Do you remember?

When you ran as fast as you could to hide behind the trees? Silencing your heart to stop it beating so loudly in your chest in case they heard and found you? Endless laughter written on the delicate paper of a brave explorer’s life.

Landscape view of a stack of cut pine trees in Denmark felled in spring seen through the leaves of a tree.
Red Rowan berries, sorbus aucuparia, on a tree branch in Denmark. The ancient Celts believed it to be the Tree of Life.
Woman jumping down a stack of cut pine trees in spring in a forest in Denmark like she used to do as a child when she played there.
Stack of cut tree logs in a pine forest in Denmark and a person walking in the distance.
Lush green ferns surrounding a tree in dappled sunlight in a pine tree forest in Denmark.

When I look at you…

“When I look at you I find it hard to believe that the whole universe had not conspired to bring you to life. I can’t think of a more beautiful reason for it all to exist than for you in this day.” Atticus

Portrait of Hilary Swank American actress on the filmset of "Red Dust". The two-time Oscar winner played a lawyer in the tense legal drama set in the aftermath of apartheid South Africa.
Kate Moss British fashion model. After nearly 40 years she still graces fashion magazines and remains a cultural icon. She has walked the runway for almost every fashion house globally. She is one of the biggest names in modelling and one of Vogue's favourite cover stars.
Portrait of an African man standing on a diving board at a swimming pool fully clothed in front of a palm tree.
Young Indian boy in meditation yoga pose.
Smiling young Indian girl after meditation in yoga pose.
Portrait of a teen female skateboarder looking cool in front of an urban graffiti wall.
Misterdesign a showroom for modern and classic design and a furniture retailer store in Den Bosch, Netherlands. Bobbie Flissinger shop assistant looking through the window.
Portrait of Kamlesh D. Patel also known as Daaji among his followers, is a spiritual leader in Sahaj Marg and global leader of Heartfulness facilitating heart-based meditation in Kanha, India.
Former president Nelson Mandela in Cape Town, South Africa, Feb 12, 1990 the day after his release from prison, during a visit to the home of Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
Former US president Bill Clinton poses with photographer Hetty Zantman during a World Economic Forum conference at the CTICC in Cape Town, South Africa.
Portrait of Ben Moon filmmaker, adventure and lifestyle photographer.
Portrait of a homeless woman holding a witty sign in Cape Town, South Africa it reads; "Husband abducted by aliens, in dire need of 10 Rand for karate lessons."
Portrait of a tender moment, love between a mother and daughter.
Portrait of a young man crossing "de Dommel" a narrow waterway on a manually operated ferry for pedestrians in 's-Hertogenbosch, Holland. The ferry " de Moerasdraak" connects the city with the nature reserve Bossche Broek.
Portrait of a store manager leaning in the doorway of the Norse Projects Flagship store in Copenhagen, Denmark while a shopper admires the window. The store is known for innovative apparel and products ranging from books, footwear and accessories.
Art gallery in Cape Town, South Africa.
Portrait of a barber in Skopje, Macedonia waiting for customers.
Woman in beige coat walking with an umbrella in the rain in Copenhagen seen through rain drops on the rear window of a car.
Outcasts British Science Fiction Drama Series Eric Mabius a Behind The Scenes shot captured in South Africa.
Outcasts British Science Fiction Drama Series starring Ashley Walters and Eric Mabius. It was filmed in South Africa.
A Rastafarian man walks past a young woman seated on a sign that says "live on" in Camps Bay, South Africa. Their quick connection created one of those heart moments to be remembered.
Portrait of Emanuele Ferraro Architect at Atelier Ferraro architecture and design studio based in Munich.
Portrait of David Bowie and his wife Iman at the Mount Nelson Hotel in Cape Town, South Africa.
Smiling faces of African children peeping over a wooden door at their creche, a shack in Khayelitsha a township in the Western Cape, South Africa.
Chiwetel Ejiofor CBE the British actor during a take on the filmset of "Red Dust" a tense legal drama in the aftermath of apartheid in South Africa.
Portrait of a graffiti artist in the former listening station on Teufelsberg. A reminder of the Nazi era and an historical monument. A hotspot for street art in Berlin.
Portrait of Samuel Seeff, chairman of the Seeff Group a real estate company in Cape Town, South Africa
Portrait of Pelle and Anne-Grethe Kousgaard.

Journey beyond the visible

Wolfgang Oude Hengel, sculptor, deep thinker, yogi, intuitive gardener and architect. He works from his huge studio originally part of an old textile factory and his childhood home. His Skeletoni, life-size skeletons take on a rusty life of their own facing the elements in the wild garden. Each joint, limb, and vertebrae is meticulously chiseled into being. The perfectly balanced bodies of iron, embody fragility and interconnectedness, intensity and tenderness. Accompanied by his signature pipe he heats, beats, and bends each joint, limb, and vertebrae into a masterpiece, blending effort with technical mastery. His art navigates the symbolic and the mysterious, merging the visible with the imaginable. A dance between symbolic meaning and mysterious reality, making us question the visible and the imaginable, life and death and beyond.

