Victor Magazine 01-11 - Niels Van Iperen

online 01.2011

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4 >> NewsH4D-40 stainless steel: the H4D-40’s inner beauty is externa- lized in a special edition camera, initially limited to 100 units · H4D-40 Ferrari edition: two iconic high-class brands have joined forces to create 499 units of a limited edition camera

6 >> Niels vaN ipereNIn the contrast-rich, dramatic portraits of his “Colombia” series, Dutch photographer Niels van Iperen immortalizes the diversity of the South American country’s inhabitants, whilst also presenting a multi-faceted and hopeful image of his adopted home.

22 >> eDwarD albaUsers of the Hasselblad Owners’ Club have chosen an image by the Peruvian fashion photographer as Photo of the Month. At VICTOR online he introduces some of his most beautiful shots, and explains why one of his models had to stand still for 22 hours.

26 >> MorFi JiMeNez MercaDoPeruvian Hasselblad Master, Morfi Jimenez Mercado, is passion-ate about portrait photography. He used artificial lighting and atmospheric coloring to enhance his images of local people in the Andean province of Cuzco. His next project takes him to Iquitos.

42 >> previewEquipped with an H3DII-50, Danish photographer, Henrik Sørensen, managed to get impressive underwater photos of dancers from the Royal Danish Ballet. With the masterful use of light and shadow, and the precise poses, the images completely captivate the viewer.

EDITORIAl CONTENT

Wishing you joy and success in 2011! It looks like it’s going to be a good year for the industry, having surmounted the lows of the past year. For the photo industry, the last few months

have shown a positive trend. Orders have improved considerably, advertising budgets are climbing and more complex projects are being taken on again.

At VICTOR online, we’ve seen increasing numbers of photographers submitting exciting portfolio proj­ects; but that isn’t all that made 2010 a good year for our magazine: the inclusion of new columns focusing on the winner of the Hasselblad Owners’ Club Photo of the Month, and on Hasselblad Masters, have strength­ened our editorial profile and were appreciated by our readers. VICTOR online’s social media activity was also a resounding success – especially on Facebook.

Of course, we won’t rest on our laurels, but con­tinue to work on improving VICTOR online, making it more international and interactive. In 2010, we already started including ‘making of’ videos with many portfolios, so that readers could also see how the outstanding pictures presented were taken. This multi­media linkage will be strengthened this year.

Social media activities will also be expanded in 2011. We’d like our considerable Facebook communi­ty to grow – but you’re probably already part of it, aren’t you? If not, please visit www.facebook.com/ vicTorbyHasselblad and discover how other fans are rating Niels van Iperen’s current portfolio, or which international photographer has uploaded a new image.

Internationality was always important to VICTOR online because we consider ourselves a platform for professional photographers around the world, mea­suring, like a seismograph, where the photo scene is active. We recently observed, for example, that south america represents a developing market, where Hasselblad cameras are increasingly in demand and where a thriving photo scene has been established. This is why I’m particularly pleased to present three series from South America in this issue: the cover shot was taken by Colombia­based photographer, Niels van iperen, and his portfolio, starting page 6, shows multi­faceted portraits from his adopted home and the people living there. Peruvian Hasselblad Master, Morfi Jimenez Mercado, used an H3D­39 to capture the inhabitants of the Andean province of Cuzco. The Hasselblad Owners’ Club chose a picture by Peruvian commercial and fashion photographer, edward alba, as Photo of the Month. Starting on page 22, you can see this and other of his colorful, super sharp photos.

I wish you pleasure and inspiration as you browse through the January issue of VICTOR online, and look forward to lively exchanges with you in 2011.

