Photographer at the La Boum protest party
Remember Covid times? When the young in Brussels partied to celebrate freedom?
La Boum was a lively celebration of youth and joy, capturing the spirit of carefree fun and social interaction. This event, which started in Belgium, features upbeat music, energetic dancing, and colorful outfits, creating an exciting atmosphere.
People of all ages came together in the Terkameren forrest to enjoy a shared experience called La Boum started by an artist duo. It was also to protest the severe restrictions in liberty the Belgian government had put over the people of Belgium.
The party ended up in a true battlefield with drones and police on horses chasing the party people home. Sander tried to capture the entire story, in a surreal documentary photography style.
His pictures ended up at his agency and… were never used.
Police chasing the party people from the forrest, forming a beautiful composition
A Girl dancing really close to a fire made by the protesters
Police shooting with the water cannon on a soaked girl with her hands up in the air
police in action with watercannon
Two young partypeople dressed up as clowns protesting the governmental covid rules
Girl helping a friend that was hurt by the water with police in the background
Girl running for the police chasing her by horse
Editorial photography in stories and reportages
Editorial photography narrates visual stories that enhance storytelling for media platforms. It conveys emotions and themes, capturing cultural, social, or political aspects. Through composed images, photographers create content that engages audiences and complements articles. Sander loves shooting short and long term reportages. Send him to any event and he’ll come back with strong images telling the story from A to Z.
Can a photographer earn money from their photos?
As you can read above, I went to this event on my own initiative, despite the challenging circumstances. Covid was still present, always carrying the risk of infection. Additionally, the police were present, increasing the risk of arrest or injury from batons or water cannons that could also damage my photography equipment.
Since I’m not sent to these events by a client, I work unpaid during these moments. My only income comes from selling my photos to newspapers. However, many newspapers already have contracts with photo agencies from which they can source unlimited images. This means the chance of me selling a photo is very slim when agency photographers are already present.
So no, I can’t make a living from these kinds of photojournalistic reports. But I love it so much that I always try to find interesting subjects and angles that agency photographers haven’t thought of. Beyond that, I also do a lot of commissioned photojournalism, like portraits and visual stories together with journalists, and those assignments are paid.
Still, I have to do portrait and event photography for private clients and companies to pay my bills but that is what makes my job just very interesting and diverse.