IRENE VAN NISPEN KRESS
WHO I AM & WHAT I DO
I am a storyteller, spending most of my time working on in-depth long term projects about social issues concerning diversity.
After a career of working into different fields of media such as television directing and web design, I came back to my ‘roots’ of photography. Photography was the first medium I used to express myself artistically.
My broad multi-media experience shaped my approach and the use of audio interviews to let the subjects tell their own stories, combined with the images make my work more distinctive and engaging.
My social documentary photography has an inside out approach: instead of being an outside observer, I try to let the subjects speak for themselves as much as possible. Focussing on what primarily drives them. Trying to inspire people to update their way of perceiving things.
November 2019 my first photobook has been published by the German publisher KERBER Verlag. The book, SILVER, based on the project SILVER STORIES, is being distributed worldwide:
“The general picture we have of older people does not seem to reflect today’s 60-70 year-olds at all. Driven by her own feeling of having a ‘best before’ date, photographer Irene van Nispen Kress examined what it’s really like to be older these days. For six years she followed three older women in the intimacy of their day-to-day lives. With the help of her camera, she provided a glimpse into the lives of women who, because of their age, are usually not in the limelight at all. These powerful images and stories illustrate why the passage of time can be a woman’s greatest asset.”
Awards
2021
Siena Internatinal Photo Awards, shortlisted for the final round
Publications
2020
FOCUS photo magazine Nr.02, February 2020, SILVER mentioned in book section
Zin! magazine Nr. 3 feb/march 2020 SILVER recommended
ZORG+WELZIJN magazine, #2 April 2020, page 44-51, Photo’s and interview
2019
SILVER, photobook of my Silver Stories project, Hardcover, 23 × 30,6 cm, ISBN 978-3-7356-0639-6, 144 Pages, 73 duplex illustrations, Languages: English/Dutch https://www.kerberverlag.com/en/1765/irene-van-nispen-kress
Bookpresentation/Booksigning SILVER at Paris PHOTO 9th November 14-15h at stand KERBER https://www.parisphoto.com/en/Paris-Photo-2019/galleries/Company-Exhibited-artists/?ownerid=6464134&ownerotid=50#
Bookpresentation SILVER in Museum Hilversum 11th December https://foto-agenda.nl/event/boekpresentatie-silver-irene-van-nispen-kress-museum-hilversum/
Personal presentation of SILVER on Dutch National TV hosted by ‘Tijd voor Max’ https://www.npostart.nl/POW_04100957. (23’19”)
Kiekie Tabloid: https://www.kiekietabloid.com/blog/irenevannispenkress
SHUTR photo magazine Nr.4 Interview in ‘Werk in Uitvoering’ page 14
2018
GUP magazine Instagram :
https://www.instagram.com/p/BgLqFasHb7O/?taken-by=gupmagazine
Leica Fotografie International blog
https://lfi-online.de/ceemes/en/blog/slideshow-irene-van-nispen-kress-1521.html
Kiekie Krant N0.24: http://irenevannispenkress.com/index.php/2018/12/03/silver-stories-in-kiekie-krant-no-24/
2017
Leica Fotogafie International blog: http://lfi-online.de/ceemes/en/blog/one-photo-one-story-irene-van-nispen-kress-1259.html
Catalogue Biennale Venice 2017, by GAA Foundation and European Cultural Centre : Personal Structures – Open borders Sculptor Ellen Klijzing page 163-165 2 pictures
Important Networks
I was selected to attend to the Think Tank of the Copenhagen Tech Festival. Consisting of 150 people of 48 countries, to create a tech principle with them in 48 hours. Brought together as the Copenhagen catalog:
Bio
After studying audiovisual design at the Gerrit Rietveld Art Academy in Amsterdam, I worked for Dutch national television. First as an assistant and later as a one-camera director in the field. At SAE Technology College I was trained to be a multi media producer. After that I worked in the ICT business as a project and content relationships manager and designed websites.
Then I began to write, advise and provide creative training. Finally I have gone back to my roots of photography; something I started to do even before art school .
To come back from the moving to the still image and broaden my vision and network I attended intense documentary photography workshops abroad, with big names in documentary photography like Gary Knight, Marcus Bleasdale, Philip Blenkinsop, Christopher Morris, Es Kashi, Antonin Kratochvil, John Stanmeyer and Donna Ferrato. I worked with them in Burma, Rwanda, France, Greece, Chernobyl (Ukraine), Armenia and Germany.
In 2016 I was selected to attend to a 7 months masterclass by VII Photo Agency in Berlin together with photographers out of 16 different countries.
WHAT I CAN DO
PHOTOGRAPHY
I work with a Leica camera using a 35mm Summicron and a 50mm Summilux lens.
STORYTELLING
To tell a story you often need several platforms. I can be of your service helping you create a multi platform experience.
PERSONAL PROJECTS
My personal work mostly consists of long projects about social issues.
DESIGN
Over the years I have become a design consultant for personal websites.
SOCIAL MEDIA
How best to communicate depends on your goal and who you are. I love to help people explore these options.