If I tell you that I live between Brussels and Amsterdam, that I have been working in media production for quite some time now, that words have much more impact on me than images, it won’t give you a clear picture of my little person.
I always wonder what makes me turn to look at one passer-by rather than another when I am mostly indifferent to the rest.
I observe them a few seconds and I try to imagine what they are thinking while they are walking. If I had the guts of Sophie Calle, I would amuse myself to follow them for a while but I don’t have this delicious audacity.
Why are my eyes drawn by these people?
I don’t think it has anything to do with beauty or esthetics but more with their general attitude.
They all have an ‘intangible something’ that reflects into their expression. It’s like their body and face embrace entirely their personality.
Anyway, all these lines to express that I was often frustrated not to have my camera when I needed it.
Now, I take an hour or two per week to go bother these beautiful human beings at the corner of my house…
If you want to contact me: email me
if you want to follow me on facebook: my page
&
Si je vous dis que je vis entre Bruxelles et Amsterdam, que je travaille dans l’audiovisuel depuis pas mal de temps, que les mots m’ont toujours plus marqués que les images, cela ne vous avancera pas à grand chose.
Je me demande depuis longtemps pourquoi je me retourne sur certains passants. Je les observe, je m’invente leur vie, j’essaie d’imaginer ce qu’ils pensent à la seconde où je les regarde.
Si j’avais le cran de Sophie Calle je m’amuserais à les suivre, mais je n’ai pas encore cette audace délicieuse.
Pourquoi ces personnes attirent-elles mon regard?
Il ne s’agit pas tellement d’esthétique mais plutôt d’une attitude. Ces êtres dégagent quelque chose d’intangible qui se reflète dans l’expression de leur visage. C’est comme si tout leur corps embrassait totalement leur personnalité.
il s’agit peut-être, tout simplement de personnes qui sont aussi bien dans leur tête que dans leurs pompes.
Enfin, tout ça pour dire que j’en ai eu marre d’être frustrée de ne pas avoir mon appareil “juste au moment où j’en avais besoin”. Désormais quelques heures par semaine, je m’en vais déranger ces passants au coin de ma rue…
Si vous désirez me joindre: email me
si vous voulez me suivre sur facebook: my page
nb: The pictures are posted without any photoshop retouch to keep the persons as natural as possible. The only thing I accept to erase is a disgracious pimple or circles.
nb: small picture above: Matthieu d’Aoust
Thank you to Jacques Moyersoen for altering slightly this blog with style, to Ariane Lippens for helping me making the good selections, and Joanna who inspired a great idea without even knowing it! http://joannagoddard.blogspot.com/
copyright © Barbara Iweins
What a nice idea! Well done…
A bientôt
Meuse
I love this. I people watch constantly and always imagine who they are, where they are going etc. what a wonderful idea your site is.
Thank you so much…indeed, I am, apparently, not the only one who likes to imagine the life of others.
I love it!!! C’est infiniment bon de penser qu’autant de beauté, de création et d’imagination passent au coin de ta rue. Je me sens presque l’âme de déménager ou de faire dans un tout autre style, le portrai des gens que je croise au coin de MA rue…
portrait bien sûr
barbara, i love it, it’s absolutely great. Please continue…give us loads more
thanx
felix
Fabulous idea! Love it to bits….. And you live in the right place to do this. Not sure if a corner in Uccle would give the right results.
you would be surprised darling! maybe another style but unforgetable too…
This is great! Yes please continue… I’m off to the Netherlands in two weeks and was just wondering what’s the latest street style in Amsterdam when I stumbled on your site. Good work!
Thank you so much!
I love this idea! It’s a great mindset to look at things. 🙂
Thank you so much for these nice comments!
I absolutely love this blog, it’s brilliant! 🙂 Keep it up! I have once been to the Netherlands, but sadly for only a short period of time.. hope to visit the country soon again and than stay much longer.
