Today, I’m joined by Gino Ricardo, a street photographer from Rotterdam, the Netherlands. He is actually featured in the same book as I am: Captured Antwerp.
Follow Gino Ricardo:
- Website: https://www.fleeting.pictures/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fleeting_pictures/
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- BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/fredpaulussen.bsky.social
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- My website: www.fredericpaulussen.be
Timestamps of this episode with Gino Ricardo
00:00 Introduction to Street Photography and Gino Ricardo
02:00 Contrasting Cities: Antwerp vs. Rotterdam
05:07 The Transition from Animation to Photography
10:33 Fluidity in Photography: Blending Genres
12:39 Patience in Pursuit: The Art of Waiting for the Shot
19:36 Capturing Motion: The Marathon Experience
24:50 Events in Rotterdam: A Street Photographer’s Playground
26:24 Color vs. Black and White: A Photographer’s Choice
28:30 Editing Philosophy: Quick Edits vs. Creative Process
30:15 Exploring Analog Photography
36:02 The Challenges of Street Photography
42:27 The Journey into Photography
49:35 Capturing Unique Perspectives
54:01 Influences and Inspirations
Photographers, resources, and gear mentioned in this episode:
- Captured: Antwerp
- Octavian Carare
- Tibo Desaegher
- The Guggenheim image
- Museum Boijmans
- Museum Boijmans image
- Joel Meyerowitz
- Matt Stuart
- Rotterdam Unlimited
- Borgerrio
- Rolleiflex
- Rolleicord
- Vivian Maier
- Double Exposure
- Panasonic GH5
- Fred Herzog
- Sebastião Salgado
- Ragnar Axelsson
Thank you for listening to this conversation with Gino. Don’t forget to subscribe to be updated about upcoming episodes. Feel free to reach out via social media if you have any questions or ideas you’d like to share.
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Podcast Transcript
Frederic Paulussen (00:01)
So welcome to the Slice of Time Street Photography Podcast. Today I’m joined by Gino Ricardo, a street photographer from, well, nearby me, Rotterdam in the Netherlands. And he’s also featured in the same book as me, which is funny because he’s featured in the book Captured Antwerp and not Captured Rotterdam. So in the same book as me. So hey, ⁓ Gino, could you introduce yourself shortly?
Gino (00:26)
Fred, nice to meet you. Yeah, like you said, my name is Gino Ricardo and I’m from the Netherlands, Rotterdam. And that’s where I take a lot of my pictures. And also that’s quite funny that we are featured like in the same book. I didn’t know that. I have it here behind me.
Frederic Paulussen (00:42)
Yeah.
Well, yeah,
yeah, I’ve been here and I was going through your website through the book or a page on your about page, which like publications and I saw like captured and published and it was like, I had the same book as me. I immediately went through the book and I saw like, okay, of course, yeah, I should have known.
Gino (00:56)
about certain
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Frederic Paulussen (01:08)
Maybe
for context, for the people listening in, it’s not that it’s like just us two in the book, so it’s weird that we didn’t know each other. But it’s a book with 45 photographers, if I remember correctly. Yeah.
Gino (01:24)
Yeah, 45 street photographers, I think from
the Netherlands and from Antwerp that are featured in the book.
Frederic Paulussen (01:31)
Yeah so most
correctly yeah so it’s Dutch and Belgian photographers and it’s a book all about Antwerp there’s also a book about Rotterdam and now I saw there’s a book about Berlin already and one coming up from London but anyway ⁓ so we’re featured in the same book about Antwerp ⁓ so of course immediately maybe the question rises did you notice any differences in photographing Antwerp and photographing Rotterdam?
Gino (02:00)
Yeah, definitely. Like Rotterdam, I’m much more familiar with. So it’s for me, maybe because I’ve been photographing Rotterdam for like the past five years or so, four years. So it’s kind of easier to recognize some spots and sometimes because you walk around the city that many times, like the same locations, and then you start seeing something different.
And with Antwerp, just probably maybe also know them like Thibaut and Octavian. So I usually visit Antwerp and I just photograph with them and then just like for one day. And that’s maybe twice a year, depending how everybody’s schedule is. yeah, for me, it’s like totally different because Antwerp kind of feels like a new territory. And you just have to discover it kind of like I discovered Rotterdam.
So you’re starting new. And sometimes, sometimes this is, that’s very good. But other times it’s also, yeah, you know, you don’t know. So you don’t know the rhythm or the vibe of the city. So you need to get acquainted with it. And within one day, that’s almost impossible.
Frederic Paulussen (02:57)
Yeah, so.
Yeah, so it helps for you to have like knowledge of the city. Because for me, for example, ⁓ Antwerp is hard for me because it’s like always the same to me and I’ve seen everything it feels. So for me, like for example, when I come to Rotterdam or I go to Brussels or Amsterdam, it’s like, it’s new and thus inspiring. So it’s different for you. You prefer your hometown or?
Gino (03:29)
you
No, mean, it works both ways, right? I mean, sometimes the familiarity, that’s quite nice because then you know, hey, I’ve visited like this area in Rotterdam like quite a lot. So you just go to the right instead of going to the left. So you go on a discovery, you know, and with new cities, like everything is new. So I went to New York like two years ago and you know, you just walk around, just walking and…
Trying to get a vibe, trying to get to know the city. It’s in their own way good because after you photograph the same city for years, at some point you need to get a fresh ⁓ perspective. So going out to a different city, that helps a lot.
Frederic Paulussen (04:12)
Hmm.
Gino (04:33)
Because like I said, like I went to New York and then I came back and then I saw Rotterdam like totally new eyes, saw different sides that I didn’t see before. So at least for me it works both ways. you kind of need to have, you need to have the old but also have the new and the new can give you like energy to discover, to see the old new again. If that makes sense. Yeah.
Frederic Paulussen (04:57)
Yeah,
no, no, makes sense. it’s yeah, refreshes your eye for for the city you’re in. So it makes makes total sense.
