I think this was necessary and long overdue: a restructuring and update of my homepage.
a simpler and easier way to get into the main content
my work presented in themes instead of locations/countries
Here is why:
It was January 2018 when I launched this homepage. My own digital home where I have the sole decision on when and how to present my work, other than trusting photo sharing sites or social media to show my images. It was the time that I decided my photography should be more than a passionate hobby. A time where I started investing into and sort of ‘professionalizing’ my art.
I had enough images to show. But I didn’t have what I then thought was important: a variety in locations. Well, I was starting out and falsely believing that I would need a decent portfolio of location images. So to kick my homepage off, I divided it into sections of images with mountains, water, forests and cities. I think it was half a year later that I changed it into sections based on locations that I had photographed: Dolomites, Lofoten, Faroe Islands, Portugal, Iceland, Germany and others. These sections grew as I kept on traveling and photographing.
What also grew was the awareness that I started to get less and less fascinated by photographing the so called iconic locations. My photography matured. At least that is how it did feel to me. And seeing how some of my images got imitated and that people started following to the locations I went, I stopped sharing location informations. Not to prevent people from ‘redoing’ my images (in a way I do take this as a compliment, really), but in order to try to protect the sometimes fragile places and not have them be overrun. Ultimately I did sign up for Nature First. And being sensitive on location sharing is one of the principles in which I do believe.
And although I still like seeing great locations with my own eyes, my art is not focused on the location itself anymore, but much rather on what I do express and how I do frame a scene. Bottom line: it doesn’t make sense anymore to present my work sectioned in countries or those specific areas.
I even considered structuring my images by feeling or emotion. But I guess that might be a stretch for some viewers browsing my gallery on my homepage. And I want your time spent here be worthwhile and not confusion. So I let that idea go.
Lastly, I did get rid of the “cover” page which showed an animated gallery and on which you had to press “enter” to get to the inside of my homepage. I still liked this cover, having it work like a cover of a book. But I get it that every click a visitor does on a homepage has to serve a purpose and that you have to have your content be available with greatest ease. And so the “cover” page had to go.
Enter the stage: the updated homepage of yours truly. And with this, I do hope you find browsing my homepage and new galleries interesting, maybe even inspiring. With less thought on where images were taken. And with more emphasis on how they connect with you and what becomes of them in your mind. Enjoy!