I met with Raimond de Weert Photographer in his studio - STUDIO NOW. Somewhat of an ethnographer, Raimond has been taking photographs of Lismore’s creative community for a book soon to be released. The book will be an A4 full-colour hardcover coffee table book, containing 330 portraits, beautifully designed by John Senczuk.

“What is the difference between a headshot and a portrait you might ask, which is a fair enough question. The headshot has a specific purpose and context. The headshot is about the sitter as a professional within their chosen field. The portrait on the other hand is much more dramatic and sometimes even theatrical. A portrait can be seen as a collaboration between the photographer and the sitter.” Raimond de Weerdt

I was born in the Netherlands in Amsterdam.

When I was eighteen I moved to Australia and lived in Sydney, initially in Paddington, then in Surrey Hills, Darlinghurst, Rosebay and Vaucluse.

I worked in various jobs while really exploring Sydney and surrounds for a number of years. My girlfriend at that time was an art student at Sydney College of the Arts studying visual communication. She had a camera that she really didn’t use that much, so I started using her camera - playing around with amateur photography and found that I ‘really’ liked it. I liked it so much that I decide to install a dark room at home.

During this time, I familiarised myself with the processes of the darkroom, the chemicals and light exposures I found it fascinating. So, I began to compile a portfolio as I was creating a large body of work. I applied for a bachelor degree in Visual Arts majoring in photography at Sydney College of the Arts (SCA). To my delight, after an interview where I showed my portfolio, I was accepted! I stayed in Sydney for three years, completed the degree and then I went back to the Netherlands.

After studying photography in Sydney and armed with confidence and skills from the degree, I settled in Amsterdam and got a job working in commercial photography. This was very different to art school where there was a lot of theory and choice about subject matter.

The company I worked for would photograph ‘anything and everything’, cars and engines, chic models and catalogues. This style of photography was a huge departure from this Art School experience and gave me a diverse repertoire. Now, when I speak about photography, I am talking an ‘old school camera’, not a digital camera.

The 1990s began and with that the rapid rise in digital equipment including processes. I began using Photoshop and other applications that would manipulate the photographic image. Some of my work has been published in Timeout magazine and various other magazines.

As the 1990s began, so did my age for compulsory military service in the Netherlands. This was a real blow for me as I felt like I wanted to explore photography more during this important time of change in the industry. I loved my work in Amsterdam but couldn’t stay if it meant that I couldn’t continue as a photographer. I decided to move back to Australia and avoided military service in the Netherlands.

I moved back to Paddington in Sydney on Albion Avenue. Fortuitously, the College of Fine Arts [COFA] UNSW was across the road from my terrace. There was an open day at COFA and I went to have a look. Apple had just released a new Apple Macintosh computer and COFA had them! So, decided to keep up with emergent technology and my love of photography and enrolled in a Masters degree. Initially commenced with a focus on photography, but then I quickly switched to 4-dimensional interactivity. I completed my Masters degree and then was offered the opportunity to look after a few Macintosh computers in graphic design at Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga.

I went to Wagga Wagga for the interview for that job for a while. I had my own office and I had to do a bit of emergent software workshops. Professor David Green then suggested that there was a full-time position in Albury at Charles Sturt University. He said “there’s all this photography stuff in your CV and if you are a photographer a full-time position was going in Albury for the BA in photography". I applied for the job vacancy, I got the job then I moved to Albury for 11 years.

After setting up this course in Albury I moved back to Sydney and had exhibitions and a residency through Artspace at Woolloomooloo.

In Sydney at Artspace, I met Fiona who was working at Southern Cross University Lismore and we became friends. Southern Cross were interested in teaching photography and making it into a digital thing. I came up to Lismore to meet Jen Davies and discuss writing subjects, which I did, and then a few months later Jen called me to say that I couldn’t find anyone to teach those subjects and if I’d be interested. I said yes because I didn’t want to return to Wagga Wagga and my partner was working at a university as well and was looking for something new.

Christine (my partner) and I basically just backed up the Peugeot and drove up here to Lismore. We found a place to live in Federal. I began to lecture in Photography at Southern Cross University.

About 8 years ago Chris was on maternity leave from her job at Sydney University. Around this time, I decide to leave lecturing to be the main carer for our child. I do workshops on weekends, continue my practice and experiment in cyanotype printing.

In November 2021, after we were released from Covid, I was having drinks with Ruby from Inner Sanctum and she said to me that a space was vacant and I was welcome to try out something. I entered the studio space upstairs, sat there for a while and then I rang up my friend Renée Bolton. I said to him do you need a headshot? I have always wanted to photograph him. He came in sat for me, we talked, and I photographed him in the studio that day. That was the start of something. 

I then put that photograph on Facebook and it went a bit crazy… amazing… I then came up with the project of just documenting creative people, looking at identity and the diversity of creative people here in Lismore. Facebook was where it really gained momentum and feedback. So many people loved that photograph of Renée.

And then floods…After the floods I picked up the portrait project thread again. People came back into my studio and I thought well you know, I want to do something with these portraits. So, the book was born to document the approx. 330 painters, poets, writers, stand-up comedians, composers, fashion designers, performers, dancers, interdisciplinary artists that came through my studio door. There was a real broad range of sitters, the youngest person 8 to 88!

It’s a Time Capsule really, these are the people that are here in Lismore at this particular time. A time in Lismore’s history where the level of the Wilson River was record-breaking. These people came to my studio, they sat for me. I used really soft lighting and probably followed in the tradition of framing them compositionally like a Dutch portrait painting.

It is a skill to enable people to relax in front of the camera. You have to create an atmosphere. There are some little techniques to build rapport between a photographer and their subject. It’s like theatre, you need to know the actor (the subject) a little, so I talk to them, ask questions, build trust.

I like to make the set look minimal as a backdrop and the lighting soft and accentuating their features. I create a relaxing space and then you start shooting photographs. If time is taken and the subject relaxed something always emerges -it’s not about smiling, I’m revealing truths. It’s much more about capturing someone’s character and I really enjoy doing that.

Raimond de Weerdt 2023

This is Northern Rivers-based dancer and dance-maker Delia Silvan. Photo by Raimond de Weerdt

 Creatives of the Northern Rivers. Image credit: Raimond de Weert