Gino (05:02)
Yeah. Yeah. Definitely.
Frederic Paulussen (05:07)
And then, yeah, maybe because we’re getting a bit ahead of… ⁓ I first want to get back to… ⁓ You mentioned on your website that you studied animation and ⁓ motion design. So for me, it was interesting for all two aspects, but I wanted to meet or look at one first. Was it different for you because you, ⁓ of course, you’re working with ⁓ moving images like video. Was it hard for you to translate to
photography, is of course, ⁓ there’s, there’s, it’s like a single image, no, without a continuous in time.
Gino (05:46)
I mean, no, because like you said, I studied like animation and design. So with animation, if you go back to the old classics, so you know, Walt Disney, let’s say Snow White, like the one of the very first animations, like those guys would just draw every action, like on a piece of paper and just flip through it. So that’s also what I did when I started studying animation.
So it was very, yeah, you you need to think about the story. You need to design everything. You need to come up with everything. And with photography, it’s like you have a world, it’s set, you know, like for example, a scene with light and shadow, you can’t do anything about it because everything is set in concrete. So it kind of makes life easier.
But also sometimes it makes ⁓ also life harder because you know like the light and shadow example that I just mentioned like everybody’s doing that. So how are you or in this case how am I going to make something different out of that I’ve seen that everybody’s captured before. So I think there’s a nice I mean there’s a nice duality between the two because like I said with animation yet to just do everything yourself so you have to.
Frederic Paulussen (06:40)
Okay.
Gino (07:09)
come up with the character, the backgrounds, the stories, you need to make it move and then with the colors, et cetera. with, yeah, like I said, with photography is just, yeah, set in stone, but you can also make something new of it, you know, try to create your own narrative and just, in my case, try to show the world or the images a bit different to the people, if that makes sense.
Frederic Paulussen (07:37)
Yeah. And so do you still do like animation and motion design or? Yeah. Okay.
Gino (07:43)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I do that. Like
on occasion, like until two years ago, was like fully doing that full time. And now I transition more into a photography job doing also videography. So that’s quite, quite interesting because I kind of see it like it’s, it’s kind of like a puzzle that you have, you know, there’s like a couple of pieces of the puzzle. So you have like the animation and design or animation. That’s one puzzle. The design, that’s like the second puzzle.
And then you have the photography, that’s like the third puzzle, and then the videography that kind of completes it, at least for my case. it’s more like an, yeah, it’s been an expansion of my skillset.
Frederic Paulussen (08:18)
⁓ Yeah
And so because you, now that you mentioned actually the design a few times, noticed that it repeats in your photography as well. So there’s like a ⁓ design aspect in your photography, ⁓ which of course makes sense now. Do you notice that yourself? Is that something you look for or?
Gino (08:51)
No, I’m not really aware of that. I think with my photography, like the new route, ⁓ of course, like in the beginning when I did like the light and shadow stuff, I mean, it kind of relates with the design because, you know, for the design, you just look at composition, you know, and the light and shadows just for like one single character and there’s like a cool scene and there’s nice light and there’s nice shadow and that’s it.
So that’s kind of very one-on-one translation that you can have with the design and photography. But I think with like my, the newer work that I’m making, like the more, I’m not sure if it’s like abstract or even if it’s like ⁓ street photography, know, like the normal street photography that you see at the common, that I try to make something that’s not.
not of this area, like when you see one of the images that you think like in 20 years it could have been taken then, but it could have been taken like 20, 30, 40 years ago. So that you can define a time and a place to it. I think that’s interesting, at least that’s what I find interesting.
Frederic Paulussen (10:04)
you because you mentioned like the what you consider street photography or not is that something you you look for like is it important for you to to to be like it has to be street photography or is it okay for you to for it to be fluid between the genres of street photography to abstract photography to ⁓ to other types of photography because you also do architecture for example is that
Gino (10:33)
Yeah, yeah.
Frederic Paulussen (10:33)
Are those…
Is it for you like you go out with a mindset of I’m going to do architecture now or I’m going to do street photography now or I’m going to do…
Gino (10:44)
No, no, at least like for the architecture stuff, just started. That was like the very beginning, very start of my photography. And you you saw, I saw like a lot of gray street photographers and I was like, my God, I’m also going to do street photography. And then you walk out with your camera and then you pointed at somebody’s face like, uh-oh, it doesn’t work like that. So I first like started with architecture. So I did that like for like, I think two years.
Frederic Paulussen (11:03)
Hmm. Yeah.
Gino (11:12)
And then slowly when I also ⁓ knew the camera, so I knew like the settings, how to turn stuff without looking, then slowly and gradually I went into more street photography. And so to come back to your question, I don’t go out and be like, today I’m going to do architecture or today I’m going to do street photography. I think it’s like more pretty fluid. So it’s kind of like, ⁓
I go out and I see what happens. Sometimes I go out with like a mindset, hey, I’ve seen that scene before. And then I want to try to get that shot that I have in my mind. And sometimes that could be like, you know, I can get it done within a weekend, but it also can take like two, three or four months before I get the shot that I have in mind. with that, I tried for myself, I tried to keep it fluid because otherwise I just feel like
Frederic Paulussen (12:02)
Okay.
Gino (12:11)
getting into a creative rut a lot earlier than when I do, hey, I see like something cool architecture, take that shot. I see like a nice abstract photo, then I take that shot and then I see something street related, then I take that shot. For me, it’s I think more like a way that I see and a way that I like to work to just keep it, like I said, like fluid for myself.
Frederic Paulussen (12:19)
Yeah.
Okay, cool. so because you mentioned, of course, that you have like an idea for a photo that’s more for architecture, right? Or do you also in street photography have like, I’m going to go there and I want it like this and like that and then wait for like hours or how do you, is that differently then?
Gino (12:55)
I know that I
mean for architecture, sometimes it’s quite simple. just go out and I see the shot and I take the shot. So for my architectural scenes, don’t visit the same place that often. That comes more in hand with street photography. For example, I think on my Instagram, there’s an image of at Guggenheim. I think it’s Guggenheim.
