieue: William Keo on building bridges through photography | 18 Aug 2026 | 00:50:36 | |
Recorded live at Les Rencontres d'Arles, this episode brings you into conversation with World Press Photo winner William Keo, a French photographer born into a family of Cambodian refugees. His work has taken him from NGO assignments in a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon and the Syrian refugee crisis, to conflict zones in Iraq, Syria, Ukraine and Israel/Palestine, and eventually into Magnum Photos, where he was represented from 2021 to 2024. William talks openly about being an introvert in an industry that rewards extroversion, about the years he spent testing his own limits as a young photojournalist, and about the project closest to his heart: Extra Muros, a deeply personal document of the French banlieue where he grew up. For this project, he received this year's World Press Photo Award. Together, Kaat and William talk about resilience, why photographers are terrible at editing their own work, why he believes a photo book outlasts everything else, and what it takes to build bridges between your images and the people who will never walk into a gallery. What you'll learn in this episode
About the guest William Keo (b. 1996, Paris) is a French photographer born into a family of Cambodian refugees. His work explores migration, social exclusion and intercommunity intolerance. He began his career working for NGOs, covering the Syrian refugee crisis, the conflict in Darfur, migration in Europe and the Rohingya humanitarian crisis, before turning to the cycles of violence following the fall of ISIS in Iraq and Syria, and international news including the war in Ukraine and the conflict in Israel and Palestine. He was represented by Magnum Photos from 2021 to 2024. His work has been published in The New York Times, National Geographic, Le Monde, Libération, Vogue and New York Magazine. For his ongoing personal project Extra Muros, documenting the lives of marginalised descendants of post-colonial immigrants in the French banlieue, he received a World Press Photo Award this year.
MasterclassesWant more input like this? Join our online masterclasses with international top photographers. Next up: Iranian documentary photographer Ebrahim Alipoor on August 27 at 4 PM, on how to plan a project without budget, access or a network. After that, an in-depth class with Pieter van Agtmael. Join live or get the replay for a small additional fee. All info at here Free webinarAfter years of working with top photographers through this podcast, in masterclasses and in 1:1 mentoring, Kaat noticed a clear pattern: the photographers who keep growing all do a handful of things remarkably consistently. In a free webinar, she walks you through those five things and shows you how to apply them in your own way. It's free, and full of insight. Sign up Partner: CameraNUThis episode is supported by CameraNU. Need honest advice on your next lens, or a camera you can rely on during a client shoot? Their specialists think along with you. As a De Donkere Kamer listener, you get 10% off your next purchase with code DDK10 at cameranu.be. If you want to work on your own photography or your business, check out donkerekamer.com. That is where you'll find everything about mentoring, masterclasses and workshops. | |||
| #6 - Jonas Bendiksen (Magnum Photos) on AI, fake news and the Book of Veles | 01 Sep 2024 | 00:52:13 | |
In 2021, Magnum photographer Jonas Bendiksen published a photo book that looked in every way like classic photojournalism. He waited for someone to notice that something was off. That moment never came. Not a single critical comment, not even from his own colleagues at Magnum. The Book of Veles tells the story of a Macedonian town that made money from fake news during the 2016 US election, but the people in the photos didn't exist. They were computer-generated. Jonas kept the hoax going for six months and eventually had to create a fake profile himself just to set his own unmasking in motion. In this conversation we talk about how Jonas grew up in Tønsberg, why he joined Magnum Photos in 2004, and why he moved his family from Manhattan to a small community in Norway to protect his creative process. We also talk about the panic behind The Book of Veles, why he refuses to keep working in the AI space even though it would be the smart commercial move, and what he thinks photography can offer that AI cannot replace. In this episode:
