Christophe Van Biesen

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My 2014 Retrospective

This year is coming to an end and I thought I'd write a short retrospective of what I liked most about 2014.

Travel

Once more, I tried to travel as much as possible this year. 

2014 started out with a trip to Dubai and its crazy architecture, its giant malls, its excellent food, ... There are so many unfounded prejudices about Dubai. "The city looks like this expensive jewel where only the rich can go to and have a good time." This is so far from the truth. There are very cheap accommodations if you are smart and if you don't need a 5-star hotel room. Food is just as inexpensive, especially in the malls where you can eat dishes from so many different places at a ridiculously low price.

My second big trip this year took me to the North of Italy. We started out with a short stop in France, near Chamonix to visit Europe's roof. Then we drove all the way down to Cinqueterre and its enchanting villages. And after a few days in Florence and Venice, our road-trip took us into the incredible Dolomites where we did a lot of hiking, got up for lots of sunrises, and saw lots of amazing landscapes.

And while 2014 is almost over, I have one last trip planned right now after Christmas. I will be travelling to Québec for what is mostly a family vacation, but where I will also explore some landscapes with lots of snow hopefully. And my fingers are crossed to see some auroras. :)

Projects

I worked on a lot of different projects during 2014. I shot my very first Weddings as well as my very first Christening. I also did quite a lot of portrait shootings in and around Luxembourg. Most of these pictures are private, so unfortunately I can't show you those. Sorry for that.

The most interesting project by far for this year though, was visiting the Cargolux facilities at the Findel Airport and photographing in and around some Boeings 747. Being right in front of these planes allowed me to make some incredible pictures.

Luxembourg

2014 was another great year to take pictures in Luxembourg. I wanted to concentrate on shooting the different seasons this year. Spring started out great and I managed to create some interesting Spring-themed pictures of the city. Though I especially loved Autumn this year which had some incredibly beautiful days and made it very easy to photograph the city with the trees showing off their colours. Unfortunately I'm still waiting for Luxembourg to be covered in snow. Maybe 2015 will finally be the right year for those kind of pictures.

Street Photography Luxembourg

If you follow me closely you have probably heard me talk a lot about our Street Photography Luxembourg-collective. This year, our collective held its first exhibitions at KUFA, LGE and Lecuit. And 2015 will be no different, as there are already more exhibitions and other events planned. Follow us on Facebook to get updates about our next activities.

The new year

So all in all, 2014 has been a good year. Of course, us photographers we will always only display our best work on the web. All our failed pictures or failed projects never make it to the Internet and disappear somewhere on our computers and in our minds. I think I will write an article next year about the frustration that sometimes comes with our passion for the art of photography. And how every failure can still lead to learning something and getting better at what we do. Now I'm looking forward to the new year and to what it might bring. I already know that there is going to be lots of exciting new travel destinations (as I already booked the flights to those; more on that soon...).  There should also be some very interesting publications of a few of my pictures coming up next year. I'm still waiting on more details for those. And I'm already working on some various other interesting projects, but I'm not allowed to talk about them yet.

Thank you all for following and supporting my work. Without you, sharing my work would only be half the fun it is.


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