With some regularity, I see people posting on Facebook or photography forums asking for ideas on what they can shoot in their home for when they’re unable to get outside and shoot. The work of Amsterdam based duo Adrian Woods and Gidi Van Maarseveen, certainly gives us some inspiration for such times. In their latest project, commissioned by Quote Magazine, Adrian & Gidi created a VanDutch boat heading into rough waters, and made the entire scene using nothing but paper.
After being presented with the subject of “VanDutch boats” and the general direction in which the magazine wanted to go, the pair set to work coming up with a concept, sketching out ideas and ended up with three scenes which they planned to build and photograph.
Adrian & Gidi told DIYP that they often work this way, even with larger advertising commissions. Their clients book them for their specific style, knowledge and skills, and those clients value and appreciate their input. You can certainly see why.
While these are made to a far higher standard than I could ever achieve, I fondly remember making simple models out of paper when I was in school, and it’s something I would have never considered for a photography project had I not seen Adrian & Gidi’s work.
We asked Adrian and Gidi which was more fun, making the scenes, or photographing them.
That said, the crafting of the objects can be satisfying as well. Certainly when we work on more complex shapes, with detail. Working with paper isn’t as easy as one might imagine, especially to such a high level of detail. I can be very precise work, and the duo have been working with it for a long time to perfect their skills. Their Instagram feed is littered with other paper based projects, and some fantastic behind the scenes images. The amount of effort and detail that goes into some of them is just amazing, and some are just great fun.
A post shared by ADRIAN & GIDI (@adrianandgidi) While their creations may be far beyond most of our abilities, it certainly provides some inspiration and ideas for things we can have a go at ourselves, with some unique lighting challenges. Adrian & Gidi represents the collaborative work of Adrian Woods & Gidi van Maarseveen, a young photography duo based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands who have worked for popular brands including Adobe, KLM, Air France, and Oreo. You can find out more about them on their website, follow their work on Instagram and Facebook, or reach out to them through Twitter.