Portrait of sculptor Wolfgang Oude Hengel in the doorway of his studio in Mönchengladbach, Germany.
Portrait of a sculpture by Wolfgang Oude Hengel outside his studio in Mönchengladbach, Germany.
Portrait of sculptor Wolfgang Oude Hengel with one of his life size sculptures demonstrating the movement of individual parts of the skeleton in his garden at his studio in Mönchengladbach, Germany.
Portrait of sculptor Wolfgang Oude Hengel in his studio in Mönchengladbach, Germany.
Portrait of sculptor Wolfgang Oude Hengel in his garden at his studio in Mönchengladbach, Germany.
Portrait of sculptor Wolfgang Oude Hengel at work in his studio in Mönchengladbach, Germany.
Portrait of sculptor Wolfgang Oude Hengel at work in his studio in Mönchengladbach, Germany.
Portrait of sculptor Wolfgang Oude Hengel at work in his studio in Mönchengladbach, Germany.
Portrait of sculptor Wolfgang Oude Hengel in his studio with a life-size sculpture in Mönchengladbach, Germany.
Portrait of sculptor Wolfgang Oude Hengel taking a break and preparing his favourite pipe in Mönchengladbach, Germany.
Portrait of sculptor Wolfgang Oude Hengel in his studio in Mönchengladbach.

Where birds fly

Maasvlakte 2 is a man-made civil engineering project on reclaimed land. It is an extension of the Port of Rotterdam used for container transport and the chemical industry. A vast industrial landscape of metal and machinery, light and shadows. Seagulls dart back and forth above white plumes of smoke. I’m fascinated by the gigantic scale and beautiful lines of these structures and troubled at the same time how the fragility of the planet remains in balance.

Refinery and smoking chimney in black and white in Maasvlakte 2 Rotterdam's newest port intended to become the most sustainable and innovative port in the world.
Oil refinery and smoking chimneys in black and white at Maasvlakte Europoort Rotterdam industrial harbour area.
Spherical LNG storage tanks in black and white in Maasvlakte 2 Rotterdam's newest port intended to become the most sustainable and innovative port in the world.
Refinery in Maasvlakte 2 in black and white, Rotterdam's newest port intended to become the most sustainable and innovative port in the world.
Close-up view of chimneys in black and white at a refinery in Maasvlakte 2 Rotterdam's newest port intended to become the most sustainable and innovative port in the world.
Maasvlakte coal-fired power plant in black and white in the Port of Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Maasvlakte coal-fired power plant and seagulls in black and white in the Port of Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Coal and seagull in black and white at Maasvlakte coal-fired power plant in the Port of Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Coal-fired power plant in black and white in Maasvlakte in the Port of Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Road with trees to oil refineries in Maasvlakte 2 in black and white in the Port of Rotterdam, Netherlands.

Forgotten Landscapes

Time a mischievous trickster. One blink and a few hundred years gone. Memories etched on the skins of trees, a closed gate, a lonely succulent. When everyone is asleep, they travel – in dreams past.

A solitary locked gate in a lonely landscape in Riebeek Kasteel in the Western Cape, South Africa.
Windmill, water tank and sheep in a wheatfield Riebeekkasteel, Western Cape, South Africa.
Landscape shrouded in mist in Ladysmith a town in Kwazulu Natal, South Africa.
A Prickly Pear Cactus in the Karoo, a semi desert region in South Africa.

Wild spirit

It took a few days to finally see the feral horses of Geltinger Birk, a lush nature reserve, sanctuary to thousands of species of flowers, insects and birds in Northern Germany. On a clear day you can see Denmark across the water and if you’re lucky flocks of starling murmurations black out the sky. Walking in the rain on a windswept afternoon the herd appeared from the mist. Almost a mystical experience to witness these magnificent beings. The Konik horse, through selective breeding, is closely related to the now extinct Eurasian wild horse. There are approximately 4000 Koniks worldwide. These horses play a crucial role in managing the vegetation and re-wilding of the wetlands. Besides some occasional bickering and sparring they showed deep respect for one another. Slowly they moved across the water one by one and on to their next place for the night.

Konik herd of semi-wild horses taking a rest at Geltinger Birk nature reserve on the Baltic Sea in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.
Konik herd of semi-wild horses crossing water at Geltinger Birk nature reserve on the Baltic Sea in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.
A Konik semi-wild horse grazing with his herd in the background at Geltinger Birk nature reserve on the Baltic Sea in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.
Konik herd of wild horses grazing and blending into the grassy landscape at Geltinger Birk nature reserve on the Baltic Sea in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.
Konik semi-wild horses playing at Geltinger Birk nature reserve on the Baltic Sea in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.
Konik herd of semi-wild horses resting at Geltinger Birk nature reserve on the Baltic Sea in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.
Konik herd of wild horses and foal during spring at Geltinger Birk nature reserve on the Baltic Sea in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.
Konik semi-wild horses grazing under a solitary oak tree at Geltinger Birk nature reserve on the Baltic Sea in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.
A flock of birds at Geltinger Birk nature reserve on the Baltic Sea in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.

