Jeroen and Jacob of the AVROTROS TV and radio program Radar invited me for a half hour talk about smartphone photography! As a 'Instagram photographer', I gave some tips on shooting pictures with a phone. During the Facebook Live stream, I also answered questions of Radar's followers - through the years, they gathered over 160k likers on Facebook alone! Though the livestream has obviously ended, the video is still online on their Facebook page.
Kwaheri, we're going to Kenya!
We ended our tenancy & quit our jobs at NPO Radio 1, because on December 3rd, Saskia and I will travel to Nairobi, Kenya! Saskia will be the Africa correspondent for several (Dutch) media outlets, like Bureau Buitenland and RTL Nieuws, and I will be a freelance media maker for companies like Charlie's Travels and MENDO. Although the last weeks before leaving are bitter sweet, I can't wait to be in Kenya's capital. If you aren't following us already, make sure to stay tuned via Instagram and/or Twitter!
Featured by TravelAfrique
Like Visiter l'Afrique, a platform that has featured my work both online and offline, 'TravelAfrique' is an online platform that aims to disrupt tourism to Africa. One way of doing that, is by highlighting pictures that travelers take on their journeys to the African continent and by organizing travels to these specific places. On their IG page, they have featured some of my work (see a selection above), so do check out their feed for more pictures!
To see more features, assignments and collabs, check out the 'Features' page!
Coming up: Sportret
Over the last few months, my MENDO colleagues and I have been working on a brand new photo book: Sportret. It'll be a big retrospective of Dutch sports photographer Klaas Jan van der Weij's best photos so far, boasting over 380 (!) pages. Read more about the project here, and make sure to check out MENDO's web store as the book will be available in a few months!
New work for NPO Radio 1: UEFA Women's EURO
As a part of my job at NPO Radio 1, I made a small video series focused on the 'WEURO' European Soccer Championship for women, which is organised in The Netherlands.
We have a lot of very talented female soccer players, yet we don't have a female radio or TV commentator. That's why we came up with a contest, to see if we can find the best female sports commentator of The Netherlands.
To get people to sign up, I've made a bunch of small clips with 'BN'ers', Dutch celebrities, like comedian Viggo Waas, soccer player Leonne Stentler, actor Frank Lammers, radio host Lara Rense, comedian Peter Heerschop and soccer player Daphne Koster.
You can watch the videos through the NPO Radio 1 Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter feeds.
We're back from Iran
The last couple of weeks, I've been posting pictures I took in Iran on my Instagram feed. We went sightseeing in bigger cities like Esfahan, Tehran and Shiraz, we've 'sandboarded' in the Varzaneh desert, we've watched ships set sail from the harbour of Bandar-e-Anzali and we've hiked through the mountains surrounding Tabriz and Masouleh.
Despite the cultural differences and the questionable regime in charge, we've made a wonderful two week-trip around the country. Before we went, some friends and family members confused Iran with surrounding countries like Iraq, of Afghanistan. The truth is that I've never felt unsafe, and that travelling across the country was both affordable and very comfortable.
Almost every Iranian we've met asked us the same bunch of questions: how do we like the country? And what do people in The Netherlands think of Iran? Because they know some Westerners see Iran as this dark, fundamentalistic place full of terror and angry muslims, they go the extra mile in welcoming tourists. I know it sounds tacky, but I've never been to a more hospitable country than Iran.
If you'd like to make a similar trip, and need some tips & recommendations, don't hesitate drop me a message through Instagram! To see the pictures I took during the presidential elections, check out this older blogpost.
Featured by Canon
The official account of Canon Nederland featured one of my pictures on their feed! Especially exciting, because the picture is my entry for their super cool #liveforthestory contest. Contestants can win a all-expense-paid trip around the world. The jury members, including members of Canon's social media teams and actress annex Canon ambassador Zoë Kravitz are now looking at the entries.
To see more features, assignments and collabs, check out the 'Features' page!
'Living in Style: Amsterdam' is now available
'Living in Style: Amsterdam' is the first collaboration between MENDO and German publisher teNeues - and it's available in shops around the world from this moment! MENDO colleague Mikel van den Boogaard and I are responsible for every word in the book - from the introduction to the interviews, and from the captions to the backcover blurp.
Oh, and it gets even better: you can win a night in one of the very fancy Amsterdam hotels that are featured in the book! If you can picture yourself in a Conservatorium, Pulitzer or SirAdam hotel bed, get yourself a copy of 'Living in Style: Amsterdam'!
You can buy the book, focused on Dutch interior design, through the MENDO web store.
I'm officially part of the MENDO team
I've been working for MENDO for quite a while now. But since a couple of days, my part time position there has become super official: I'm on their site! Here's the accompanying text:
"If you had to describe Joost Bastmeijer in one word it would be: eccentric. Our second Joost has a hard time sitting still and that’s probably the reason why he has been all over the world. Joost is not only an excellent writer, he’s also a great photographer. You might have seen his name as such in some of our books. And if we’re able to keep him in Amsterdam for a while, some new projects just might have Joost’s signature in it."
Interview Vance.nl
Vance, a 'website for the next generation', interviewed me about my travels! In the interview, I told Vance's Nina Bogosavac about my favourite destination so far, about which apps I use when travelling and which spots are still on my travel bucket list - amongst other things.
Check out the interview (in Dutch) on Vance.nl!
You'll find more features, collaborations and assignments on the 'Features' page.
I'm now a 'Fjällräven Ambassador'
I am now one of the four 'Fjällräven Ambassadors'! Together with great photographers like Pie Aerts (he's also in 'Depart'!), I've created some images for the Swedish outdoor brand. Fjällräven opened a store on Amsterdam's Rozengracht, and for their long-term 'Flagship Store' campaign, I took photos like the ones above. Check out #fjallraven_amsterdam for more pictures!
The power of visual radio
At Dutch public radio station NPO Radio 1, I'm responsible for 'visual radio': the regular radio stream, but with added visuals. Apart from showing imagery and additional video footage, we capture what's happening in the radio station's studio. More and more, people are getting used to the fact that radio anno 2017 isn't audio only. That's also visible (no pun intended) if you take a look at this video column of comedian Pieter Derks, uploaded by Radio 1 programme De Nieuws BV. The small fragment has become a new milestone in the station's online history: it reached more than 6.5 million people.
Check out the viral video through the Nieuws BV Facebook page or NPO Radio 1 Facebook page.
I was a jury member for the DSAFV photo contest
On invitation of Bo Dorresteijn, president of the DSAFV, I was one of the jury members of the photo contest they've set up. The DSAFV, a photo association from Delft that has just celebrated their 125 year lustrum, let me compile a Top 3 out of 33 shortlist candidates. Above you can see my three favourite pictures of Fay de Waal, Meike Verhey and Joris Hens. Check out DSAFV's Facebook page to see the contest winners!