About Jonas Bendiksen Jonas Bendiksen began his career at nineteen as an intern at Magnum Photos in London, before leaving for Russia to photograph the fringes of the former Soviet Union. He joined Magnum Photos in 2004 and has worked for Geo, Newsweek, Vanity Fair and National Geographic. With The Book of Veles he created one of the most talked-about experiments at the intersection of photography and AI. He lives in Norway with his family, splitting his time between commissions, personal projects and his sailboat. Links This episode is brought to you by Camera Nu. They think along with you about the right equipment for your photography, from a new lens to a camera you can rely on during a client shoot, and always give honest advice. Listeners of De Donkere Kamer get 10% off with code DDK10 at cameranu.be. In this episode, Kaat also shares the five patterns she keeps seeing in photographers who keep growing, patterns she has picked up through the podcast, her masterclasses and her 1:1 mentoring. She walks through all five in a free webinar, with concrete ways to apply them yourself. You can sign up here. | |||
| #5 - Lee-Ann Olwage on documentary photography, dementia in Africa and World Press Photo | 31 May 2024 | 00:53:09 | |
My guest today just won World Press Photo Story of the Year for Valim-babena, her project about dementia in Madagascar made for GEO Magazine. Lee-Ann Olwage is a South African documentary and portrait photographer whose work centers on identity, collaboration and celebration, and in this conversation she takes us into the four years and five reporting trips it took to find a way to tell this story with tenderness instead of shock. What you'll learn in this episode
About the guest Lee-Ann Olwage is a documentary and portrait photographer from South Africa, born in Durban in 1986. She won World Press Photo Story of the Year 2025 with Valim-babena, and previously won World Press Photo Awards in 2020 and 2023. She is a member of Native Women Photograph and African Women in Photography, and her work has appeared in major international newspapers and magazines. Her work centers on identity, collaboration and celebration, using photography as a form of co-creation. This episode is brought to you by Cameranu. They understand better than anyone that as a photographer you need more than creativity, you also need the right tools, whether that's a new lens or a camera you can rely on during a client shoot. Their specialists think along with you and give honest advice. Listeners of De Donkere Kamer get 10% off their next purchase with code DDK10 at cameranu.be. After years of working with top photographers through this podcast, in masterclasses, and in one-on-one mentoring, Kaat noticed something: the photographers who keep growing all do a handful of things remarkably consistently. Not talent, not luck, but a set of patterns that repeat across every single one of them. In this free webinar, Kaat breaks down those five things and shows you exactly how to apply them to your own photography and business, whatever stage you're at. It's free, it's practical, and it's the shortcut she wishes someone had given her years ago. Sign up here. Links and resources
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| #4 - Fiona Shields (The Guardian): on trust, AI and choosing the images that matter | 01 Apr 2024 | 00:52:27 | |
In this episode Kaat sits down with Fiona Shields, Head of Photography for The Guardian and The Observer, recorded in Amsterdam while Fiona was chairing the World Press Photo jury. Fiona has led the photo desk at The Guardian for 25 years, and she takes us through what that job actually looks like day to day: running a global team publishing 24/7, staying close to photo editing herself a few days a week, and making fast calls on images that reach millions of readers. The conversation covers AI and the trust problem it creates for photojournalism, why The Guardian now works with local photographers instead of flying someone in to parachute into a story, what a busy photo editor needs from your pitch (send a PDF, not a WeTransfer link), and how Fiona deals with the emotional weight of covering conflict week after week. She also shares how she landed in photography almost by accident, after a teacher pushed her toward a journalism course, and why she still believes a single photograph can do something a video can't. What you'll learn in this episode
About the guest -Fiona Shields is Head of Photography for The Guardian and The Observer. She grew up in Scotland, trained as a journalist in London and discovered early on that picture editing, not writing, was where she belonged. She has spent 25 years at The Guardian, and in 2024 she chaired the international jury of the World Press Photo Contest in Amsterdam. Along the way she has overseen the paper's coverage of 9/11, the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, COVID-19, and the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. Links and resources
This episode is brought to you by Cameranu. When Kaat needs new gear, whether it's a lens or a camera she can trust on a client shoot, this is where she goes. Their specialists think along with you and give honest advice. As a De Donkere Kamer listener, you get 10% off your next purchase with the code DDK10 at cameranu.be. free webinar I'll walk you through the five things photographers who keep growing all do consistently, and how to apply them your own way, in a free webinar. Sign up here | |||
