Amsterdam Week: Photographer Profile – Bojd Vredevoogd

Intro by Oliver Nermerich
Interview by Marnix Haak

Who is Bojd Vredevoogd?

A 26 years old chemist/skater/photographer living in Amsterdam. Just finished my chemical study and now I’m looking for a job.

How and when did you start making photos?

Around 2002 my father gave me an old Canon AE1 photo camera and I immediately started making photos of the VIC-boys I always skated with. Guy’s like Daan Hegt, Tyron Ballantine, Cliff, Ephraim Feves and Marijn. I liked it a lot, also because these guys skated next level spots I couldn’t do. So instead of watching and eating out of my nose I could do my own thing and make cool pictures.

What precisely do you like about shooting skate photos?

I like skating myself and I want to make it look cool for people who are not familiar with it. Next to this I’ve seen and experienced much more cool stuff then when I wasn’t into photography.


Daan Hegt – backside royale anno 2004

You started in 2002, now we are ten years further. Aren’t you getting bored?

Well yes in Amsterdam I’ve shot almost all skate spots. It’s a difficult challenge to shoot original pictures over here. That’s why road-trips and other travels are much more important and fun to me. Travelling with Pascal, Ryan or you and the boys. New places, great times.

How is your love for photography in general? Do you shoot other things than skating?

Yeah lately I’m learning a lot about street photography. It’s kinda scary and exciting, but I want to master it to take pictures of strangers without disturbing, annoy them or get noticed.

Would you also be down for photographing bmx riders or other extreme sports?

That would be refreshing yes. Just to try things out. It can’t be much different than skating.

Assume you end up on a desert island with only you and your photo camera. You get the once-in-a-lifetime change to choose company for the rest of your ‘Robinson Crusoe’ life. Which of the following options do you choose:
a) some bmxers
b) some skateboarders
c) some inliners
d) nice designed buildings
e) hot chicks

I would go for the hot chicks. Actually; can I choose hot bladies? Then I got two in one.

No… Talking about hot chicks. Have you ever shot lady’s (barely) naked?

Once. For the opening of Ivo’s ‘Thisissoul’ skateshop. It was an strange situation. I really had to direct the models and tell them what to do. Since I never worked with models or directed anything this was hard to do. In the end the photos didn’t worked out as planned, But at least I think I made all the girls feel as at ease as possible.

Didn’t you felt boner-ish? The shop is so small, all the girls so close together…

Well no you have to act professional even if you’re not. If you go all horny it can be pretty awkward so I just acted normal.

Do you like to shoot more photos with models?

For sure, I read a lot about fashion/portrait photography, but I think I’m not good at it and don’t have the right connections.

If I arrange you a model right now. What would you do?

There are these houseboats next too Hannekes Boom. It’s a very cool location, but there is always something missing when I take pictures overthere.. A girl in an innocent but striking dress would be the missing link. The picture would be more exciting.

Have you ever shot guys (barely) naked?

Haha you guys wanted me to shoot Cavin with a sock around his pee-pee standing in the water for the “be-mag Faces” gallery, but I couldn’t do it.


Cavin Brinkman shot by Marnix iPhone ’cause Bojd ran away

Why not?

Dude there were random people walking around. What the f** would they think when they see me laying down with a camera before a dude standing in the water with a sock over his penis? I’m not a hotshot when it comes to this kind of crazy things, I got embarrassed and quit.

Let’s talk about you skating. I found an old quote of you in my iPhone saying; “I just want to move and flow a little”. – Is this quote typical for your skating?

Yes. I want to skate on a recreational basis. Not try to kill myself with the biggest hammers.

Street skating in Amsterdam sucks. The runups here are very sketchy. That’s why I hit the park more and more, especially during wintertime. I like it smooth when I cruise around. What is your sickest thing you pulled on skates?

I guess the sweaty to backside royale on the Supermossels trip.

How long did it took you to lace it?

More than two hours. I gave it up like ten times, but you and Vivien kept on pushing.

What is the saddest moment in your skating career?

The moment where I sprained my ankle in the pool while filming for the Breakfastclub. I jumped into a steep bank that was in the middle of a pool, but slipped. What made it really hard to skate the year after because of the injury.