Shooting the So Splendid Team

Zeeland photoshoot, a huge task ahead of us: The team looking amazing in front of a blue backdrop. Facing the challenge, strong winds set in. Familiar with the speed that a non-propelled object takes to escape from the gravitational influence of a planet, we accelerated ourselves to the first cosmic velocity. One small step for mankind, but one giant leap for So Splendid. Facts and figures: +++ about 30 billion us dollars was the budget for the entire program +++ 4 dehydrated cheese sandwiches were taken on the mission +++ 528 million people watched the moon landing on tv +++

A blue backdrop during a fashion shoot in summer blowing in the wind in Bergen aan Zee, a beautiful village along the North Sea coast in the Netherlands. Bergen's white sandy beach with high grassy dunes stretches for miles.
A blue backdrop takes flight during a fashion shoot and is chased after by the SoSplendid agency team when a fierce wind blew on a summer's day in Bergen aan Zee, a beautiful village along the North Sea coast in the Netherlands. Bergen's white sandy beach with high grassy dunes stretches for miles.
A blue backdrop takes flight during a fashion shoot last summer and is chased after by the SoSplendid agency team when a fierce wind blew in Bergen aan Zee, a beautiful village along the North Sea coast in the Netherlands. Bergen's white sandy beach with high grassy dunes stretches for miles.
A blue backdrop dancing in the wind on a summer's day in Bergen aan Zee, a beautiful village along the North Sea coast in the Netherlands. Bergen's white sandy beach with high grassy dunes stretches for miles.
A blue backdrop dancing in the wind on a summer's day in Bergen aan Zee, a beautiful village along the North Sea coast in the Netherlands. Bergen's white sandy beach with high grassy dunes stretches for miles.
A blue backdrop dancing in the wind on a summer's day in Bergen aan Zee, a beautiful village along the North Sea coast in the Netherlands. Bergen's white sandy beach with high grassy dunes stretches for miles.
A blue backdrop takes flight during a fashion shoot on a summer's day and is chased after by the SoSplendid agency team when a fierce wind blew in Bergen aan Zee, a beautiful village along the North Sea coast in the Netherlands. Bergen's white sandy beach with high grassy dunes stretches for miles.

Cape Town as a State of Heart – A collab with So Splendid

Harbour view, ocean view, sky view. Woodstock was waking to a gentle dawn. Andrea, Rike from So Splendid Agency and I were sitting on the rooftop at my house reflecting on our inspiring time together in Cape Town. It may have been the sound of the harbour or perhaps another rhythm in the city which made the story unfold in our hearts and we named it Cape town as a State of Heart – the title of our first book. A collection of images and stories which came together as a different take on Cape Town blurring the boundaries between urban topographics, social documentary, personal diary and conceptual art.

Cover of "Cape Town as a State of Heart" a book by So Splendid Agency, and photographer Hetty Zantman, Cape Town, South Africa.
A page from "Cape Town as a State of Heart" a book by So Splendid Agency and Hetty Zantman, Cape Town, South Africa.
A page from "Cape Town as a State of Heart" a book by So Splendid Agency, photographs of swimming pools by Hetty Zantman in Constantia, Cape Town, South Africa.
A page from "Cape Town as a State of Heart" a book by So Splendid Agency, photographs of cranes in Cape Town Harbour surrounded in mist by Hetty Zantman in Cape Town, South Africa.
A page from "Cape Town as a State of Heart" a book by So Splendid Agency, photographs by Hetty Zantman of a yellow mini in front of "Happy by Nature" a garden design shop in Tamboerskloof, Cape Town, South Africa.
A page from "Cape Town as a State of Heart" a book by So Splendid Agency, photograph of blue plastic garbage bags against the backdrop of the Atlantic Ocean by Hetty Zantman in Blauwberg Strand, Cape Town, South Africa. Hetty Zantman was one of the winners of the 2019 Life Framer Award. Richard Mosse was the Judge.
A page from "Cape Town as a State of Heart" a book by So Splendid Agency, photograph of laundry against a mural of an elephant by Hetty Zantman in Woodstock, Cape Town, South Africa.
A page from "Cape Town as a State of Heart" a book by So Splendid Agency, photographs by Hetty Zantman in Woodstock, Cape Town, South Africa.
A page from "Cape Town as a State of Heart" a book by So Splendid Agency, photographs of Zeitz MOCAA - Museum of Contemporary Art by Hetty Zantman , Cape Town, South Africa.
A page from "Cape Town as a State of Heart" a book by So Splendid Agency, photographs by Hetty Zantman in the Bokaap, Cape Town, South Africa.
A page from "Cape Town as a State of Heart" a book by So Splendid Agency, photograph by Hetty Zantman depicting the Big Easy chair by designer Ron Arad.
A graffiti slogan message written on a wall "I will be with you" in Woodstock, Cape Town, South Africa.