This was my third time at this remarkable music festival in Belgium. It would have been really great to be able to walk around the festival area with a proper camera. But as an ordinary visitor I was able to walk around making photos with my mobile phone. Actually a good way to take relaxed shots of people, but you can't be fast enough with a stupid mobile phone in your hand.

Anyways, here are my impressions of a huge four day festival, where you have to sleep in a tent with people around you howling the whole night long, without proper showers, eating junkfood in a landfill scenery and the best of all - hearing tons of great music, Belgian and international.

Alongside the nonsense coming out of the mouths of manipulating right wing politicians the so-called world festivities are taking place all over the country. I think the time is more than ripe to shut up, stop fussing and have fun with each other.

Zuilen in Utrecht is an old working class neighbourhood. While the city is busy with building ultra modern houses and appartments for the middle class, some areas are being neglected. Also the people are different, with their own way of life and manners. And although everything there seems rough and lifeless, the forgotten mini shopping centre breaths in its own slow pace...

If you move abroad, you have to lift the anchor and turn your back to the life you have lead in your home country.

Loneliness starts creeping in, sitting next to you while you are watching TV. You long for that moment of an early morning after partying when you were lying on the ground with a good friend, discussing the meaning of life. You start to imagine how life would be like without your boyfriend. Will you be meeting other men in a park? Not being able to call your friends for a beer and a chat you might bring your own can of beer and sit on the bench waiting for the time to pass. And If you cannot solve this problem, will you pack your bags and return home?

Me in the red room

The red room is the place where I spent most time - doing my things on the computer. This time I've had enough of the slow PC I'm working with, so I went testing my self-portrait capabilities...

Nijs-te Koppele family, Breda

This family lives across the street from the Rossmans. When I started making the family portrait, they were all standing pretty much still, trying to look tough for the camera. But after a while things got a bit more relaxed...

Rosman-Koolstra family, Breda

This time I went to make my photo research in a house of a young family In Breda. The kids found my equipment really interesting, especially the IR shutter that is making my work on a tripod much, much easier.

Koen Graat and Floor de Best, Tilburg

It's always nice to visit Koen and Floor. She is a dance teacher, he a freelance writer. And together they are an unbeatable couple - Koen with his wit and Floor with her positivity. I began my photo project with them already this winter. But after I finished with their flat, the light was too weak to make a decent portrait of them. So - here's another go...

Roel Schreinemachers, Amsterdam

Amsterdam is a city of contrasts (if I use this stupid worn-out phrase). You get off the train at the main station, elbow your way through the crowd of working people, students and stoned tourists and as you walk further down the Dam past the Royal Palace the city actually becomes pleasant. And that's where Roel lives. He owns a flat in the centre, overlooking a nice garden and with a roof terrace to chill out during warm summer days.

This time I went to a family that lives near Maastricht in province of Limburg. After trying to get used to their strange dialect, I got to try two types of the famous limburgse vlaai (a pie, that is) and took pics of the house interiors. Later on I had a short foto shoot in the flat of Elly's and Ton's other son and his girlfriend and met their neighbours which use their model puppets as a door sign. Hopefully I'll be able to go back soon and check out what secrets they have hidden in their flat.

Maaike de Roode and her cat, Zaandam

People are slowly coming back home, so I can continue with my Residence project. Maaike lives in a huge flat in an old appartment building. And that basically means plenty of room for her two cats to play and scratch about.

Our Beloved Car, Utrecht

This is what happens if you go to a three day music festival, park the car on monday early morning and not bother about the fact that they'll be busy with the road a few hours later.

Me on a bike, Utrecht

What should I do, and photos of what should I take? With most people taking a holiday in August, I really didn't get a better idea than taking some stupid snapshots...

Ingeborg van Nierop, Oosterbeek

I have spent half a day taking pictures of this huge family house (almost a mansion). She feels most comfortable in her kitchen, so we moved there quite quickly. I will have to drop by again - to take a portrait of her with her husband. But probably we'll go to the living room then.

After taking photos of their house for my Residence project, it was time to finish the shoot with a portrait. And having a trampoline in the garden meant that there was going to be some action involved...

Esther & Esther, Zaandam

Another one from the Residence series.

Marmorkirken, København

The Deijns family, Leidsche Rijn

Beginning to work on the Residence series where I wil try to take photos of various Dutch households. I'm interested mostly in the environment where people live, what kind of objects they use and (if any) what emotional effect everyday images have on us. I've started with this family which used to live in our house on Fregatstraat. After some time I will add the selections of pics in my portfolio. Until then, I'll keep you posted with bits and pieces like this one.

Branko & Bas

A portrait of two old college buddies while they went strolling to check out how the bulding project Leidsche Rijn was progressing. But somebody else didn't want to be on the photo. Who knows why...

Self-portrait in the garden

Life is getting a little bit more interesting here in Holland. I've found myself a nice job and I'm looking for possibilities to get involved in photography a bit more than before. So - it was about time to throw some of my frustrations away and start breathing again...

Jaka Tavš, Trbovlje

This face is a bit too haunting to be able to describe it rationally. Jaka's portrait is the last photo I made for a Slovene band Icarus Down . A booklet with their portraits and scenes from their homes is coming up and I hope the guys will be successful enough so they can publish a proper CD and include my work in the cover.

Empty Store, Utrecht

Empty stores and appartments that show traces of humans crawling over them and wearing them out often draw my attention. How was it inside when this space was bustling with life - and what is its future going to be? And I can rest my eyes as well and look into almost nothing.

Birds over the Oudegracht, Utrecht

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

Staring, Utrecht Central Station

I probably don't need to comment this pic too much. Basically people look quite perplexed if something draws their attention - even if they are checking out train departures. And the good thing is that they didn't notice they were being photographed, although I was standing directly in front of them.

Park Oog in Al, Utrecht

Sometimes you can be lucky enough that you don't need to go far away to get some peace. This small park is located between a residential and a 19th century industrial area and is a perfect place to smoke a cigarette, check out what the geese are doing or do some jogging.

Canal along Keulsekade, Utrecht

I find photos of sunsets kitschy, so this one can be perceived as such as well. What the heck - I think we sometimes lack a bit of kitsch. But what I like to do once in a while is to take my camera and explore a small area with it for a couple of hours. So if I would be more into new age I could say this pic is a result of meditative observing of nature ;-) Nature? The canal is man-made and busy with freight boats, and on the other side there's one of the busiest highways in the country.