At the age of 10, I decided to sell my Märklin model railroad in order to buy a darkroom set (Opemus 3) and my first camera (Rollei 35s). Inspired by my grandfather, who was a professional photographer in the eastern part of the Netherlands in the first half of the 20th century, this was the beginning of a lifelong fascination with photography. Different cameras followed, among them Olympus OM 1 and OM 4, and the digital arena was entered with a Minolta Dimage 7, soon to be replaced by several Nikons, the latest being the fantastic D800.
Being a consultant in Neurology by professional training, Im very much aware how our brain synthesises images; how, for instance at the cortical level, corrections take place for inequalities in exposure, sharpness and the grey tones of our peripheral vision, as received by the retina. Let alone the fact that our mind focusses on particular elements of our visual surroundings, ignoring irrelevant context, which, nevertheless, appears in our regular photo shots. Hence, what we experience visually only poorly correlates with the projected image on our retina or on the image sensor of our digital cameras. How wonderful that modern techniques (Photoshop, HDR software) now enable us to get much closer to the visual experience than previously possible.
Understandably I therefore embrace post-processing techniques and many of my photographs have been manipulated in this vein. The removal of unwanted distractions and the compensation for the limited dynamic range of our cameras e.g., help me to create photos that get closer to what my brain experienced, which is not necessarily the objective reality as recorded by the camera. In the end the photograph should reflect what the minds eye saw rather than the cameras eye. I hope to have succeeded in this aim in at least some cases.
