In this episode I’m speaking to you from Patagonia, a place where you don’t only arrive physically, but also internally. A place that, quietly and steadily, is teaching me something very simple and very profound: to slow down. To soften. To loosen my grip.

I share my two words of the year: calmness and beauty. Not as concepts, but as lived experiences. As directions I’m consciously moving toward. And as qualities that are slowly reshaping how I work, how I create, how I relate, and how I run my business.

We’re living in a time where the photography industry is shifting fast. AI is changing how images are produced. Editorial markets are under pressure. Old structures are dissolving. That can feel unsettling. But here, in this landscape, I’m discovering that panic doesn’t create clarity. Forcing doesn’t create direction. And hustling harder is rarely the answer.

What does create space is calmness.

I talk about how slowing down is not the same as falling behind. How you can build, create and generate income from a calmer nervous system. How calmness is not passive, but rooted in self-trust. And how beauty, in nature, in work, in attention, can become a compass in times of transition.

This episode also connects to my upcoming online masterclass with Lars Lindemann, former Director of Photography at GEO Magazine and now working as a curator, mentor and strategist in the photo industry. He will share what is really happening inside the editorial world, why it is changing, and how photographers can reposition themselves not underneath editorial, but alongside it.

This masterclass is not only for editorial photographers. It’s for anyone who wants to understand the larger ecosystem of photography and explore new ways of positioning their work.

You can sign up here

I hope this episode invites you to slow down. To observe your own patterns. Maybe even to choose a word for your year. And to remember that sometimes you are only one small step away from a complete shift.

In this episode, I take you to a remote estancia in southern Patagonia, where wind, silence, and distance force me to slow down—and at the same time sharpen my senses. I share what this workation is teaching me about flexible entrepreneurship, staying relevant as a photographer in the age of AI, and why your authentic voice matters more than ever.

I’m spending nearly two weeks in southern Patagonia, on a vast estancia of 40,000 hectares, 300 kilometers from the nearest shop. In this episode, I share my insights from this extreme context: how I continue working with limited internet, why slowing down is sometimes essential, and what this place teaches me about focus, intuition, and flexibility—in both life and entrepreneurship.

I dive deeper into the impact of AI on photography. Not as hype, but as a reality that is already taking over certain forms of photography. And more importantly: what does that mean for you as a photographer? How do you stay relevant? Where does real value lie today? Spoiler: not in efficiency alone, but in story, humanity, and a distinct photographic voice.

I also share why structure and rhythm are essential even on a workation, and why moments of “doing nothing”—walking, silence, space—often turn out to be the most strategic moments of all. Many of my new ideas were born here, including the seed for a workshop in Patagonia in 2027.

This connects seamlessly with the master workshop taking place this year in the French Alps, from June 2 to 6, together with Awoiska van der Molen. In this intimate workshop (max. 10 photographers), we don’t guide you toward making more images, but toward deepening your authentic photographic voice: what makes your work unmistakably yours, how you differentiate yourself from trends (and from AI), and how you create a stronger connection between your work and the viewer.

I will be present throughout the entire workshop as well, including business insight sessions on positioning, sales, marketing, and entrepreneurship.

If this resonates—if you feel the need to slow down in order to become sharper, and you want to create not more, but more precisely—then you’ll find all the information here.

Not sure whether it’s for you? You’re always welcome to reach out and explore together: info@donkerekamer.com