I pinned it on my, Then you see like there’s a guy on top and then there’s, you see like the top part of the guy and then you see like a balcony and then below you see like the legs. I think I stood and then you see like another guy in the corner, like half his body and then at the left, also see some legs. I think I was there for like four hours or something.
Frederic Paulussen (13:27)
yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
Gino (13:50)
I went to New York for seven days and I spent four or five hours just trying to get that shot. I just saw it and I was like, I’m not leaving till I get what I have in mind. And then I took like hundreds of shots and then I went back and I think I took that shot within the first hour.
Frederic Paulussen (13:51)
Really.
Yeah.
Okay, you’re a very patient person and that’s crazy.
Gino (14:15)
Yeah, I
need to be. I mean, I need to be, but I also try to be, you know, because if you’re a patient, like the Guggenheim thing, because I was there for so long and I started seeing that, you know, then if you see different stuff and if you just go to Guggenheim and walk for an hour and just rush to it and, you know, take, just take a million pictures, you’re not looking. So I rather
Frederic Paulussen (14:32)
Yeah, true.
Gino (14:44)
be there for longer and have that one shot? I mean, is it the best shot in the world? Not really, but it’s something different. It’s something interesting at least to me. You know, I rather have that than just walk around in New York and take the same shots that everybody’s taking.
Frederic Paulussen (14:53)
Yeah, it’s a shot, yeah.
Yeah, you also made like a similar shot in Amsterdam, in Rotterdam, ⁓ with the… What’s the museum called? Museum Depot Boijmans?
Gino (15:19)
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Frederic Paulussen (15:20)
⁓ but there of course it’s well it’s it’s a similar shot but it’s differently made because it’s with a mirror so it’s yeah to me it’s funny that you you made a combination was that was that a long wait as well or did you did that happen ⁓
Gino (15:27)
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, the
one at Boijmans. Also, I think I went there for like three weekends or something. At first I noticed the shot, like I think somewhere in summer. And I was like, damn, that’s very interesting. I wonder if I can get the shot. And then I just kept going for like not as crazy as in New York, know, the Guggenheim, that’s because I was there for just seven days. So I had to get it.
Frederic Paulussen (15:45)
Mm-hmm.
Gino (16:03)
So, and here I think I just went for like two hour time period. So I kept going to the Boijmans and just kept watching, kept observing, hey, where do I need to stand? And I almost got it like a couple of times, but then the people were very similar. So you wouldn’t, you didn’t get it. Yeah. And then this shot came along and you know, you get it. It’s like a guy, think he’s wearing like a yellow shirt and the girl is wearing like a skirt, a skirt, a zebra skirt.
Frederic Paulussen (16:21)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Zebra skirt yeah.
Gino (16:33)
And
yeah, and yeah, I, that’s like something it’s kind of like with the, what we’re talking about, like the animation and design sometimes because you need to come up with stuff. Um, some ideas don’t, uh, how do you say, come to mind. And with photography like this instance, I just saw that I was like, Whoa, how cool would that be if I can get a shot like that? And then.
It just presented itself. know, of course I went there for like four weekends. I spent like eight to 10 hours there to just trying to get the shot. But eventually I think even when I got the shot, I went there like a couple of times. Like sometimes when I’m in Rotterdam and I’m like not inspired, I try to take that shot again. But I think it’s worked like one, but it’s not as good as the one that I took.
Frederic Paulussen (17:04)
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, to me, it’s crazy. You, you can go back to or or focus on, on getting one image for like so long for me. It’s like, I see something happen if I get it or I don’t get it. And if I don’t get it, I’m, I’m already done with it, but it’s, it’s maybe I should try it more. Yeah.
Gino (17:40)
huh.
Yeah, yeah,
yeah. in this case, know what this… I saw it and I knew that the possibility was very high for me to get it. know, it’s like some shots that, for example, Joel Meyerwitz or Matt Stuart take, you know, with a guy with the umbrella that looks like a pickle. I mean, you can’t go on the streets again and again and again to see that shot. You either see it or you don’t.
Frederic Paulussen (17:57)
Yeah. Yeah.
No, true.
Gino (18:14)
So I also have those kind of moments that I see something and take it and you can never replicate it again. And at Boijmans, I knew if I just stick with it long enough, it’s going to fall into place. there’s like, yeah, the same at think at Guggenheim. I think it was at the Guggenheim. It’s the same. You go there long enough, at some point it’s going to fall together like a puzzle.
Frederic Paulussen (18:25)
Yeah, true.
Yeah, okay, it makes sense, something stood out to me, but I forgot what I wanted to ask now again. Oh yeah, you mentioned that you go back to the museum for this kind of photo if you feel uninspired. And I think it’s an interesting thing to mention because I do that as well sometimes. It’s like those repeats places you go to if you feel stuck and it’s…
Gino (19:07)
Mm-mm-mm.
Frederic Paulussen (19:09)
places you know so I think that’s interesting that you have it as well so it’s for me there’s a couple of places in Antwerp that I go to as well if I feel like I’m not getting any shots or I don’t I don’t see anything interesting ⁓ it’s I just go there and usually it gets me back into the yeah so it’s it’s cool that you you have that too and it’s cool that you have that with that one specific photo then as well ⁓
Gino (19:25)
Yeah, get you in the flow. Yeah. Yeah.
Frederic Paulussen (19:36)
So of course, for people listening in, I’ll link the photo in the show notes, just so you know which photo we’re talking about. Both the Guggenheim photo and the museum Boijmans photo. So something else that stood out to me because of your animation and motion design is because of course you’re with a moving ⁓ medium in that space. But also in your photography, I noticed a lot of ⁓
like ICM, like motion blur and also like ⁓ an attraction to moving objects or moving subjects better. ⁓ Is that something also that came spontaneously or how did that happen you think? For example you have the marathon
Gino (20:27)
I think that happened.
