Robert van Hall is a portrait photographer whose works go far beyond putting his clients on a stool and having them plaster on their prettiest smile as their eyes glaze over. Robert is inspired by the classic lighting and settings used by the painters of the Golden Age. “I love the play of light and shadow and I want to replicate it in my photographs, to create the feel of a painting. I find that most of my clients are art lovers who appreciate this Rembrandt-like style too and enjoy recreating this type of romantic setting. However, I do not limit myself to this; I am happy to go along with any style, be it punk, gothic, formal, informal, indoors, outdoors – my studio is across the street from Westerbroek Park and I have created some of the most beautiful scenes there.”
Most of Robert’s clients are expats: “I realized that it has something to do with the fleetingness of living in a country as an expat. If you’ve lived on Main Street in the same city all your life, you assume that you will be there ten years from now too and that there is no rush to hold on to a moment, because there will be more, similar ones. However, expats are aware that their time here is temporary and significant. It is something they want to remember and take with them to their next home; who were they when they were living here? Who was with them? How did it feel? What did it represent? Making these portraits allows them to express and capture the time they were living in Holland and to always have it with them, wherever they go from here.”
Read the full article in The XPat Journal Summer 2019 Issue