| #3 - Edward Burtynsky on photographing the cost of progress | 01 Mar 2024 | 01:00:04 | |
Intro In this episode Kaat sits down with Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky in London, right after the opening of his biggest retrospective ever at the Saatchi Gallery. They talk about the furnace room where his father taught him to develop his first roll of film, the helicopter doors he still flies with off, and the four decades he has spent photographing what industry does to the natural world. Edward also opens up about running his own print lab since 1985, about carrying both the artist and the entrepreneur in himself, and about why he still believes in hope as a form of action. This episode is sponsored by Cameranu. As a photographer you need more than creativity, you also need the right equipment, and Camera Nu's specialists give honest, personal advice, whether you're looking for a new lens or a camera you can rely on during a client shoot. Use code DDK10 at cameranu.be for 10% off your next purchase. What you'll learn in this episode
Halfway through, Kaat shares the five things the top photographers she works with, through this podcast, her masterclasses and her 1:1 mentoring, all do consistently, and how you can apply them yourself. It's free, sign up here. About the guest Edward Burtynsky is a Canadian photographer known worldwide for his large scale images of industrial landscapes, mines, quarries and the human imprint on nature. His work has been shown in major museums and galleries around the world, and formed the basis of the documentary films Manufactured Landscapes and Watermark. His retrospective, curated together with a longtime collaborator, is currently on show at the Saatchi Gallery in London, spread across eight rooms with murals and large format prints. If this conversation gave you something, share it with another photographer who might need it too. Want to work on your own photography or your business? Everything about mentoring, masterclasses and workshops is on donkerekamer.com. | |||
| #2 Joumana El Zein Khoury on rebalancing World Press Photo, AI, and why culture is a basic need | 23 Feb 2024 | 00:56:29 | |
Joumana El Zein Khoury has spent her career building bridges between culture under pressure and the people who need to see it. Born in Beirut in 1975 and now based in the Netherlands, she previously led the Prince Claus Fund and worked with the Arab Image Foundation in Beirut before becoming executive director of the World Press Photo Foundation in 2021, right in the middle of the pandemic. In this episode, Joumana talks about:
This episode is a look inside one of the most influential organizations in photojournalism, and the woman rethinking whose stories get told, and how. You can find more of World Press Photo's work, exhibitions and archive at worldpressphoto.org. This episode of De Donkere Kamer podcast is proudly supported by Cameranu, specialist in cameras, lenses and photography gear. FREE WEBINAR: The 5 things top photographers constantly do to grow. Discover the real, proven patterns top photographers use to stay inspired, finish their projects, and keep their creative identity intact, without losing themselves in a crowded market. Reserve your free spot now Want personal, one-on-one feedback on your own photography? Book a review session with Kaat, a tailor-made 90-minute conversation about your practice and your questions. More info here | |||
| #1 Gaël Turine on photographing climate change, addiction in America, and staying loyal to slow storytelling | 18 Dec 2023 | 01:00:52 | |
My guest today is Belgian documentary photographer and photojournalist Gaël Turine. Raised in a family of documentary filmmakers, he found his calling early: a childhood year spent on a small island in the Indian Ocean planted a lifelong need to travel, observe, and tell stories through images. Decades later, that same instinct led him to turn his camera on his own country, walking the flooded river valleys of Wallonia for two years to document the long, slow aftermath of a climate disaster most of the world had already stopped watching. We talk about why he chose black and white panoramic landscapes over the human portraits he's known for, what it means to fund and shape a personal project from scratch, the ephemeral but intense encounters he has with the people he photographs, and why he still doesn't fully trust short-form video and algorithms as a home for serious documentary work. We also get into his television work for Arte, his dream project on cooperatives around the world, and the farmhouse in the Ardennes he escapes to when the work gets too heavy. This episode is proudly supported by Cameranu, my partner for camera gear in Belgium and the Netherlands. It's where I send the photographers I work with when they're looking for honest advice and equipment that can actually keep up with serious work. As a listener of this show, you get 10% off with code [CODE]. In this episode you'll learn:
