Rangefinder Magazine
February 2006

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Profile: Sven Everaert Larry Brownstein
Belgian Lifestyle Photographer

Being from Los Angeles, I often think we have a monopoly on traffic jams, but I learned that even Belgium is not immune. I had called Sven Everaert at his studio at our pre-arranged time only to be informed that he was stuck in traffic on the way back from a shoot. A short while later Sven called me from his car, and we discussed this lifestyle shooter’s career as he navigated a Belgian traffic jam.

Sven was returning to Ghent from a shoot at Upignac, a manufacturer of foie gras (goose liver pâté), in Namur, Belgium. Sven will photograph 45 foie gras recipes as well as the animals, the factory and even restaurants run by the company.

Sven does a lot of food photography. He recently photographed a book of recipes created by top European chefs; each of the recipes features Duvel, a popular Belgian beer, as an ingredient. The book is entitled Duvel à la Carte.

Sven enjoys photographing food but is careful not to be pigeonholed. He says it is difficult for a photographer to not have a specialty, because that is what the agencies look for. Yet he is careful to use his portfolio to position himself as a “lifestyle” shooter, which includes food, architecture and portraiture.

When he was 10 years old, Sven saw a lot of his father’s National Geographic magazines and decided he would be a photographer. He often watched The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau on television, which reinforced his decision. He studied at The Fine Art School of Ghent in Belgium. The best thing about attending art school was befriending, talking with, and being inspired by other students. Sven learned as much or more from his fellow students as he did from his teachers.

Upon leaving school he discovered there was something he didn’t learn in art school—how to get clients. So, unable to get work as a photographer, Sven worked in a newsstand for four years. He eventually realized he would have to begin taking pictures on his own and then try to sell them.

Fortunately Sven knew someone who lived in a private castle in Bordeaux and was given permission to photograph there. He sold the photo-essay to a Belgian lifestyle magazine called Weekend Knack.

Encouraged by that success, he began photographing new buildings and the architects that designed them. These photo-essays were also published.

After several such stories were published in lifestyle magazines, Sven began to get calls from a variety of clients. To this day, he makes it a point to direct about 20% of his efforts to shooting for lifestyle magazines because of the exposure they give him, which often leads to new assignments. This strategy has been so successful that Sven doesn’t have to focus a great deal of attention on shooting, designing and circulating a portfolio. He prints and mails a 4x6 portfolio book about once per year.

Sven’s time is split between 20% editorial magazines, 20% book publishing and 60% ad work through agencies.

Discussing a typical advertising assignment, Sven recalls being asked to photograph a stopwatch—an old analog watch with hands. At first he thought it would be an easy assignment; however, he discovered it was extraordinarily difficult to find a suitable watch. Eventually, after three days of searching, he found one—2000 miles away in Munich. He says this is actually quite typical: The planning phase of an assignment often takes the majority of the effort, and the photography is just the last step of many.

Sven had a similar experience on a shoot he did for Quickstep Floors. The company wanted a photograph of one of their floors installed in an upscale house with all natural light. The difficult part for Sven was finding the right house and securing permission to shoot.

Sven did not rely on a location scout, nor did he go knocking door-to-door to find the perfect location. Instead, Sven buys numerous magazines that he uses to track down houses, buildings, garden, restaurants, bars, lounges and other potential locations. He maintains files of such places and can tell you, for example, where to find a beautiful bathroom in Australia if you need one in a pinch!

Whether the client is a beer manufacturer whose shoot calls for a trendy bar, or the client is a towel manufacturer and needs a bathroom tiled with travertine marble, Sven can find just the right place. After finding a suitable location, he negotiates for its use and arranges the shoot. Even when Sven travels internationally, he already knows what he wants to shoot and where to find it, as long as it is in the category of “lifestyle.”

His mini-book portfolio shows a mastery of portraiture, architectural and food photography, so I was eager to ask Sven some questions about his pictures.

One picture, entitled “Tropical Fish,” was taken on assignment for Weekend Knack magazine. He was sent to Le Saint Géran Hotel in Mauritius, an island in the Indian Ocean, to cover Michel Ducasse (a top chef with restaurants in Paris and New York) and his restaurant, Spoon.

Sven went to several fish markets and chose fish with an eye to color and size that would allow him to create a balanced composition—composition équilibrée in French. It was shot with a Hasselblad 203 in daylight.

Sven uses the Hasselblad 203 because it has an in-camera shutter, allowing him to use a series of lenses that, because they don’t incorporate lens shutters, have faster maximum apertures. He favors a 110mm f/2 lens and often shoots wide open to create minimal depth of field, which he considers an essential part of his style.

The photo of the amaryllis flower (page 54) is a typical studio shot done on assignment for a magazine called Le Vif.

The photo of a Trinidad, Cuba, interior (page 55) was taken during a personal trip. Sven consulted his file of magazine articles and found one about beautiful houses falling into disrepair because the owners didn’t have the money for maintenance. He tracked down this residence and sold the story upon his return.

The photo of the gerbera flower (page 55) was shot on Polaroid Type 55 negative film, and Sven incorporated the sloppy border into the image.

The photo of the “Indian woman” (above left) is actually a Belgian woman who is fascinated by American Indian tradition. The image appeared in a book about cultural tolerance.

Though it was clear from our discussion that Sven loves his Hasselblad, he hasn’t used it since August 2004, when he bought a Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II digital camera. He says that the people at his photo lab probably wonder if he is alive, as he has not required their services since in quite some time.

Shooting digital not only saves Sven money on film, but allows him to take more assignments because the workflow is more efficient. After a shoot, he does some editing and color correction on the computer, burns a disc and sends it off. Sven says the other big advantage of digital is the immediate feedback. Although he previously used Polaroids, he found it impossible to preview image sharpness. With digital, there is no guessing.

For the 10 year-old boy who saw his father’s issues of National Geographic and decided he wanted to become a photographer, it has been a dream come true. Sven Everaert says he can’t imagine anything else he’d rather do. See more at www.sveneveraert.com.