Yours,Stephan Bittner,

publisher VICTOR online

The portraits of colombians taken by

Niels van iperen with his H3D-39 are

as multi-faceted as the country itself

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victornEWS

Hasselblad users all over the world exchange news on the Hasselblad Owners’ Club (HOC) site. At the end of December, registered us-ers chose a new Photo of the Month, taken by Eric Lafforgue. With this picture, the French travel photographer prevailed over the strong competition. We will fully introduce him in the February issue of VICTOR online. ■

HocHasselblad

Owners’ Club12/2010

The design concept was already presented last au-tumn at the Hasselblad booth at photokina, and the reaction from visitors was so enthusiastic that a limited number of the H4D-40 Stainless Steel camera will be produced. With this special edition, the success-ful medium format H4D-40’s inner beauty will also be externalized: While all H4D cameras are built in a robust stainless steel casing, in the case of the H4D-40 Stainless Steel it will be visible. This will not only show the camera’s core strength, but will also ensure appealing aesthetics. With an initial series of 100 units, the camera is an eye-catcher that contains all the incredible H4D technology, such as Hasselblad’s groundbreaking True Focus and Absolute Position Lock technology, as well as the latest in extended functionality, including an electronic spirit level,

previews in tethered mode, and a new graphical in-formation display. With these advanced features, Hasselblad continues to develop the ultimate camera system for the discerning photographer.

Further information, the complete technical data, a supplier’s overview and a hands-on demo, can be found on the Hasselblad website: www.hasselblad.com/ promotions/h4d-40-stainless-steel. ■

speCial editiOnnEw stainLEss stEEL H4D-40 out now

The exclusive H4D-40 Ferrari edition is limited to only 499 units. This special issue of Hasselblad’s newest medium format camera was first presented and enthusiastically received by visitors to this year’s photokina in Cologne, Ger-many. It is now available for 21,499.- € (plus VAT), including a Hasselblad HC 2.8/80 mm lens.

The H4D Ferrari edition comes in the unique Ferrari red – the “rosso fuoco”, fire red – with the legendary racing shield adding its classic touch. It is packaged in an exclusively designed and engineered box with a glass top equally labeled with the distinctive Ferrari racing shield. The camera offers all the technical advantag-es of the excellent H4D-40, such as True Focus and Absolute Position Lock tech-nology. For Ferrari enthusiasts striving to produce images at top speed, Hasselblad’s new Phocus Quick software, that simply sidesteps any kind of complex post-pro-duction, will turn out to be the perfect tool to „strike home“.

Both Ferrari and Hasselblad have a passion for quality, design and perfor-mance. The exclusive H4D Ferrari edition is the result of a collaboration between the two iconic brands, and has a spe-cial appeal for fans of both Ferrari and Hasselblad. “I am proud of the company’s achievements since the introduction of the newest generation of Hasselblad cameras, the H4 series, and feel very hon-ored to be able to celebrate our success together with such a precious brand,” Dr. Larry Hansen, chairman and CEO of Hasselblad, affirms. Further informa-tion about the H4D Ferrari Edition can be found at www.hasselblad.com/promo-tions/h4d-40-ferrari-edition. ■

limited editiOn H4D FErrari EDition avaiLabLE now

only 499 units of the Hasselblad H4D Ferrari

Limited Edition are being produced. in addi-

tion to Ferrari’s unique red – “rosso fuoco” –, the

camera also bears the legendary racing shield

of the scuderia Ferrari

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Niels VaN ipereN Before going to Colombia, Dutch photographer Niels van Iperen was afraid of the country: He had heard too many stories of war, violence and drugs. It turned out, however, to be a magical place, so he decided to stay and, equipped with Hasselblad cameras, has been photographing every facet of the intriguing country ever since.

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right: equipped with just an H3D-39, Niels van iperen managed

to capture this snapshot while riding through the sierra Nevada on his way to the arhuaco indios

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left: Typical Colombia magic is captured in this image of a female vampire haunting an old grave-yard near laguna de Guatavita, an hour away from Bogotá

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Niels van iperen captured a car with horse power: Junk collectors comb the streets collecting metal and paper – and sometimes they find so much more …

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right: The detailed wrinkles on this old lady’s face are delightful:

she is holding an arracacha in her hands – a type of edible root

that originates from the andes

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left: The Ticuna are an indigenous tribe living on the banks of the amazon. even though they own mobile phones and have cable television, they dress in traditional garb for tourists

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The dark and ugly side of Colom-bia: Niels van iperen presents the “sicarios”. While very religious, they are predominantly hit men employed by drug lords

