This résumé is best viewed with a cup of tea
On a bright summer day in 1985 it was hotter than July (because it was August). That was the day it all started for me. Born and raised in Hoorn, a small but historic city in the Netherlands. I had the time of my life; played on the streets all day, lost a few teeth and decided on my future jobs (police officer, helicopter pilot, space invader and all of the other LEGO characters). Finished elementary school, went to high school (and vice versa) and developed a bit of character. Founded a love for everything beautiful with a history. That resulted in crates full of vinyl, a home studio and document folders full of Edward Hopper and Dutch Masters.
During my urge of documenting everything around me I stumbled upon my fathers (†) old camera. He brought his Pentax ME-Super to Egypt to document the Six-Day War for a Dutch newspaper. Until this day that camera is still my tool of the trade. After high school I took a year off (well 4 to be precise), got a job and my Audio Engineering Degree at the SAE Institute. The general rule back then for me was “no paper without your official paper”, so I enrolled in college (Communication & Multimedia Design / Interactive Media) and grew a beard. Met new people, held on to my old people and moved to Amsterdam.
Nowadays I have the pleasure to surround myself and work with people from all walks of life and parts of the world. I co-founded CFYE, a platform where we facilitates interesting spirits and their inspiring work. Created a general interest in cultures, music, plants, herbs, forms of community development, urban planning and how we can incorporate all that in modern-day society. I learned allot during my internship from my friends at Urban Symbiose and Vetteshit.
I still shoot photos and working on three lifelong projects; Terra Incognita (showcasing the world to the visually numb), Habitus (capturing human life through their own little cosmos) and Solus (a highlight of the remarkable people I meet throughout life). Next to that I do some commissioned work.
In general media but also in common day life music and sound is still the most overlooked element. Under my pseudo artist name “Django Fontina” I contextual spin records at lunchrooms, coffee bars, restaurants, stores and what not. Contextual you say? Yes, I believe an Indonesian restaurant ambience for instance will thrive on native sounds instead of João’s Bossa Nova. It lets me translate brands and products to sound and deliver that final layer of ambiance. I have a vast knowledge of music from around the world that is made with character and love.
I believe in the power and good of human beings and the intersocial relation with each other. I embrace the new world and its rapid modernization, but worry about the degrading social moral and lack of character that goes along with it. Yet I believe in the self-reflective individual who’s setting good examples. I consider myself an exploraris obscura (you’re free to decide what that means).
note I: I sometimes fail at grammar and spelling. I am very open to corrections on my open source résumé.
note II: My Curriculum vitae in English and Dutch (pdf).