Yeah, like the marathon. I I started to photograph the marathon for like two years. And how that started was I, we all know the images of the marathon, right? I mean, it’s usually like the guy who finishes with his hands stretching, yeah, I made it. But you never see like the, like, I think the description of that image, like the guys with the, you know, with the dadbod
that body, the mothers with the junk in the trunk with a little bit too much weight, the ones that will never finish first, you never see those. And you never also, you don’t see the people who struggle during the marathon because I mean, running 40 miles or 40 kilometers, that’s insane. mean, yeah, everybody breaks like at one point or another. And I just found this space.
Frederic Paulussen (21:17)
Yeah.
Gino (21:25)
And I was like, I just want to try something different. You know, so I just tried to try to use slow shutter speeds. And then it just clicked. And that’s like a spot that I go to every year. And every year it’s like a surprise. You know, one time people are like stretching in the, in the tunnel and you see like the motion blur trail behind them. And for the, year I just captured this guy. I think his name was Tom and he just was.
Absolutely demolished and he was just sitting there with his hands like in front of his face and I was like, dude, that’s like, first I saw him coming and I didn’t know if he was all right because I think I stayed with him in the tunnel because I saw it. I don’t think he’s doing well. So at first I just observed.
Frederic Paulussen (22:14)
Okay,
you really talk to him as well afterwards.
Gino (22:16)
No, I didn’t talk
to him. just, saw him coming, you know, running and I event like next to the wall, like with some, some people do just take a rest. But I saw like, you know, maybe he’s not doing well. So I just kept my distance and I was just looking for the medics if there was somebody around. And then I think after 15 minutes, he was still sitting there and I was like, maybe I should call somebody or tell somebody, Hey, take a look at this guy and
The medics they thank God they were there and they went to him and checked him up and see if everything was alright and in the meantime I just took a couple of shots of him. You know I have like different variations. When he entered the tunnel people passing him also with the medics busy with him and at the end I think he was like sitting with his hand in his hair or on his head and he was like you see that he was devastated because he wanted to finish the marathon but
Yeah, I took those shots and I saw the medics were like, you’re okay, you’re good to go. And then he went and left. went on his way and we never exchanged a single word. don’t think he even knew that I was there. that’s it. Yeah, I think it continued running for a bit, but I don’t know if he finished. I don’t think so. I don’t think so. Because he was, yeah, the gas tank was empty. Let’s put it that way. Yeah.
Frederic Paulussen (23:26)
Okay, did he continued running or did he just stop and went?
Yeah.
Okay.
Probably, yeah.
Can’t blame him, I’ve never even tried so I can’t, I’m not gonna… To me it’s also funny because it’s like in front of a poster with like The Last of Us, which is of course a series but in this context it gives it a funny twist to… ⁓
Gino (23:46)
Nah, I’m not going to try it either, so yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, I, indeed, I also
saw the poster and that’s kind of how it started. I photographed, think different people in front of the poster because I wanted to get like the zombie effect. So I also have those, but I never shared them, shared them online. So you just have like super vague faces and then you have like the text, last of us. So it looks like, like a corpse or like a zombie or something, like a ghost or spirit just passing by.
Frederic Paulussen (24:10)
Okay.
Gino (24:25)
Like really, I thought it was like really interesting and fascinated.
Frederic Paulussen (24:30)
Okay, yeah, that’s cool. That’s funny. I like Rotterdam as well. have very big events like these. We have a marathon as well, but it doesn’t seem as nice as yours. And like last summer I was in Rotterdam and there’s this thing, Rotterdam Unlimited, which is this.
the people listening it’s like a big carnival and it’s like two or three days it’s it’s it’s and we we have something similar here in Antwerp here in Antwerp it’s like one afternoon and it’s it’s in one neighborhood and it’s it’s like a fun small kind of thing ⁓ called called Borger Rio ⁓ but in in in Rotterdam it’s like this it’s like a massive event like it it attracts so many people coming to watch so i like that as a
Gino (24:53)
Yeah. Yeah.
that’s cool.
Frederic Paulussen (25:19)
Like Rotterdam is definitely a good street photography city. ⁓
Gino (25:23)
Yeah, definitely, definitely. There’s like
a lot of things to do, a lot of events also going on. But I think if you sometimes compare it to other cities like maybe London or New York, it doesn’t compare. It’s like every weekend there’s something going on and here it’s like a couple of times a year. And then also all street photographers are like out with, like you said, with Carnival. You go walk in Rotterdam, you meet
Frederic Paulussen (25:40)
Yeah.
Gino (25:51)
pretty much every street photographer that’s busy doing street in Rotterdam, you can see them, you can spot them like from a mile away. So that’s why I from Carnival tend to just stay away from that. That’s it. Yeah, it’s fun, but yeah, it’s…
Frederic Paulussen (25:53)
Yeah.
Okay, yeah For me it was a
coincidence. I just booked a holiday during that period and I arrived in Rotterdam. It’s like, it’s Carnival. Okay, I didn’t know and then of course, yeah, I leaned into it, but
Gino (26:14)
Thank ⁓
That’s a nice surprise. That’s a nice surprise.
Frederic Paulussen (26:23)
So yeah, that’s very fun. But also the Marathon, maybe I should come next time. I also wanted to… I noticed that on your website you make like a distinct ⁓ difference between like your street photography in color and your street photography in black and white. Is there… And on your Instagram it’s… Well, it’s mixed as well. Yeah.
Gino (26:39)
Mm-hmm.
Now my Instagram is like everything just
crisscrossed together and I don’t care.
Frederic Paulussen (26:50)
yeah
and so do you are you like someone who do it like premeditated like now i’m going to shoot black and white or i want this to be in black and white or it’s more like a after the facts in lightroom decision
Gino (27:09)
Yeah, that’s a good one. No, I don’t. There are some shots that I think like, hey, this will work better in black and white, but predominantly I just shoot in color. And a lot of the times, are, yeah, most of the time it’s like an afterthought. I don’t go with the mindset, like unless you shoot like light and shadow and that kind of stuff, then you’re like, okay, that needs to be, know, black and white. But they’re like,
Frederic Paulussen (27:27)
Yeah, okay.
