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

In this episode, I’m joined by American photographer Mark Mahaney, whose work spans major editorial and commercial clients including Time Magazine, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Nike, Levi’s, and more. We recorded in New York City, inside the studio of legendary portrait photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, where Mark once assisted and absorbed lessons that still shape his way of working today.

We talk about photography as a human practice, about respect, communication, and integrity on set, and why those values matter just as much as technical skill. Mark reflects on how publishing his book Polar Night and the forced pause of COVID fundamentally changed his approach, pushing him toward a more intuitive, varied, and story-driven way of working.

The conversation moves between extremes: from seven intense minutes photographing Elon Musk to weeks spent editing, because for Mark, the real creative work often begins after the shoot. We explore the tension between developing a recognizable voice and staying creatively alive, the blurred line between assignment and personal work, and what it means to photograph powerful figures without simply reinforcing their mythology.

This episode is for photographers and creatives who sense that their work wants to be more than a style, and who are searching for a way of working that aligns with who they are: artistically, ethically, and personally.

You can explore Mark Mahaney’s work ⁠here⁠

If this conversation resonates and you feel called to go deeper into your own photographic core, you’re warmly invited to join my upcoming five-day retreat in the French Alps (June 2–6), co-hosted with renowned Dutch photographer Awoiska van der Molen. This retreat is not about producing new work, but about discovering and defining the essence that already runs through everything you’ve made, creatively, intuitively, and professionally.You can sign up ⁠here⁠ or get all info.

In this bonus episode, Mark Mahaney steps away from his professional identity. No photography talk, no career narratives, no achievements to frame the conversation. Instead, five unexpected questions open a quieter door into how he thinks, feels, and moves through his inner world.

Mark speaks about his deep love for doing nothing — truly nothing — sitting in silence, watching a river, listening to birds. What many might call unproductive, he experiences as essential. He reflects on being perceived as serious, while humor and lightness live in a more private, protected space, only emerging where there is real connection.

The conversation moves into loss, memory, and lineage. Mark shares how certain objects tie him to the men who shaped him, and how energy, presence, and intuition blur the line between what’s gone and what’s still felt. Moments of grief intersect with moments of wonder, including an experience that felt unmistakably like guidance.

He also speaks candidly about his long-standing fear of death — not as something that paralyzes him now, but as something that sharpens his choices and clarifies what matters. It’s a fear that has matured into discernment.

Finally, the episode turns toward a deceptively simple question: if no one were ever to see your work again, would you still feel compelled to make it? Mark’s answer is thoughtful, honest, and unresolved — touching on the role of audience, memory, and the difference between seeing and documenting.

This bonus episode isn’t an interview in the traditional sense. It’s a pause. A glimpse into vulnerability, presence, and the subtle tension between living an experience and preserving it.

In this episode, I’m recording from a remote estancia in Patagonia, Argentina, a place where distance is real, infrastructure is minimal, and the internet disappears whenever the wind decides so. There is no backup connection, no quick fix, no way to keep pushing when things stop.

That’s where this episode begins.

I talk about what happens when you’re forced to pause. Not as a luxury, not as a retreat, but as a working condition. About the discomfort of not knowing what the next step is. About how quickly we try to fill that space with activity, decisions, and output and why that often works against clarity.

I connect this experience directly to what I see in photographers I mentor: the tendency to push harder precisely at the moment when ideas need time, not pressure. Why slowing down is not the same as doing nothing. And why focus doesn’t come from adding more, but from removing what doesn’t belong.

This episode is about learning when to stop interfering with your own process and trusting that direction emerges from attention, not urgency.
This is also the thinking behind the upcoming online masterclass I’m hosting with Lars Lindemann, former Director of Photography at GEO Magazine and now curator, mentor, and visual strategy consultant.

In the masterclass, we address a central question:
If editorial photography is changing, how do photographers still create meaningful impact without losing integrity?

It’s not about trends or shortcuts. It’s about focus, positioning, and making deliberate choices in a fragmented visual landscape.

📅 February 12th, 3:00 PM CET
🔗 You’ll find the registration link here.

This episode — and this masterclass — are an invitation to slow down, think clearly, and work with intention.

In deze aflevering van De Donkere Kamer praat ik met Yves Desmet, journalist, voormalig (politiek) hoofdredacteur van De Morgen en later Humo, en bekend van Polspoel en Desmet. We duiken in zijn weg naar de journalistiek (van opgroeien in een bibliotheek tot het leven als deadline-junkie), zijn visie op engagement en scherpe pen, en vooral: zijn liefde voor fotografie.

Yves vertelt hoe De Morgen fotografie ooit een autonome plek gaf - niet als illustratie, maar als verhaal op zichzelf - met iconische keuzes die tegen de stroom ingingen. We spreken ook over de keerzijde van die drang naar “het beste”: verantwoordelijkheid tegenover jonge fotografen, trauma en (het gebrek aan) nazorg. Verder gaat het over ego’s op redacties, leiderschap met afstand (“de oester”), de verschuiving van journalistiek naar “bladen maken”, en hoe AI de mediasector op z’n kop kan zetten. Een gesprek over kijken, kiezen, en waarom echte vrijheid soms het krachtigste redactionele instrument is.

Wil je hierop doorpakken in je eigen fotopraktijk? Boek dan een Review Sessie: een online 1-op-1 feedbackmoment met mij van 90 minuten waarin we samen kijken naar je beelden, je vragen en je groeipunten. Alle info vind je hier.

When you’re listening to this episode, I’m in Patagonia, Argentina, on a work retreat, fully focused on photography.
I recorded this from Belgium, but my mind is already there.

In this episode, I talk about a word that keeps returning in my work, my conversations, and my reflections: obsession.

Not obsession as burnout. Not hustle.
But the kind of deep, conscious commitment that allows you to truly grow as a photographer.

I share why I believe obsession will become one of the most important forces in the creative industry in 2026 and why mediocrity is no longer safe. We talk about visual language, depth over volume, commitment over motivation, and what it really takes to create work that can’t be copied by people or machines.

This episode is an invitation to look honestly at how deeply you’re engaged with your craft and whether you’re willing to go all in on the things that actually matter.

At the end, I share more about a free webinar where I break down five patterns I see consistently in photographers who grow in a sustainable, meaningful way. You can register here for free