Looking for a corporate photographer in The Netherlands?

If you are looking for a photographer in The Netherlands you’ll find that by typing in the generic search words like ‘photographer Netherlands’ or ‘Dutch Photographer’ you will have to click through a lot of listings of Dutch family-, wedding- and so called ‘branding-photographers’. The portfolios listed on photographers sites for the first 2 items will most likely not meet your needs. In relation to ‘branding photography’, a marketeer like yourself may be hopeful, but you will find that these sites will mostly target small companies active in lyfestyle, decoration, domestic interiors, beauty etc.

In this little blog we will try to help you finding the right type of corporate and commercial photographers in The Netherlands.

How to find a corporate photographer in The Netherlands

Are you looking for a photographer in Holland?

Lets start with explaining a common misunderstanding first: Holland in not the same as The Netherlands. Holland only refers to 2 counties in the country The Netherlands: North Holland, with the capital Amsterdam and South Holland with the other two well know cities: The Hague and Rotterdam.

The misunderstanding is partly historic and partly due to blame to the Dutch themselves as they have been promoting ‘Holland’ with their windmills and wooden shoes in an opportunistic way, for years. Sometimes in marketing, it is easier to go with the flow than to do a rebranding exercise.

The Netherlands consists of 12 counties or provinces and the author of this article is a Dutch commercial photographer near Zwolle in the North East of The Netherlands, hence the vetted interest 😀. Most of the country can be covered within a 2-3 hour drive, so as far is that is concerned it doesn’t really matter where you find your commercial photographer.

Fashion and advertising photography

Most succesful fashion and advertising photographers can be found in the west of the country, for the simple reason that overthere there are more jobs available in this field. However if you are looking for a clothing and fashion photography studio in the north east, check out the city of Zwolle as there are a lot of talented fashion photographers due to the presence of major online fashion retailers like Wehkamp and Loavies.

Corporate and industrial photography

If you are looking for a Dutch corporate or an industrial photographer thenn don’t forget to use this checklist before you get in touch:

1. Check the portfolio to see if that is the type of work you are looking for. It helps if a photographer has been in a datacenter before, or a metal factory or a refinery. And that field of business is totally different from the architectural and construction industry.
2. If you are doing the marketing in the agricultural industry, you probably stand a better chance finding a photographer in cities like Zwolle, Assen and Arnhem. So don’t forget to add location to your search words. This in combination with the word ‘fotograaf’.
3. Check if they have professionnal indemnity insurance and are members of the Dutch Professional Photographers Association, DUPHO. Not that you can’t find good photographers outside that association, but at least you know that they have signed the ‘code of conduct’ which states that they will only accept an assigment if they expect to be able to meet the customers demands. If not, they will refer you to a colleague without taking a cut. 

Hope this helps?