Gino (27:38)
Not a lot of shots. I there some when I’m shooting it, then you’re like, hmm, this should be in black and white. Then you already know, I’m going to, I would say convert it to black and white and lightroom. But a lot of the time I just try to capture what I see and stick to that. It may sound a bit, a bit weird, but yeah, there’s, there, yeah, I have no, no thought in that.
Frederic Paulussen (27:48)
Yeah.
No, no, yeah.
Gino (28:07)
for that. I just shoot what I feel and that’s pretty much it.
Frederic Paulussen (28:08)
Okay.
Yeah, cool. And because we’re now on the topic of editing and it comes to mind, maybe for design you’re a lot behind your computer already. Is that something, are you big on editing? Do you like editing or is it more like whatever and I want to go out again?
Gino (28:30)
I’d rather be on the street than editing. Yeah, it’s not, yeah, mean, sometimes it’s quick, you I think for my images, if I edit for like 15 minutes, that’s long. I try to get like, yeah, I try to get my edits done like within 10 minutes.
Frederic Paulussen (28:33)
Okay, so it’s like a quick…
15, like one five, yeah.
per photo or per walk? Okay, okay.
Gino (28:52)
No, no, no, per photo, per photo. Yeah. So I tend
not to, you know, if I need like 30 minutes to edit a photo, then I’ve done something wrong. At least that’s my personal opinion. You know, I think the ingredients, everything needs to be there and editing is just to enhance it.
Frederic Paulussen (29:02)
Okay. Yeah.
Yeah, it’s just like the seasoning at the end.
Gino (29:14)
Yeah,
yeah, because otherwise you’re just taking pictures and editing. You’re like, shit, sorry, didn’t mean to curse But yeah, but otherwise, you know, it feels more like an afterthought. And I try to get everything that I want, like in camera, of course, you know, you tweak colors, balance, the tone curve, the S curve, you know, put more contrast, etc. But
Frederic Paulussen (29:21)
No worries.
Yeah.
Gino (29:40)
Like for my images, like I said, in between five to 10 minutes, the edit needs to be done. I don’t want to sit for like 30 minutes behind the computer and then edit a bunch of more photos. So yeah, I have like a backlog now from I think this year and last year that I, images that I need to edit sorts. Yeah, but like I said, I rather be on the street.
Frederic Paulussen (30:02)
Okay.
Yeah.
Gino (30:07)
Yeah, now I’m also practicing or practicing ⁓ also shooting film.
Frederic Paulussen (30:15)
Okay, cool.
Gino (30:16)
So yeah, I mean, it’s just lovely to just get a scan of the lab and it’s like, that’s it. There’s not much you can do to it. I it is what it is.
Frederic Paulussen (30:24)
Yeah.
Yeah,
to some degree if you go into the darkroom or if you load it into Lightroom. And is there a reason you’re trying analog now or?
Gino (30:38)
Yeah, I mean, I just felt maybe a bit bored and I just wanted to try something, try something new, you know, and a friend of mine had like a rolleiflex And I said, Hmm, that’s interesting. That’s cool looking. And I was like, you know, I’m just trying to get like also get a analog camera. And I think I went to this camera place in ⁓ Delft a couple of times and they were like, Hey, just keep an eye out on the space.
Frederic Paulussen (30:46)
Okay.
Gino (31:08)
and with very good customer service. And then I found like a Rolleicord and was like, let’s try it out. And it’s just, yeah, it’s just super different. mean, you your images, they’re always square. So that means your compositions are going to change. You’re also shooting film. mean, it depends, you know, do you shoot color, do you shoot black and white? And here you have to be…
Frederic Paulussen (31:16)
Yeah, cool.
Gino (31:36)
pretty deliberately to, know, sometimes I look at a scene, I’m like, shoot this, this should have been color, but then you have black and white loaded. And then it’s like, yeah, your second image and then you need to take 10 more images before you can change the role. So yeah, it’s, yeah, it’s more to also challenge myself to also for like street photography. was, everybody knows Vivian Maier and you know, back in a day and I would just try and,
Frederic Paulussen (31:45)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Gino (32:05)
At least I tried to, the project was more meant to photograph, do portraits, like family and friends. And then I was like, you know, why not take it on the street and just try to do street photography with it? And of course, you know, that’s true. So it’s like super difficult. I mean, I’m like, yeah.
Frederic Paulussen (32:23)
Yeah.
And so do you notice that it changes your way of working digitally or looking at subjects?
Gino (32:39)
Yeah,
definitely. Because, you know, with film, you only have 12 images. So it’s kind of like in the beginning, it was kind of like, ah, this is the work worth the shot. And I also tend to wait more for moments. instead of, you know, some stuff that are like, for example, the Boijmans shot, I mean, I don’t think I would have gotten that with the analog image. I mean, I took like so many shots before I get there.
Frederic Paulussen (33:04)
Okay, yeah.
Gino (33:08)
So I think it’s like very, how do you say it, very.
Yeah, it’s like there’s like a difficulty level. ⁓ I think to it because I don’t know if you shot like with the rolleicord or a rolleiflex Yeah, I mean you’re you’re looking down in the viewfinder to the the image and then your image is also it’s mirrored. So you know sometimes you’re like I need to go to the left and then you have to go the opposite way. You need to go to the right.
Frederic Paulussen (33:25)
No, not yet,
Gino (33:43)
And it’s yeah, it’s much more slower pace. It’s not like a Leica M6 that you can just put a roll in it. click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click,
Frederic Paulussen (33:52)
Yeah.
Okay, I was gonna ask, yeah, more things that are more static maybe or no.