Bojd just before he sprained his ankle. Screenshot ‘The Breakfastclub’ (2012) by Cavin Brinkman.

A lot of people don’t know you so well. Only superficially. How come?

There are not so much people in skating with whom I really hang out with and I’m not the guy that tells his life story to everybody.

This is for all the not-knowing people.
Bojd I want to know what you think of things. Name a good movie.

“The Help”, “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” or “Dogville”

What do you read?

The games of thrones.

Clothing?

Facking awesome.

Name a pretty girl.

I follow this Alysha on tumblr. She is a little bit slutty and nasty but sexy at the same time. And I don’t know.. Kristen Stewart?


alysha.tumblr.com

Music?

A few weeks ago I bought a record player. I listen a lot to 60’s till 80’s music.

Favorite album?

Bruce Springsteen – Born in the USA

Enough. You are a very neat, polite and controlled guy. Where did you get this from?

I think it’s my character. Back on primary school I was a lunatic. I ran after other kids, threatening them with a plastic shovel terrorising the whole place. But suddenly that was all gone.

How do you, the controlled, polite guy, stand it hanging around with first class weirdo’s like Cavin, Pascal, Ryan and me? How far do you go with us in certain situations? Where is the limit?

I know I’m different and always know where to stop. Seeing other people around me acting crazy is most of the time amusing, I am pretty much used to it, but sometimes people go too far and that can be painful and embarrassing. Like you disturbing girls at the bar.

Ok, ok next question. Which Indian reserve are you from?

The Howling Wolf reserve of course.

Are you ever going back to your tribe?

No I said them farewell forever. Amsterdam for life. Here I will grow old.

Last question. I got this from Cavin. How is your “velletje”?

It’s going f*cking nice with my “velletje”. Keeping things together for almost a year now.


Adil – Soul
This spot was on my list to shoot for a very long time. I remember Sven and Adil were skating that day and didn’t really know where to go. I told them I knew of this beautiful Dutch house with a steep ledge next to it, but that it was pretty sketchy because of the ledge being an arm’s length from the wall of the house. Regardless of the danger, Adil did it within a few tries anyway.


Amsterdam
This was shot in February of this year. I remember going to class that day and for some reason I brought my camera along. I got to the train station and it was a mess. All the trains where delayed for at least an hour. So, I walked back home and suddenly found myself in the middle of this snowstorm. I had never seen anything like it here in Amsterdam. Now, I try to take my camera with me all of the time. You never know when you will run into something beautiful.


Antwerp
There’s not really a story behind this picture. I just went to Antwerp for a day of nice changes in scenery and walked into these boats that where just lying there.


Arne
This was on the Manke Nelis road trip (means something along the lines of ‘road trip for the crippled’) last year. We found this beautiful abandoned Belgian swimming pool built just before World War II. I took loads of pictures there, but this one struck me in a way I felt truly needed to be shared.


Arne – Air
This was shot just outside Alkmaar (a smaller city in Holland), a spot only locals there know of. It is basically a huge full-pipe. If it wasn’t for the transition between the road and quarter walls, which is just a few centimetres off, it would be perfect. Luckily for us the locals fixed the transition in a few places with some cement.


Barcelona
On my first trip to Barcelona I walked by a couple that were sitting in this alley. I grabbed my camera and snuck back to take a photo. In the photo all of the girl’s attention was focused on the young boy she was kissing while he sat there not noticing at all. For me the photo symbolizes unbalanced relationships.


Dick Heerkens – Gap
This is a spot I passed by almost everyday while on the train going to class, looking at it thinking it had to be done because of how great a picture it would make. Dick frequently did huge gaps for Sven Boekhorst’s event, Mind the Gap, making him the perfect candidate. But, when we actually got there I though it was way too big. But, he still pulled it off.


Dick Heerkens – Gap to roll
When shooting pictures in Amsterdam. I always have the hardest time thinking about a cool places to shoot because so much has all ready been done. Luckily, Dick came up with this spot I would have never thought of. He jumped over the railing onto a ledge over a small gap over to another down ledge and finally landed on the floor. This made the cover of the December issue of [MAG] in 2010.


Eric van Boven – Top Soul
On the last day of the breakfast club tour through Zeeland (a southern province in Holland) it was super misty and cold. Regardless of the fact that nobody really wanted to skate that day Eric did one of the hardest tricks on the entire tour.


