Paul Starink

Paul Starink (Amsterdam, 1980) is a young, talented photographer with a special interest in architecture. He explores the tension between natural light and a building’s design. It is this tension that makes his photos so special.

Starink: “Beauty—you have to be open to it. If you go out onto the street with an open mind, you can see beauty in everything.” As a photographer, you have the advantage of being able to eliminate all distracting elements by choosing your vantage point and framing your shot. After a lot of practice, it becomes second nature, and then you find yourself in a world you couldn’t have imagined. My mentors have always said, ‘Keep it simple.’ This has inspired me. Simplicity has become the guiding principle in my series. I find the interplay of lines in the composition and the build-up of colors through playing with light to be the most important aspects of the images. Architecture is a very rewarding subject in this regard. I like to use existing artificial light, sometimes combined with a flash. Because every type of lighting has its own color, you get a feast of color tones when you bring them together. Your eye corrects for this, but your camera remains objective and, as a result, seems to go on a trip. So there’s no need for image manipulation, no matter how implausible it may sometimes seem. Everything is real. That gives me a sense of pride and motivation to capture everything in a single shot, and it encourages people to look. Photography is about looking.'