Gino (33:57)
No,
more moments that are ⁓ revealing themselves more slowly. Yeah, so it could be like a crowd of people or maybe like a house or like something on a beach. Also, there’s like also some street stuff I’ve been posting. I think I posted like two on Instagram. And I think the last two posts or something it was. I’m trying to, yeah.
Frederic Paulussen (34:04)
Okay.
yeah, it’s says so
Gino (34:26)
So for me, it’s like way slower way to photograph and you really need to at least I tend to take my time because you have 12 shots. Film is not cheap. Developing is also not cheap. yeah, I try to capture more like the mundane stuff.
Frederic Paulussen (34:26)
It’s a slack film part too.
Okay.
Gino (34:54)
No the the stuff that you see but nobody wants to capture with us like that’s boring as bitchy not lovely couple. So i tried to try to do that.
Frederic Paulussen (35:06)
Okay, that’s cool. Do you mostly color or black and white for film?
Gino (35:13)
Now I bought a bunch of black and white films. It’s cheaper and also with the winter months, when I go to work at six o’clock in the morning, then most of time there’s fog. So if I shoot color, ⁓ you’re not going to see it. least I don’t think that you’re going to see it much. So I just bought black and white and just shoot black and white.
Frederic Paulussen (35:19)
Okay.
Okay.
Gino (35:41)
And on occasion I’m like, ⁓ I needed color for this, but sassa. That’s the way the cookie crumbles.
Frederic Paulussen (35:46)
Yeah, yeah, so
that’s unfortunately, yeah. And so you do it like on the way to work, as you mentioned, or is it like, when do you make time for street photography?
Gino (35:52)
Yeah.
it depends. It’s like most of the time in the weekend, I do it, but also I just take when I go to work, I take my camera in the public transportation and you know, at six o’clock in the morning, sometimes there’s like very interesting stuff happening. Just people sleeping, people with blankets over their heads. know, yeah, some pretty interesting stuff. Most of time it’s like pretty boring. ⁓
Frederic Paulussen (36:17)
Yeah.
Gino (36:29)
But on occasion there’s like some stuff and I just take it, try to take it to the rolleicord That’s pretty interesting also.
Frederic Paulussen (36:38)
Okay, so you bring it like you really bring it to work every day. Wow.
Gino (36:41)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah,
just put it in my bag and just bring it to work with me like every day.
Frederic Paulussen (36:48)
Okay, because it’s fairly big, no?
Gino (36:51)
No, no, no, it’s quite, uh, no, no, it’s quite, uh, quite small. have it here. Yeah. can show you in real time.
Frederic Paulussen (36:57)
It’s quite compact, okay.
Yeah, I have like photos online, it’s, uh, there’s no scale, of course.
Gino (37:03)
Yeah,
no, no. So this is it and this is the Fuji. Just to do like a scale comparison.
Frederic Paulussen (37:07)
Yeah, okay.
It’s not huge, but it’s still, it’s, yeah.
Gino (37:17)
Yeah, it’s still, you know, you’re taking a camera with you. So it’s not for that. Yeah.
Frederic Paulussen (37:21)
Yeah, you don’t put it just in
your coat bucket or something, but okay, yeah.
Gino (37:25)
Yeah, so I just take it to work with me and know photograph. Sorry.
Frederic Paulussen (37:27)
And so you… and only the analog?
So you only bring the Rolleicord now or also the Fuji still? Okay. Okay. That’s ⁓ dedicated. I’m like one camera, one lens and that will be it for that day. Sometimes, well now I start bringing a second lens because it’s a small lens but…
Gino (37:36)
No, no, no, I bring both. So I have like the digital and analog.
Yeah, yeah.
Frederic Paulussen (37:55)
I’d yeah I want to travel light if I do street photography I want to travel light
Gino (38:01)
Yeah,
definitely. That’s also the advice I would give, if you want to do a street just in the travel light. know, travel light instead of having extra cameras, bring like a bottle of water, food, know, good shoes, all that kind of stuff. like for this, you know, that’s when I see something that I think like, oh, that’s pretty cool. Like I think a couple of weeks ago, I saw like a guy walking in, I think near Amsterdam.
Frederic Paulussen (38:11)
Yeah.
Gino (38:30)
And he just looked like a gentleman who just came out of the 1800s. I mean, he had the cash, had the bowler hat, he had like everything. So I just stopped and was like, hey man, I have like this old camera. Do you mind if I take a portrait with you? And he was like an English man. was like, yeah, sure. Fine. Go ahead. Yeah. yeah. So I mean, it kind of, kind of.
Frederic Paulussen (38:36)
Yeah.
That’s cool, yeah. Works perfectly with the camera, yeah.
Gino (38:58)
Now you get like a different vibe also with analog. Right. I, at least I really enjoy like the process, but also like the, the nerve wracking. ⁓ Did you get the shot? then, you know, I also took like a photo of this character and then he was like, yeah, I’m coming. I’m having a book coming out at the end of the year. So just don’t put it online. And what happened for that picture.
You saw like half of his body, like from his head to top was undeveloped. So I sent it to him. I was like, yeah, this is analog. So this can happen. was like, where’s my head? I was like, yeah, you kind of, you kind of asked the photography gods not to shove your head. So yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But I mean, it’s, it’s, it’s more like a funny story than, you know, that’s, yeah. Yeah. I mean, yeah.
Frederic Paulussen (39:33)
no.
that’s a shame,
Yeah, that’s fun thing
about street photography. It’s also like the shots you miss sometimes are equally as funny stories. Or sometimes you have a shot and then something happens and it’s a nice addition to ⁓ the story. ⁓
Gino (40:03)
Yeah, indeed.
Frederic Paulussen (40:15)
So yeah, for me, it’s, it’s, I have a few photos for that I have my, that I made this, this year, for example, which I love, aren’t like necessarily photographic, like the best photos, but it, there’s like something happened before or after it that I really liked. And it’s like a, uh, a souvenir for myself. So it’s a, like the same with this photo, like, yeah, you had interaction. was a nice conversation.
