about making images

Stan Schaap

Images are the product of imagination and derive their value from what is being imagined. An old photograph in the attic has no meaning or value until someone finds it and recognizes a representation of an idea or familiar form in it. Only then does it become an image. Suppose there’s a world where billions of automatic cameras are constantly making exposures without a mind being involved, then no matter how many unseen recordings are being made never any image would come to life (my definition of a lonely planet).

Creation comes into being only by sharing. To create is to expand life. What lives in my heart inevitably seeks to touch another heart. Without a receptive reader, viewer or listener creation is not happening. Sharing makes creation real, otherwise it never goes beyond wistful intent.

Being retired now, I still feel like a child on a voyage of discovery. The novelty I want to discover most is the vision that seeks expression through me. I want to know fully what I really am, and photography has become my favorite language for letting the unconscious speak. Everything we make or do inevitably reflects the stream of consciousness we represent. We only have to become aware of it.

I happen to live close to a natural park in the dunes, where I love to roam and can open myself easily to every inspiration my mental eye could possibly need. Physically I don’t have to travel far anymore for an image to find me, and mentally I work hard not to interfere with the process, trying to be a useful vehicle for whatever wants to be expressed.

This web site is a medium for sharing my visual discoveries with you. Feel free to enjoy.

Stan Schaap

Castricum, The Netherlands