Frank Knop – Wallride
In Rotterdam Lamri Adjis (a local there) showed us around and we came across this spot underneath the Dutch architecture institute. It was under heavy instruction, so we kindly asked some construction workers if we could move some of their stuff around and if they would mind us skating there. Surprisingly enough they didn’t mind at all.


Misc I
I became inspired by some people on Flickr and started shooting minimalist water landscapes. Thinking it would be a breeze with all this water here in Holland it actually turned out to be quite hard finding good locations. Anyway, I am really happy about how these came out and I am still scouting for more places like this.


Misc II


Misc III


Pascal – 180
On my second trip to Barcelona. I did some research about possible interesting places that we can skate. I came across this abandoned water park just outside Barcelona called Sitges. There were mosquitos everywhere and there wasn’t much to skate at all other than this really high double set of stairs.


Pascal – BS Backslide
A good example of a not-so-hard trick that I like anyway because of how well it looks and was performed.


Pascal – Top Acid
In Barcelona we climbed over this really big fence to get on top of a parking lot building that looked really cool. While we were doing this a group of Spanish people started yelling at us, probably telling us that we were a bunch of hoodlums. But, like the rebels we are we continued anyway to this spot with a beautiful view of the entire city.


Remco van der Pol – Stale
It was Remco’s idea to bring me here. I really like the end result because the spot is very symmetrical and simple. You may have seen this on the April issue’s cover of [MAG] in 2011.


Rik van Huik – BS backslide
Rik is probably the most productive guy to skate with that I know and has a bag of tricks that doesn’t stop giving. This shot was taken in Barcelona.


Robin Bosgra – Top Soul
This Spot was really shitty. It had a fucked up pebble approach. But, Robin did it anyway just to get at least something down for the day. The red doors, white walls, and lines on the corner of the building really gave this photo definition.


Roel Verhoeven – AO Soul
Roel is one of the old school skaters we had with us in Amsterdam. His ability is so controlled and stylish. He perfectly stuck this AO Soul on a flatbar at the VU university in Amsterdam.


Roel Verhoeven – Soul
I remember having to ride my old grandma-style bike for what seemed to me like forever to this spot while having to carry my huge tripod that weighs a ton. When we finally got there Roel had to warm up a little with some practice jumps. Then, without telling us he went for his first attempt. I almost missed the shot, but with luck I got half his trick. It would have been nicer had I gotten the shot a little sooner, but thanks to Photoshop I was able to fix up some things to make the composition much clearer.


Ryan Claus – fish
I took two pictures of this trick with Ryan. One was up close with my fisheye lens, just barely getting the mailbox in the left side of the frame and Ryan doing the fish on the right. I liked this picture more because it seemed relaxed and it looked almost cinematic to me for some reason. But, I did feel a little empty on the left half of the frame. So, afterwards I asked Pascal and Cavin to act like they never seen a sicker fishbrain in their life.


Sleeping Bear Dunes
This was taken during a trip I took this year with my dad through Michigan. We stopped at this dune where a slightly obese woman was sitting looking at all of the healthier people running up and down the hill.


Sven Boekhorst – Top Soul
Maybe not the most striking picture, but this is what I like to shoot. Here stood a nice older building with a cool spot nobody has ever skated, and this was simply a steezy trick.


Thijs Tel – 180
Thijs is usually the one behind the camera. So, I was lucky I was given the chance to shoot this picture of him in action. I like the trick itself, but Tjeerd and Pascal acting like a bunch of baboons really finishes it, making a fun picture for me to enjoy looking at. This shot was taken in Barcelona.


Tjeerd Weijers – Rollin’
Here lies another fun day in Barcelona. We were just skating past this area and I told Tjeerd it would look cool for a picture if he would just ride down the slides. So, he did. I Also like that there are kids that seem to run down the slides with him and while their parents enjoying a nice day in the park on the right.


Vivien Butot – BS Royale
It was freezing, it had just snowed, and Vivien and Marnix thought it would be a good idea to go skate some street. I don’t remember how they managed to get me so far as to go with them, but somehow they did. As a result I got this pretty cool picture of Vivien doing a steezy backside royale on a pretty high curb with ice flying around while Amsterdam central station stood in the background.