Gino (40:36)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Frederic Paulussen (40:42)
And now you have the unfortunately underdeveloped photo, it’s still something. And ⁓ well, who knows, like, because I’ve seen, I think some like double exposure edits. No, maybe I’m wrong. On your website, maybe it can be used ⁓ for something ⁓ in that. ⁓
sense, like you can use it for a collage or whatever. So who knows, it’s still valuable in the end. ⁓
Gino (41:12)
Yeah, yeah, definitely,
definitely. But like what you saw on my website, those are not double exposures, by the way. Yeah, those are all taken. Everybody thinks like, it’s the double exposure that you took two shots in camera, edit them in Lightroom. But everything that you see that’s been taken using the environment.
Frederic Paulussen (41:18)
Okay.
Yeah.
that’s cool because there’s like one from a guy with like glasses and you see him like his silhouette like four times like after guns yeah four times so that’s not even there it’s a double exposure or
Gino (41:48)
No, None of the images are double exposure. Yeah. So that’s why also with those kind of shots, I go back to the street like many times to just try to take that shot.
Frederic Paulussen (41:52)
That’s crazy, that’s well done, wow.
Okay, that’s ⁓ dedication. And so maybe circling back to the very beginning as well, why did you get into photography perhaps or street photography? Was there a reason? Because for most people it’s like a creative outlet, but for you you already had a creative outlet, I assume. So why did you get into photography or street photography?
Gino (42:05)
Yeah.
Actually, the story starts, I think, before that. Because while I was working at the agency, so doing animation and design, as they call it, name Motion Graphics, ⁓ I traveled with my girlfriend quite a lot. So every time we traveled, I would just take a GoPro with me. And I just wanted to capture my travels. When you come home after four weeks of the United States,
do like a little edit, montage and say, hey, this was our trip. Instead of having a photo book, you show just people in ⁓ images, 24 images a second. You just show them a whole video. And actually that’s kind of how my photography started because we went to South Africa and I had the GoPro and I was like, ⁓ I was very happy with the GoPro.
Frederic Paulussen (43:03)
Yeah.
Gino (43:23)
But the quality, was like, you know, I’m going to South Africa. You’re not going to do that like 10 times. I mean, not every year. Right. So I just went to a camera store and said, Hey, I’m going to South Africa. Can you recommend me a camera that can record 4k? And what’s an optional good lens? And I said, you know, the budget was, it was tight because I didn’t know anything about photography or videography.
Frederic Paulussen (43:30)
Yeah.
Gino (43:52)
So I said, you know, what can you do? And he said, have you thought of buying a used camera? And then I was like, yeah, let’s go. So they recommended me like the Panasonic GH5. I went to South Africa, made like a very, very cool video, if I may say myself, of the trip. And then I came back home and I was like, the camera sitting quiet.
in the room collecting dust because you’re not going to travel four or five times a year doing big trips like that. So and then during my lunch breaks, I just started to take the camera to work. And that’s kind of how, yeah, that’s how my photography, because I had like a one hour lunch break and that’s also, you know, I saw sweet photography and that’s like, yeah, we’re going to do that. And then you point the camera at somebody and it’s like, ⁓
Frederic Paulussen (44:23)
Yeah.
That’s cool.
Gino (44:49)
That’s not how it works. And that’s how I actually started with architectural photography. Just in my lunch break, take the camera to work. then it became, I became, I that I took the camera to work, took pictures during my one hour lunch break. And then also in the weekends, I started doing more architecture and gradually I rolled into photography.
Frederic Paulussen (45:13)
Yeah, ⁓ now I’m curious because like for South Africa which lens did the guy recommend because for me I’d assume like a good tele lens but…
Gino (45:14)
to do Yeah.
Yeah, yeah. So for South Africa, said, you know, I get like a 24 to 70. And then I think my girlfriend had 70 to 300.
Frederic Paulussen (45:32)
Okay.
Okay, I okay make sense.
Gino (45:40)
Yeah,
but it was it wasn’t like the F 2.8 lens. It was just like the kit lens, the more affordable version. But I was like, yeah, it’s more that you can see like the animals and photograph them. And I think maybe we had 40 to 150. It’s like a very, very good lens. But I think it was the 70 to 300. And oh, I had the 45 by 200. So
Frederic Paulussen (45:53)
Yeah.
Okay, yeah wow
Gino (46:09)
Yeah,
I added 24 to 70 to the it’s like 12 to 35 and I had 45 to 200 and my girlfriend had a 70 to 300 and we just switched lenses.
Frederic Paulussen (46:20)
Ok cool, because those aren’t really like what I think of when I think of street photography, the lenses that come to mind, so was it like a switch there for you or?
Gino (46:31)
Yeah, yeah, I think at first I think I started with the 24 to 70 like the 12 to 35 But then for the abstract stuff like the really zoomed in stuff. I just started using the 40 to 150 and Then I noticed that the the work was different And because you your attention go to way It’s more like abstract
Frederic Paulussen (46:46)
Okay.
Gino (46:57)
You zoom in, I I kind of also have like one of the images on my Instagram page that you have like the shadow that’s, I think it’s in the top three, the shadow walking up and down. Like a deck, it’s like a yeah, really weird image, but that’s taken like with a 70 to 200 lens. And I couldn’t have taken that picture if I didn’t have that lens, you know, because the 12-35, yeah, it just wouldn’t.
Frederic Paulussen (47:11)
yeah, yeah.
Gino (47:28)
Yeah, it just didn’t do the job. And I just started noticing that I just took totally different images with my 40 to 150. And at one point, I just started using that and just.
Frederic Paulussen (47:43)
And we still use
it.
Gino (47:46)
Yeah, yeah, just to use it to just create something different and to have like, you know, we all have like a body of work. But I didn’t want to have like, ⁓ that’s the guy who does architecture and street photography stuff. But I also wanted to try to expand and just experiment and see, you know, what ⁓ captures my attention and what I like.
Frederic Paulussen (47:47)
Okay, cool.
