Photography is in my genes.

Long ago, it started with my father creating a darkroom in our former coal shed (the smell of coal never went away).

When we moved and he 'built' a new darkroom in the shower, my grandfather gave me a real photo camera: an Ilford. And my father taught me the craft of 'printing' myself. I was 13 at the time and it was 1968.

I went to live on my own, fell in love and eventually got our own flat.

Just about the first thing I did after déflatting (a flat was terribly bourgeois) I created my own darkroom and on subsequent moves three more times.

Meanwhile, I had switched to an SLR. And then 'finally' in 2005 my first digital camera. All the darkroom gear could go to the attic, where it is still gathering dust.

After several intermediate steps, I ended up with a Canon 70D. With an 18-135 and a 70-300 zoom lens. And a 100 mm macro lens plus extension rings for my first macro photos.

We started photographing together.

First she pointed out something for me to take a picture of.

That encouraged her later on to start taking them herself, and it was she who first started shooting digitally with a compact Olympus. And when we decided that a digital SLR really had to be there, the question was: do we buy two?

That turned out to be absolutely unnecessary.

We give each other space and both of us have no problem waiting patiently for the other to finish.

And what transpired?

Now, looking back, it's barely (to an outsider) visible who took which photo.

More importantly, we encourage each other in seeing 'the perfect picture'.

Therefore: here on Flikr, this site does have my name on it and I am the one who posts the photos (and does the editing before posting).

But we do not distinguish here who took which picture.

Is signed:

Monique Claessen

Rein van der Meij

nb: all the photos here are in low resolution; you can ask me (for free) if you want one in high resolution