A Conversation with Lukas Van Der Lende ~ Using Light as Artistic Expression
Introduce yourself, where you’re from/located and what type of photography you primarily shoot. How did you get into your chosen medium?
Hey, what's up! My name's Lukas, I’m a photographer and filmmaker based out of West Michigan. I primarily shoot my everyday life. Some of my favorite images have been my personal work with my family, but I love doing product photography and landscape photography, but not the “set up a tripod and wait for the ‘perfect’ moment” landscape photography. I’ve always gravitated towards light, my name means light and I think there's a lot of power in names. Photography is really using light as artistic expression and it felt like the perfect medium for me to use to create.
As an artist born into a family with a rich creative legacy - your father being a photographer and your mother a painter - how do you think this influenced your decision to pick up a camera?
Man, growing up in a family that not only were artists but celebrated art, helped in ways that I probably don't even fully understand. I’ve never had anyone of significant relationship tell me “that's a fun hobby but when are you going to get a real job?”. My dad being a commercial photographer felt very normal to me growing up, I was a little shocked that all my friends didn’t have cameras in their face their entire life. But I also saw it as being a sort of nerdy thing that my dad did. But as I grew older and realized how cool and special it was that he was able to make it his career, and how fun photography is, it helped me really have the resources to dive into photography and start creating work of my own. My dad, to a fault probably, always wanted to let me choose my own path, he never forced me to learn photography and even when I walked away and told him working with him wasn’t working for me, he was incredibly gracious to me and continued supporting me and my career. Never underestimate the power of having someone in your corner.
I’ve noticed your photography is very much a family experience for you. Can you share any memorable experiences or encounters that you may have had growing up in a creative environment?
Growing up, going to my dads studio wasn’t a big deal, it was a very normal place for me to be. I didn’t fully understand the significance of that until later in life but to be around that at such a young age was very cool. I remember seeing his different sets, asking if I could bring my skateboard in and use his cyc wall as a quarter pipe (which he did not let me) and spending a lot of time cleaning his studio. My dad taught me how to paint on those cyc walls and he would always tell me stories of my Great Grandpa Willem, who was a painter in the Netherlands. Outside of the studio my dad brought me on a lot of trips, some of them were for clients, like I was able to go on a week long shoot with him for the Boy Scouts of America or later in life when I was working for him he would bring me into his meetings and show me the business side of running a photography business.
Your portfolio boasts a healthy variation of lifestyle, portrait, product and outdoor photography, but what brought you here creatively? What scene will most likely entice you to bring the camera out?
Oh man, I think that I got here because I’m just curious and I love the art of photography. I photograph EVERYTHING. Like I mentioned before, I view photography as using light to tell a story and when you're looking at the world through that perspective, so many more things become interesting to you. There are so many scene’s that will entice me to bring my camera out, like playing with my family in our backyard, going on an epic hike in a national park, visiting friends, going for a walk in my community. If the light is hitting, I’ll have a camera out, or I’ll be sad that I’m missing such beautiful light!
It's clear when seeing your work, particularly the short film you produced for your father, that creativity for you is in the experience. Does this ethos lie in your love for Leica, and is it something that you also developed from an early age?
I think my love for Leica came about because their tools just meshed with my philosophy on creativity. For years I tried different systems, and I always felt like I was fighting my camera to get to where I wanted, or I was having to block out certain buttons or things on the camera. Then once I started using Leica cameras it made me realize that I can enjoy the experience of shooting and not be fighting my camera the whole time. I find it very important that I’m in the moment when I’m working, whether that's for a client or for a personal project, and Leica cameras have allowed me to focus on what is happening beyond the lens.
Can you share some insight into your creative process when looking for a composition or framing your photo? Do you have any photographers or artists who have influenced your process?
My creative process is very feelings driven. I feel compositions when I’m out shooting, but that said I have noticed that I center a lot of my subjects in the frame. I’m not sure if this comes from being inspired by Wes Anderson's compositions or Vivian Maier. I also love a balanced composition, I look to Henri Cartier Bresson for that inspiration. But I also love the work of Alfred Stiglitz, Stephen Shore, William Eggleston, Garry Winogrand. I’m very inspired by them but also a lot of the people still creating work today.
For many creatives, the development of social media plays a large role in their careers, whether positive or negative. How would you describe its impact on your creativity? Which platform do you find you have the best relationship with?
I have a love hate relationship with social media, I would say 90% of my favorite images haven’t and won't be on social media. I think the rat race of social media and having to stick to a niche and build a brand is a bit exhausting. But what I love about social media is building relationships with other people. I’ve built some close friendships with people through instagram and youtube that wouldn’t exist without those platforms. So I am thankful for them from that standpoint! I’m focusing most of my social media energy on youtube right now, I think that's become my favorite platform and the best platform for photographers today!
Do you have any other creative outlets you’re interested in that people don’t see shared on social media?
Yeah definitely, I’m a musician and I write songs, nothing serious, just for fun. But I was just talking with someone about how many photographers are also musicians!
-- > I just have this overwhelming need to go out and create images, a lot of the time they don’t become anything but I love the process of photography. For me it’s very therapeutic and the fact that I get to document my life and my family is just an added bonus. I’ve never really considered myself a “banger chaser” I just want to go out and make work of the things I find beautiful or interesting, and I think that is why I have such an eclectic mix of work.
