Dutch DJ’s and event organizers have been dominating the worldwide EDM scene since the beginning. Not just them, however, a select group of filmers and photographers from the lowlands are also being flown all over the world these events. Three of them will show their unique perspective on the past ten years of EDM at the 2012 edition of the Amsterdam Dance Event.
From Wednesyday, October 17th the Bacardi House in AMsterdam will host a photo and video look-back on the worldwide EDM scene of the past decade. A decade which started with the first all-night-one-DJ event (Tiësto in Concert) and consequently saw the meteoric rise of DJ stardom for the ones in the DJ MAG top 100. A decade where vinyl was replaced by memorysticks and a time where pop festivals started to fall behind in size, shows and the speed in which EDM events got sold out (Tomorrowland 2012, 100.000 tickets sold in a second).
Rutger Geerling (National Geographic) and Kevin Verkruijssen (mittnick.nl/wearethenight.com) plus video director Wilco Jung (wearethenight.com) have been active for well over ten years as photographer, filmer or director in the EDM scene. A trio with an unique perspective and access to the most spectacular angles in order to capture the atmosphere at these events. There’s hardly a continent on earth that they haven’t seen. As senior photographers for ID&T, Q-dance, Ultra Music Festival, KLM, Armin van Buuren or Tiësto the world is their workplace with places like Ibiza, Miami, Sao Paulo, Las Vegas or Sydney as regular stations. A life, perhaps, not as glamorous as that of the most famous DJ’s but hardly less interesting and with the rise of internet now available to a worldwide audience. A music-or event video on Youtube gathers millions of vies within days of posting and has become a whole new platform.
On Wednesday October 17th the photo-video exhibition “A Decade of Dance 2003-2012″ will be opened for a select group of invites in the Bacardi House 60/62 in downtown Amsterdam under the sounds of DJ’s Lucien Foort en Benjamin Bates. On Thursday 18 and Friday 19 the expo will be open to the general public.
Images from the 2012 World Premiere of the new Sensation show “Source of Light” in the Amsterdam Arena. Photos were taken for a 14-page EDM special in National Geographic Netherlands-Belgium which was published in September 2012.
“In Trance”, a 14-page article on EDM in the NL-edition of National Geographic Magazine.
This photo of DJ Tiësto, taken at ENERGY 2012 in Utrecht, is the opening spread of the article which only contains my photos.
That’s the way to roll with Fedde le Grand & MC Gee
The 2012 edition of Mysteryland in 101 photos. With Fedde le Grand, Martin Solveig, Hardwell, Avicii, Cassius, Deniz Koyu, MC Gee, MC Ruffian, The Partysquad, Tommy Trash & Zany.
“I’ve been wanting to do evening photoshoots from the sky at EDM events for years. However, Hollands tough safety laws don’t allow flying after dark. But even at earlier timeslots I had never managed to get a helicopter available to me for a shooting. Then, late June, luck turned. As senior photographer for Q-dance I was granted heli-time at Defqon.1, not just any slot – a LATE shot, the latest possible in Holland.
At exactly 22:05 I took off for a 20 minute shoot in which I could expand my imagination to the limits. Thanks also to the new camera equipment like the Canon 1Dx (amazing noise-levels at 800-1600ISO) and the stabilizer from the 70-200IS II telelens, also by Canon, the photos came out incredibly good with never before seen camera-angles. I immediately wanted to up the ante: Tomorrowland was just weeks away and in Belgium one is allowed to do nighttime flights. I explained the organizers my plan to do something never been done before: a risky shoot over the mainstage during the massive fireworks! With a simple “make it happen” things were set in motion: a time-slot was reserved for me and all that was left was mentally preparing myself for the technically difficult shoot ahead.”
Tomorrowland is an Electronic Dance Music aka EDM event organized every year in the Belgium town of Boom. Normally there are 16.000 people living in Boom, but on Tomorrowland there are 180.000 people dancing on three days. This year Tomorrowland took place on Friday, July 27, Saturday, July 28 and Sunday, July 29. The line-up consisted of 400 DJs, such as Skrillex, Avicii, Skazi, David Guetta, Nervo, Swedish House Mafia, Steve Aoki, Carl Cox, The Bloody Beetroots, Paul van Dyk, Martin Solveig, Chuckie (DJ), Fatboy Slim and Pendulum, playing on 15 stages per day.
The most unique view EVER from fireworks at an EDM (Electronic Dance Music) event!
Taken from a helicopter during the Friday’s fireworks show at the world No.1 dance event: Tomorrowland. These photos are the first ever made like this.
Equipment used: Canon 1Dx, 70-200 EF2.8 mkII , 16-35 EF2.8 mkII and one Eurocopter EC120 Colibri.
Many thanks go out to Ibo Örgüt (Q-Dance) and Christophe van den Branden (ID&T Belgium) for making this “world first” possible!