Gino (48:12)
So I use those lenses like more as a like a you can say like more of an experiment.
Frederic Paulussen (48:19)
yeah cool yeah and then you’re still like more or less a long focal length kind of person I think yeah if I look at the photos
Gino (48:30)
Yeah, yeah, definitely. I also like shoot, I have the Fuji. So I also do like the, ⁓ I say quote unquote, like the normal street photography stuff. also, yeah, take those pictures too. You know, it’s, I think it’s like a nice balance if you want to add like depth to your work, you know, with that, I have like, this is the 28 millimeter on the Fuji. That’s like really, really interesting lens because it just shows you everything.
And you know, with a 40 to 150, you just can zoom in and get closer and just get like the details or something else that you notice that you, with the Fuji, I couldn’t have taken.
Frederic Paulussen (49:12)
Yeah. yeah, that’s cool. And so do you still do street photography if you go abroad to other cities or countries? Do you still do street photography then? Or is it more because we mentioned at the start that it’s for you easier to do it in Rotterdam than Antwerp?
Do you have it with all cities? you still, because of course you made the Guggenheim photo, so you do it in other cities as well, but is that something you actively search for other cities or?
Gino (49:48)
Yeah, yeah, mean, kind of like, like, like I said earlier, like, for example, New York, you know, we’ve all seen those images from New York. So I went to New York and I was like, you know, that’s great that every other photographer has photographed New York and you see like this team coming out of the how do you say the, yeah, the sewers. Yeah, the sewers and you know, of course I’ve taken those pictures, but
Frederic Paulussen (50:10)
Yeah, the sewer,
Gino (50:16)
New York to me was way more than that. So I think I tried to approach every city like with my own eyes because I can go to New York and try to shoot like every other photographer. But what makes my work stand out? mean, then it’s just going to be a copy of a copy of a copy because they saw it as another photographer doing it. You know, maybe, I don’t know, a Joel or Fred Herzog, you name it.
Frederic Paulussen (50:26)
Yeah.
Gino (50:45)
then everybody’s just copying the same thing and I just want to see the place also with my own eyes.
Frederic Paulussen (50:51)
Yeah and do you take ⁓ influences from other photographers? Do you look into books or on Instagram actively get inspiration or is it more something you try to avoid?
Gino (51:10)
I think it’s like both. mean, of course, know, with Instagram, everybody’s looking at everybody’s work. mean, I try to, I mean, certain things I just try to avoid to be honest.
Frederic Paulussen (51:29)
Do you have examples what you try to avoid?
Gino (51:31)
Yeah, you
know, the light and shadow stuff, for example, because I’ve done that also in the beginning. And at some point it just, it’s not a cliche, but it gets like, it’s like lowhanging fruit. It gets like really, I mean, if you’ve done that and you visit the place, you know, the light’s gonna fall there, but blah, blah, blah, blah. It gets like a default. Yeah. Yeah. It just feels like you’re at least for me, I’m just.
Frederic Paulussen (51:36)
Yeah, okay. ⁓
Yeah.
It feels like a formula,
Gino (51:58)
It’s like lowering fruit. it’s like, yeah, I can see that. That’s great. But I try to, you know, try to develop myself and try to see things maybe a little bit different. But in coming back to your question, yeah, of course I have like, you can see it behind me, but I have like tons of photography books, but also
you know, from different categories of photographers. So I don’t stick to like just street photography. I also try to look outside of the genre because photography is, mean, it’s not just street photography, but it’s photography in general. You know, you have, I don’t know, Sebastião Salgado, who does like documentary work. You have Ragnar Axelsson who also does work on the Arctic.
Frederic Paulussen (52:26)
Yeah.
Gino (52:50)
Now which is like very very very interesting to watch and i think you know that i mentioned before like new york we’ve all seen it already and there’s like a lot of people just producing work outside of new york like a ragnar axelsson who you haven’t seen before which i think is like maybe even more interesting because you know how do you capture a white landscape i mean that’s like iceland right i mean you have like dogs but
Frederic Paulussen (53:18)
Yeah.
Gino (53:19)
If you go to travel, there’s just a white and you just see nothing for miles and miles and miles and just a mountain. How do you photograph that? How do you make it interesting ⁓ for people? So I try to look at those kinds of photographers rather than just looking at other street photographers. Because I think you can learn a lot more, at least for me personally.
Frederic Paulussen (53:39)
Okay.
Gino (53:45)
I noticed that I learn a lot more from people who are not doing street photography, who are just doing something completely different and giving you like a new perspective of what you maybe potentially also can do in street photography.
Frederic Paulussen (53:53)
Makes sense, yeah.
That’s ⁓ a good point. So ⁓ let’s start wrapping it up there.
Gino (54:08)
Yes, yes.
Frederic Paulussen (54:08)
⁓
So thank you Gino for your time and insights. As usual if anyone wants to follow him ⁓ I’m going to put his links in the description of course so it’s mostly Instagram and his websites. ⁓ So of course go and go there and follow Gino. Also make sure to follow me of course or for the podcast. Also your favorite platform if that’s Spotify, YouTube, Apple. ⁓
music I think or Apple podcasts or whatever. Be sure to subscribe. Also feel free to share it with your friends. That’s also very helpful. Friends that are into street photography, of course. So thank you Gino for your time and we’ll have to meet up if I’m ever in Rotterdam or you are in Antwerp.
Gino (54:46)
Thank
Yeah, yeah, definitely. And also Fred, thank you also for your time and also what you’re doing for the community. So that’s like really lovely that you are, I think, a light on a lot of people that I also didn’t know before. I think that just, yeah, that, know, then just hearing the same names, but you just shed light on somebody else that’s just like, hey.
That’s ⁓ really nice. That can also be like an inspiration for later. So thank you.
Frederic Paulussen (55:23)
Yeah.
Thanks, that’s nice to
hear that it’s appreciated.
Gino (55:29)
Yeah, yeah, definitely, definitely.