You’re working in Media production as I read, and well it’s my first year studying the same thing at my university 🙂 (had to point that out.. )
Take care,
Ingrid
Thank you so much Ingrid!!! You should definitely come back to Amsterdam!
These photos are awesome. Love how you show thier heads and then their legs. Gives an interesting perspective on the appearance of a person. Often the legs don’t look like I thought they would after first looking at their faces.
canon ma belle!
quel chouette petit hobby! maybe nice thing to do from South Africa!!
Wauw, impressive! I love it!
XS
J’aime ces bijoux des hasards des rencontres dans la vie
Ce blog est un havre de fraîcheur et de beauté, bravo !
Que ça fait plaisir, ce genre de compliment! Merci!
Hi Tuinwoman,
thats a great blog you do. Can feel that you are very openhearted to the people you take a picture of. And a very nice idea splitting the pictures. Very special! My respect! smilla from cologne
Thank you very much!
Great idea and great pictures!
It’s really a shame that it took so long for Amsterdam to get a proper street style blog, so props for giving it a go 🙂 Also, it’s really cool that the people you take pictures of are so different, gives us a real idea of how people around town dress, rather than getting a very stylized and unrealistic selection of the style crowd that’s on rotation on other blogs…
Keep up the good work!
Well, Can’t say it’s a street STYLE blog, but indeed these persons have sometimes personnality in their outfits also…
Thank you for these compliments!
Babs the tuin babe!
thank you for your sweet new year’s message darling, so sorry i didn’t call you back…
so it’s my turn to wish you a very merry happy new year. le jeu tue! keep up the good work congrats
Je me suis retrouve sur ce bog par hasard. Mais si je reste, ce n’est par la hasard! Beautiful blog! Continuez
cela me comble de bonheur ce genre de petites réflexions! Merci!
it’s a great idea…i always find myself staring at some stranger in the subway and i would like to remember that person somehow…this blog does just that.
so, how do you do it? you just go to them and ask if you can take their picture because there’s something special about them?
keep up the good work!
exactly the same…each time I was in a train, tram, I was all the time trying to imagine what some people were thinking etc…
Yes, I simply ask them if I can take a picture and I sometimes explain them my project. It’s not that difficult actually.
I would love to ask plenty of questions but I don’t dare 🙂
Thank you!
(Precies) tussen Amsterdam en Brussel… Ehh, Breda? 🙂 Aan de kleurrijke types te zien zullen de meeste foto’s wel in A’dam gemaakt zijn maar zitten er ook andere steden bij? Leuk blog!
nee nog geen andere steden…Maar het komt wel. Ik hoop het!
bedankt!
Very Nice i really love it!
Thank you so so much!
J’adore!
Merci!
Love this idea…..you can really find honest beauty in these people, its fascinating. I love to sit out on a busy street observing interesting people and imagining what their life is like. Fab idea…keep going =)
Thank you! I will…
I might make the project evolve a little in a few months…will see.
Hi!
I fell for your concept, is like fresh air for me.
Thanks for sharing this wonderful images, your sensibility and incredible eye to catch them.
Oh…I fell so much that I have to write a post about it:
Many thanks again for your blog 🙂
Kisses from an argentinian living in Madrid,Spain.
Much love from Eindhoven here!
Thank you!
hope I’ll go there one day to make pictures.
Congratulations on having a very beautiful blog. I love your pictures, and the story they seem to tell about every individual you have captured with them.
Thank you so much…So happy the picture transcend more than just an image….In most of these people, you can read a lot just watching their eyes.
beautiful photography, beautiful subjects. stumbledupon you and i just had to say i love your site!
Thank you so much. I feel so grateful that you take the time to leave such nice comment.
heh….im one of those people that you see walking down the street…and just wonder wtf is he up to? XD but yes there are people that just make me wonder ” whats that person doing” great concept!! 🙂
really nice photography, got me inspired. 🙂
can’t wait to see more of it.
greetings from brazil. 😉
Thank you so much!! I was at the birthday of a Brazilian Friend today…I wish I could come over to make portraits. People are so alive in Brazil!