About the guest: Want to build a photography practice that lasts decades, not seasons? Explore 1:1 mentoring with Kaat. Find all info here. | |||
| Welcome to De Donkere Kamer podcast! | 01 Dec 2023 | 00:01:28 | |
Welcome to De Donkere Kamer. My name is Kaat Celis, I'm a photographer and entrepreneur myself, and this is the podcast for photographers who want to go further, creatively and in business. Twice a week, I bring you two new episodes: one solo conversation where I share my own reflections on creativity, on building a photography practice, and on what it really takes to keep choosing this path, and one in-depth interview with some of the most respected names in international photography, from Anton Corbijn to Christopher Anderson to David Campany to Nadav Kander. This is the new English home for those conversations, and you don't have to wait for episode one. There's already a full archive waiting for you, years of interviews with some of the biggest names in photography, so start wherever speaks to you most. If you're a photographer who wants to grow, both behind the camera and in your business, you're in the right place. Subscribe, and I'll see you in the next episode | |||
| #57 - What a week at the end of the world does to your photography, your business and the way you see | 13 Aug 2026 | 00:32:34 | |
What happens when a photographer who's never taught before finally says yes? In this episode, Kaat takes you to Estancia El Condor, 40,000 hectares of untouched land at the foot of the Andes, where in February 2027 she's hosting, together with Dutch photographer Bastiaan Woudt, his very first workshop. Eight spots, one estancia, no phone signal, and a photographer whose work hangs in the Rijksmuseum and the Getty Museum. Kaat talks about the two trips she's already made to this place herself, about the condors with a four-meter wingspan, about why it took her years to convince Bastiaan, and about what happens to the way you see when you're cut off from the world for a week. She also shares what this means for your photography at a time when more images are generated than could ever actually be photographed. An episode for anyone wondering if this is the year to go somewhere almost nobody goes. Bastiaan Woudt has never taught a workshop before. Until now. In this episode, Kaat talks about the very first workshop by this renowned black-and-white photographer, held at an estancia in Patagonia so remote there's no phone signal. Eight spots, a week without distraction, and everything that does to your photography and the way you see. This episode is a personal update on the brand-new photography workshop to Argentine Patagonia that Kaat is hosting in February 2027, together with photographer Bastiaan Woudt. It's the first time Bastiaan has ever opened up his process to a group, and Kaat explains why this place, this photographer, and this moment come together.
Bastiaan Woudt is a self-taught Dutch photographer known for his distinctive black-and-white portraits. He shoots for, among others, British Vogue and Harper's Bazaar, and his work is held in the collections of the Rijksmuseum and the J. Paul Getty Museum. You can hear more about him and how he works in episode #248 of the De Donkere Kamer Podcast (Dutch-language).
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| #56 - "It's not my voice, it's ours": Shirley den Hartog on carrying Erwin Olaf's legacy forward | 11 Aug 2026 | 00:59:38 | |
For 25 years, Shirley den Hartog was photographer Erwin Olaf's manager, and today she leads the Estate Erwin Olaf as its director. In this episode, she looks back on his lifelong dream to be exhibited at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, a wish that came true two years after his death with the exhibition Freedom. Shirley talks about the arrangement that defined their partnership for almost three decades: she took care of the business, he took care of the art. She shares how that trust shaped his work, why she chose not to hire someone else to run his legacy, and what it means to make decisions for an artist who is no longer here. We also talk about the Catalogue she's now building, the ethical questions that come with archiving decades of work, and how she thinks about AI, sustainability and the future of photography. A conversation about trust, freedom and what it means to carry someone's life's work forward, not as a duty, but as a shared voice. What you'll learn in this episode