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right: Heading for the goal: Colombians are great football fans. even so, the Colombian

national teams have yet to achieve international fame

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The drug “Basuco” comes from the coca plant. To smoke it, it’s stret ched out with pulverized brick. Where “Basuqueros” live, the walls are pocked with missing bricks

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For this shot, Van iperen used the diag onal focus of the tilt and shift adapter mounted on his H3D-39, and was able to place the emphasis pre-cisely on the spot where he wanted it

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PortfolIo Niels VaN ipereN

When Dutch photographer Niels van Iperen was seven, he started taking professional shots at rock concerts. At age 15, Steve Harris of Iron Maid­en stood in front of his lens, followed by the ‘who’s who’ of music history: Michael Jackson, Kurt Cobain, Mick Jagger … Soon van Iperen was cir­cling the globe, and photographing over 3000 bands and artists.

Between assignments, he tried to see as much of the world as possible: Japan, Cuba and Bolivia – finding Latin America particularly interes­ting. Colombia was one destina­tion, however, that he avoided for a long time. When he at last visited the country in 2002, he discovered that many of the horror stories he had heard were overblown. “When I went there I was pleasantly surprised because, while every Latin country has fascinating aspects, Colombia seems to have them all in one coun­try!” The magical place has held him captive ever since. Van Iperen, now 42, has lived in Colombia for eight years, doing commercial photo shoots and running a photo equip­ment business.

His love for Colombia is reflected in his personal projects. They rep­resent a homage to the country and its people, because Colombia has so many facets: Delightful landscapes and the snow­covered Andes, a beau­tiful coastline, the Amazon River, and an amazing variety of plants and ani­mals. “But Colombia has to deal with corruption, plus a hundred years of internal war, fifty years of guerrilla conflict, and countless paramilitary massacres. It’s the country of Pablo Escobar, and the world center of co­caine production.”

Van Iperen uses Hasselblad cam­eras to capture the countless faces for his Colombia series. The pictures

Below: exclusive insights into van iperen’s work. Further images

of his Colombia project can be found at www.niels.com

have an incredibly colorful intensity. He masters the use of light – at times warm sunlight contrasting with dark blue skies, at times cold and bright on an ice blue backdrop. Despite the unusual 2:1 landscape format that he uses for his portrait photographs, the people are the main protagonists in his images. The many background details, however, often serve to com­plete the stories.

Most of his Colombian photos have the feel of snap shots. Some re­ally were, while others were carefully staged and used a lot of equipment; yet, despite the degree to which some photos have been set up, they always end up looking real and spontane­ous. He uses Hasselblad cameras for all his Colombia photos. “These are the most ergonomic cameras in the world: They allow for fast shooting, can even be used in scarce light cir­cumstances, and their True Focus system is indispensable for shooting portraits with large diaphragm open­ings.” Some pictures were taken with an H3D­39 or an H4D­50. He takes the H3D­31, above all, when he is heading for less safe areas. “You’re only risking a small part of the in­vestment in a H4D­50 …”

Van Iperen’s Colombia series was inspired, by German photographer, August Sander. In the 1920s Sander did a series of portraits trying to put together a sort of “German typol­ogy”. “When I started working on this personal project I departed from his idea, and set it in Colombia today instead of Germany in the 1920s.” In addition, Van Iperen sometimes adds very fantastical elements to his pictures: “Where Sander’s photos, like his culture, are devoid of any ‘fantasy’ elements, in Colombia and in my photos it is something inevi­table.” ■ julia braune

right: Traveling by bus in Colom-bia is an adventure. if and when

you reach your destination is nev- er sure; musicians and performers

provide a welcome distraction

please find this movie at www.victorbyhasselblad.com

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left: playing billiards is a popular pastime for Colombian men. “Billar londres” is one of the best known meeting points to play in the capital Bogotá

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The PerfecT ADDiTion To The STAble.

Produced under license of Ferrari Spa. FERRARI, the PRANCING HORSE device, all associated logos and distinctive designs are property of Ferrari Spa.