Your idea about making these pics is absolutely great !!! I can’t wait the next one!
Thank you! I will try to post one tomorrow!
… greetings from Romania! 🙂
This is one of the most beautiful and intriguing ideas, concepts, what have you that I’ve ever seen. It’s beautiful and I adore looking through all of your pictures. These people are so beautiful. Thank you so much for contributing this to the world.
Thank you so much!…I am so flattered that you grasp the thought behind it.
fascinating. do you just ask these strangers for their portraits? have you ever received any outrageous responses? love the blog.
Thank you! Yes, I simply explain them my project in a few words and then ask them for a few minutes of their time to pose. Until now, I have been lucky, not that many people have refused. Sometimes I would like to ask to some more ‘peculiar’ persons (but beautiful anyway) but I am a little scared they would think I am mocking them (which I am obviously not!).
Hey,
First, big up for the originality of this blog. I wish I took pictures of some of the folks I met in my short uneventful life.
Second, are you on twitter? Would be nice to keep up with your work.
Thank you so much…but I am sure your life isn’t as you discribed hereabove.
So grab a camera ’cause this blog isn’t revolutionary. It’s just seeing something or someone on another perspective.
And no, I am not on twitter. I really should. Is it better facebook or twitter for a blog?
I love your idea!
Although my Internet connection is really slow, I just had to wait for every picture to load.
I have to tell, every person that you took pics of, seems so interesting. I love what you wrote: “but sometimes some individuals have a “little undefinable something” that makes them unforgettable” So true.
I’ll keep coming to check some more,
greetings from Argentina!
Thank you so much for having the patience to wait for each picture to load!
I know how annoying that can be.
Yes please come back soon…I am working on a new project that will be shown
online soon.
These pictures are amazing. Thank you.
I am having an epiphany.
Merci Merci beaucoup!
Love your blog, is one of the few I subscribed via e-mail and following regularly : D
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love it!!!!
I have to say, you are an amazing photographer. i looked through all the pictures without reading anything about the site, or comments you wrote. As I went through I realized that each of these people have charisma and you are able to convey them in a beautiful photograph. I am so impressed good luck on everything you do!
this is very intriguing. I adore what you are doing. you’re a lovely photographer
Thank you very much for the compliment.
i think you’ve done something really great here and i just think you should be told that as much as possible in the least non-obnoxious way possible, so you’ve something really great here!
Such a nice comment! Thank you very much! It’s indeed thanks to all of you that I want to continue so much.
Amazing concept, so glad to got to know it – and glad you are still creating these beautiful photographs. Brava!
Thank you so much! Indeed, some could see it as redundant…but I still love snapping pictures of these anonymous people.
When Aaltje came to class a few days back showing your game, it really blew my mind! What a great idea, so this year I’m suggesting it to my readers as the perfect christmas present. carry on with your great project and good luck with everything 🙂
(the post is coming up tomorrow on kathmography.com)
Thank you so much for doing so! So you are a friend of Aaltje? are you also living in Amsterdam?
I checked your blog and I can’t wait reading more. Seems extremely nice! I will take more time tomorrow 🙂
thanks for taking the time to write.
Bonjour,
je viens régulièrement sur votre blog car j’adore vos portraits d’inconnus… Moi aussi j’invente leur vie à travers vos photos. Et je me dit, qui sais, un jour, ce sera peut-être moi? 🙂 J’aimerai tant me retrouver dans vos clichés! Si jamais, je me tiens prête à Paris ou Lyon pour vous, pour être… au coin de la rue de votre hôtel! 🙂
Merci merci merci pour ces doux compliments. Cela me ferait très plaisir de vous croiser. J’étais justement à Paris le mois dernier…A bientôt
🙂 A très bientôt j’espère!