"It's not my voice. Our voice was together always. So I think if I talk, it's us always. It's not me. It's not him. It's us." About the guest Shirley den Hartog met Erwin Olaf in 1997 as an intern and became his manager and close friend for 25 years. Since his passing, she has led the Estate Erwin Olaf as director, responsible for his legacy, his foundation and his artistic archive. Free webinarWant to know what the photographers who keep growing all have in common? Join Kaat's free webinar and learn the five things they do remarkably consistently, and how to apply them yourself. Sign up here Masterclass with Ebrahim AlipourWant more? Join our next online masterclass with Iranian documentary photographer Ebrahim Alipour, World Press Photo winner. He'll share how to build a project without budget, access or a network. August 27, 4 PM. Live or replay. donkerekamer.com/masterclasses Partner: CameranuThis episode is brought to you by Camera Nu. Whatever gear you need, their specialists think along with you and give you honest advice. Get 10% off your next purchase with code DDK10 at cameranu.be. | |||
| #55 - Nadav Kander: The electricity between two pictures | 06 Aug 2026 | 01:10:16 | |
My guest today grew up in Johannesburg and has lived and worked in London since the 1980s. He started photographing at thirteen and learned part of the craft in the darkroom of the South African Air Force. He won the Prix Pictet in 2009 for Yangtze: The Long River, and that same year The New York Times Magazine dedicated an entire issue to his series Obama's People. In 2019, Steidl published The Meeting, his first book devoted entirely to portraiture. This September, a new exhibition called The Edge of Things opens at FOAM in Amsterdam. We recorded this conversation in his home on Ibiza, and it took a direction I hadn't expected. Nadav Kander talks about the years he spent going back through his archive with curator David Campany, and what it means to let images from different decades speak to each other rather than treating each project as a closed chapter. He explains why he never sets out to tell a story, he makes one, and why a picture is only ever completed once a viewer brings their own history to it. What you'll learn in this episode
We also hear about his upcoming trips to Greenland and back to the South Africa he grew up in. About Nadav Kander Links and resources
This summer: The Daily Frame Free webinar: The 5 things top photographers constantly do to grow | |||
| #54 - Back from summer break, with news from the end of the world | 04 Aug 2026 | 00:36:52 | |
After a full month of summer break, De Donkere Kamer is back. I'm taking you through my summer between France and Belgium, from Les Rencontres d'Arles to a conversation with photographer Nadav Kander in Ibiza, and sharing my big news along the way: a photography workshop in Patagonia and a new season of live shows. At Les Rencontres d'Arles, I felt a photography world wrestling with uncertainty and change, partly because of the heat and the wildfires in the region. From now on, I'm also splitting De Donkere Kamer into two channels: my English interviews, like the one with Nadav Kander, will move to the English podcast channel, while this channel stays Dutch-language. From February 13 to 20, 2027, I'm organizing a multi-day workshop with photographer Bastiaan Woudt at Estancia El Condor in Patagonia, a remote 40,000-hectare ranch on the Chilean border. With a small, international group of eight photographers, I'll combine photography, hiking and horseback riding with sessions on both the creative and the business side of your practice. My autumn and winter are taking shape too. My live shows return on October 16 at Pakhuis de Zwijger in Amsterdam, with among others Nadav Kander, Robin de Puy, Bieke Depoorter and Wilfried de Jong, followed by shows on November 28 at C-Mine in Genk, February 7 at the Minard Schouwburg in Ghent, and April 14 at CC De Factorij in Zaventem. I'm also opening registration for my free webinar: The 5 things top photographers constantly do to grow. In this live, 120-minute session I walk you through the recurring patterns I see in top photographers worldwide, drawn from hundreds of interviews and mentoring sessions, and how you can turn that insight into action in your own work. You can save your spot here This episode comes to you with support from Cameranu. I go to Cameranu for my own gear. They think along with me, from a new lens to a camera I can rely on during a client shoot. As a De Donkere Kamer listener, you get 10% off with code DDK10
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| #10 - Lucy Conticello (Director of Photography, M Le Monde) on photojournalism, AI and chairing World Press Photo | 20 May 2025 | 00:54:05 | |
What does it actually take to chair the World Press Photo jury, the most watched photography award in the world? In this episode, I sit down in Paris with Lucy Conticello, Director of Photography for M, the weekend magazine of Le Monde, to find out. Lucy walks me through her unlikely path from studying archaeology in Rome to becoming one of the most respected photo editors in the industry, and why she never wanted to be a photographer herself. We talk about how M balances hard news with fashion and lifestyle, how Le Monde is navigating generative AI in a newsroom (including a mistake that made it into print), and what it was really like to chair this year's World Press Photo Awards jury: the regional voting system, the hidden clicker votes, the two weeks that get under your skin. We also dig into the funding crisis freelance photojournalists face today, and why Lucy believes the industry needs a shared fund to keep important stories alive. A conversation for anyone who wants to understand what happens on the other side of the assignment. What you'll learn in this episode
About the guest Lucy Conticello is Director of Photography for M, the weekend magazine of the French newspaper Le Monde. She started her career as a junior assistant photo editor for the Italian news weekly Liberal, before studying photography practice and history in Maine, US, and archaeology and art history in Rome. She has worked with Business Week, The New York Times, Nespresso, Courrier International, the International Herald Tribune, and agencies including SIPA Press, Magnum Photos and AFP. She is a frequent member of international photography juries, including the World Press Photo Awards, where she served as this year's chair, and regularly takes part in portfolio reviews at events worldwide. Partner of this episode Cameranu — for photographers who need more than creativity, also the right gear. Camera Nu's specialists give honest, personal advice on lenses and cameras you can rely on during a shoot. Use code DDK10 for 10% off your next purchase at cameranu.be Free webinar: the 5 consistent habits of top photographers who keep growing. Free, sign up here. Share & explore: if this conversation gave you something, share it with a photographer who might need it. For mentoring, masterclasses and workshops, visit donkerekamer.com. | |||
| #9 - Four skills to grow as a photographer and entrepreneur | 01 Jan 2025 | 00:24:02 | |
In this solo episode of De Donkere Kamer, Kaat walks you through her own yearly planning and shares four skills you can train to really move forward in the year ahead, both as a photographer and as an entrepreneur. She starts from her own experience of the past year, when a schedule that was always too full left her no room to think about direction or growth, and explains how she broke that pattern. What you'll learn in this episode
Links and resources
Do you recognize yourself in the big dreams and ambitions Kaat talks about in this episode, but don't want to work on them alone? There's currently one spot open for February and two spots for March in the 1:1 mentoring program. Go to donkerekamer.com/mentor or email info@donkerkamer.com to talk through your path forward. | |||
| #8 - Lara Gasparotto: "Photography was always a refuge" | 05 Dec 2024 | 00:44:35 | |
In this episode I step away from my usual setup for something new: my very first live podcast recording, in front of an audience who got to ask their own questions once the conversation wrapped up. My guest is Belgian photographer Lara Gasparotto, whose intimate, dreamlike images move between tenderness and melancholy, always playing with the relationship between light and silence. In this episode, you'll hear about:
About Lara Gasparotto Lara Gasparotto (born 1989, Liège) is a Belgian photographer represented by Stieglitz19 for the past ten years. She studied at Saint-Luc École supérieure des arts and picked up a camera for the first time at fifteen, handed to her by photographer Thomas Chable. Her work has been exhibited internationally and often draws comparisons to Sally Mann and Francesca Woodman, though her own influences come more from painting, film and literature than from photography itself. This episode's partner: Cameranu This episode was recorded in collaboration with Cameranu. They understand better than anyone that as a photographer you need more than creativity alone, you also need the right tools, whether that's a new lens or a camera you can rely on during a client shoot. Their specialists think along with you and give you honest advice. As a listener of De Donkere Kamer, you get 10% off your next purchase with the code DDK10 (capitals) at cameranu.be. Free webinar Something I've noticed for a while now, across the strongest photographers I speak to in this podcast, in masterclasses, and in my 1:1 mentoring, is how consistent their patterns are. In a free webinar I walk you through those five patterns and show you how to apply them in your own way. It's free to join and you'll walk away with concrete insights. Sign up here. Did this live podcast format work for you? Let me know by DM or send an email to info@donkerekamer.com. | |||
| #7 - Tomas van Houtryve on Notre-Dame, borders and photography as a language | 31 Oct 2024 | 01:07:59 | |
In this episode, Kaat sits down in Paris with Tomas van Houtryve, the Belgian-American photographer and filmmaker who has lived in the city since 2006. Tomas was selected by National Geographic to document Notre-Dame after the devastating fire of 2019, and his book on the project comes out at the end of October or beginning of November. They talk about that years-long, almost intimate relationship with the cathedral, about language and national borders as a recurring thread in his work, and about why he picks a different technique for every project, from drone photography to 19th-century wet plate collodion. AI, curiosity as a driving force, and his new research into the relationship between people and nature in the Alps also come up. What you'll learn in this episode
About the guest Tomas van Houtryve is a photographer, filmmaker and researcher, born in 1975 and based in Paris. His work weaves together investigative journalism, philosophy and metaphor, and has been recognized with honors including the Pulitzer Fellowship, the Hasselblad Foundation Research and Development Award, the ICP Infinity Award and a World Press Photo Award. He is a fellow at Columbia University's Institute for Ideas and Imagination in Paris and is currently working on a project about the shifting relationship between people and nature in the Alps. This episode is brought to you by Cameranu Kaat turns to Cameranu herself when it comes to gear. Their specialists think along with you and give you honest advice, whether you're after a new lens or a camera you can rely on during a client shoot. Listeners of De Donkere Kamer get 10% off with code DDK10 at cameranu.be. Free webinar: what growing photographers do differently Through her work with top photographers, in masterclasses and in 1:1 mentoring, Kaat keeps noticing the same patterns in the photographers who keep growing. In a free webinar, she walks you through the five things these photographers consistently do, with practical insights you can apply yourself. Sign up here for free More from De Donkere Kamer Want to grow as a photographer yourself? Discover the options for 1:1 mentoring, masterclasses and the CONNECT membership at donkerekamer.com. | |||
| #60 - Paolo Woods on photography, research and building long-term projects | De Donkere Kamer Podcast | 25 Aug 2026 | 00:58:09 | |
What do you do when a subject simply isn't photogenic? Paolo Woods, born in The Hague and raised in Florence, built his entire career around that question. From an investigation into the oil industry to a book on tax havens and the five-year project Happy Pills on the pharmaceutical industry, he keeps choosing subjects where his first reaction is "oh no, what am I actually going to photograph here." In this episode, recorded during Les Rencontres d'Arles, Paolo talks about why research is his most important tool, how his mother unknowingly shaped his obsession with text and image, and why he spent four years as artistic director of the photography festival Cortona On The Move. Intro I recorded this episode during Les Rencontres d'Arles, with Paolo Woods: photographer, researcher, and artistic director of Cortona On The Move since 2022. His projects never take the obvious subject. He seeks out exactly the things he first thinks are impossible to photograph. From oil to tax havens to the pharmaceutical industry, he keeps finding a language to make the invisible visible. What you'll learn in this episode
About the guest Paolo Woods was born in The Hague in 1970 to Dutch and Canadian parents, raised in Florence, and later lived in London, Paris, Haiti and Ivory Coast. He started out running a photography gallery in Florence and then built a career around long-term, research-driven projects: from Un Monde de Brutes (2003, on the oil industry) and American Chaos (2004, on the Western intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq), to Chinafrica on China's expansion into Africa, translated into eleven languages and sold more than 40,000 copies. That was followed by Veil On My Eyes on Iran, The Havens on tax havens (named one of the best photo books of 2015), and Happy Pills, a five-year project on the pharmaceutical industry that grew into a book, a touring exhibition and his first film. Since 2022 he has been artistic director of Cortona On The Move. His work has appeared in eight books and in The New York Times, Le Monde and The Guardian, with exhibitions from the US to China, and he has won two World Press Photo awards. Links and resources
Our partner: Cameranu This episode is brought to you in part by Cameranu. For your own photography gear, whether it's a new lens or a camera you can rely on during a client shoot, their specialists think along with you and give honest advice. As a listener of De Donkere Kamer, you get 10% off your next purchase with code DDK10 Free webinar What growing photographers consistently do differently from everyone else: that's the subject of a free webinar, based on patterns Kaat has seen over the years in top photographers through this podcast, in masterclasses and in 1:1 mentoring. Five things, and how to apply them in your own way. Sign up here Masterclasses Every month, De Donkere Kamer organizes an online masterclass with an international top photographer.
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| #61 - What a trip to Alpe d'Huez taught me about letting go (and why I didn't quit) | 27 Aug 2026 | 00:37:09 | |
This summer I set off on my bike from our house in the Auvergne, with Alpe d'Huez as the finish line. Four days, 500 kilometers and roughly 7,500 meters of elevation gain, on my own, from one chambre d'hôte to the next. I did it to cheer on my husband Rik, who climbed the col together with thirty colleagues from Mediafin for Climbing for Life, in support of the Diabetes Liga. In this episode, I take you along. Not as a travel report, but as a mirror. Because everything I ran into along the way, nerve pain in my foot that slowed me down from day one, an Oura ring flagging overtraining, a route I'd misjudged, a thunderstorm on the final climb, is something I recognize one-to-one in what I see every day with the photographers I coach. And in myself, as an entrepreneur. I'll tell you how I dealt with a body that wasn't cooperating, why pushing through is not the same as forcing yourself, how you let go of control without giving up, and why pausing to acknowledge a win matters just as much as the win itself. And I land on my biggest core value: freedom. Do you recognize something of yourself in pushing through when things get hard? Then this episode is for you. Highlights from this episode
Coming to Patagonia? Want to experience that combination of travel, challenge and depth yourself, camera in hand, alongside one of today's most renowned portrait photographers? In February 2027 I'm heading to a remote estancia near El Calafate, Patagonia, together with Bastiaan Woudt. Eight spots, a group that's well matched, and an experience that sends you home different than you arrived. All info at donkerekamer.com/patagonia. Not sure it's for you? Feel free to book a call with Kaat. Partner of this episode CameranuAlongside creativity, photographers simply need the right tools, whether that's a new lens or a camera you can rely on during a client shoot. The specialists at Camera Nu think along with you and give honest advice. Head over here and use code DDK10 for 10% off. | |||
| #11 - 6 business lessons from La Marmotte: 177km, 5,500m and four mountains in the French Alps | 26 Jun 2025 | 00:20:13 | |
Last Sunday I rode La Marmotte, one of the toughest Gran Fondos in Europe: 177 kilometers, 5,500 meters of climbing, and four legendary mountains (the Glandon, the Télégraphe, the Galibier and the Alpe d'Huez, finishing on its famous 21 hairpin bends). My goal wasn't to race. It was to finish. And somewhere between Bourg-d'Oisans and that last hairpin bend, I found six business lessons I have to share with you. In this episode I take you along on that climb, not as a cycling story, but as a mirror for what it actually takes to build a photography business. Why the road is long and quiet before anyone notices you. Why willpower, not motivation, gets you through the hardest stretch. Why slowing down is sometimes the only way to reach the top. Why you don't have to do this alone, and why you shouldn't let other people's opinions talk you out of your own path. And the lesson I almost forgot: why taking care of yourself is not optional, it's your survival strategy. If you've ever wanted to quit right before your breakthrough, this one is for you. What you'll learn in this episode
My mentoringReady for your own next climb? In my 1:1 mentorship, we map out exactly where you are now, where you want to go, and what you need to get there, so you don't have to figure it out alone. All info here. Questions or want to chat first? DM me on Instagram or send an email to info@donkerekamer.com. CameranuAlongside creativity, photographers simply need the right tools, whether that's a new lens or a camera you can rely on during a client shoot. The specialists at Camera Nu think along with you and give honest advice. Head over to cameranu.be and use code DDK10 for 10% off your next purchase. What's your La Marmotte? That climb where quitting would've been easier, but you kept going anyway. If this episode gave you something, share it with a photographer who might need it too, or leave a review, it helps this podcast reach more photographers worldwide. | |||