Process 104 ☼ Inheritance of Creativity: The Verhoeve Family's Artistic Tapestry
Discover more from Process by Wesley Verhoeve
Process 104 ☼ Inheritance of Creativity: The Verhoeve Family's Artistic Tapestry
Giveaway: $150 gift certificate for the Moment store
Dear friends,
In this week's letter, I will introduce you to the two previous generations of Verhoeve men and their art. My father Fons, a photographer and sculptor, and my grandfather Aloijs, a painter.
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Three Generations of Artists
I grew up as the son of a seamstress and a photographer, as well as the grandson of an accomplished painter that unfortunately I never got to meet. Here we are, we like hats.
I was born into a warm hug of creativity, in a home full of art and art books. My parents were influenced by their parents, especially my dad’s dad, so that’s where I will start the story, a long time ago in a small rural village.
My grandfather, Aloijs Verhoeve, came from a farming family and was a truly gifted artist who worked with oil paints and pencil. Each stroke of his brush told a story and evoked emotions that really resonated with people. His day job was creative but in a very different way. He'd mount his trusty scooter and zoom between supermarkets as their head designer creating elegant window displays.
After quite a few years working in window displays he shifted careers. Together with his wife, my grandmother, he would venture into a different business. Together, they ran a charming café, restaurant, and hotel that became the heart of the community in their small rural town. With all eight of their kids lending a hand, it was a bustling family affair, where laughter and love flowed freely like the colors on a canvas.
During this era, my grandfather's artistic spirit found another outlet as he joined a painting collective. He would travel with his fellow artists to the serene Moselle Valley, immersing himself in its picturesque landscapes. He’d leave on Sunday morning and return on Tuesday morning to be ready when the cafe opened again for the week. These painting trips were not just his well-earned reward; they were his avenue for artistic expression.
Yet, tragedy struck all too soon, as my grandfather left this world at the tender age of 56, just two months before I was born. A father to eight and a grandfather to many, he never got to witness all the artistic accomplishments that would blossom within our family. I am the only boy among the grandchildren who carries his name. Although I never met him, I always found myself enraptured by the sketches stored in our attic and his oil paintings gracing our living room, feeling an inexplicable bond with the artistic legacy he left behind. I’m proud to say his work is still exhibited to this day.
Enter my father, Fons Verhoeve, whose lens of love captured my entry into this world. To commemorate my birth, he purchased his first camera, the Canon AE-1, which would later become my portal into the world of photography. As a mechanical engineering high school teacher by day, photography was his passionate side pursuit.
He built his darkroom in our attic, and aside from personal family photography he delved into the intricacies of macro photography, uncovering hidden worlds within miniature wonders of the flowers and insects. From an early age, my father took me on photo walks, and together as a family, we explored galleries, where the walls whispered the stories of countless artists who had come before us.
At some point, my father’s photographic journey took a turn into a more experimental and impressionist style of photography based on a special technique he developed. Below you can see a childhood portrait of me shining through in the top left.
After a childhood spent on photo walks and in the darkroom with my dad, it was time for me to spread my creative wings. During the serenade of my adolescent years, a new melody beckoned me away from the visual arts. Music, with its enchanting and expressive rhythms, became the compass of my creative journey. Fast-forward a few years and I moved continents to work at jazz label Verve Records. I delved deeper into my own music, writing songs, producing albums, and managing artists. This was my more-than-full-time vocation in NYC for ten years.
Yet, the symphony of my heritage never ceased and drew me back to the realm of photography. In a nutshell: Without much of a plan, I stumbled my way into a career as a professional photographer during a time when I was taking a much-needed break from the music industry. I traveled around the United States and found myself taking portraits of the interesting creatives I met along the way. This got way out of hand and culminated in my project One of Many, which effectively kicked off my career.
(Of course, the story is more complicated, but you can read all about it in parts 1, 2, and 3 of my series How I Started My Career as a Professional Photographer.)
After years of working in the highly collaborative music industry, warts and all, my heart rejoiced in the discovery of my own creative vision. With my project, One of Many, I embarked on a journey of self-discovery and connection, a pilgrimage to unveil the myriad stories that make us human. Like my grandfather's painting excursions, this was my own personal odyssey—a path of discovery and redemption.
Growing up in a family that overflowed with creativity granted me unspoken permission to explore my own artistic desires. Surrounded by art books and supplies, I was gifted the tools to transform my imagination into tangible realities. My parents' encouragement became the nurturing soil in which the seeds of creativity took root.
As echoes of past and present interlace, I carry the torch of creativity with pride, an ode to the harmony that weaves our family's artistic spirit into the fabric of time. I aspire to pay forward the same permission to explore that I received to those who come after me. This very newsletter, and the Process mentor sessions, are one way of doing this in regard to the larger family that is the photography community.
Now, as I push forward with my own creativity, publishing my first art photo book NOTICE, and working with clients like the New York Times, National Geographic Traveller, I still look to my father and grandfather for inspiration. Their work is on my walls, and, forgive the saccharine, in my heart.
That’s it for this week!
Next Week: A breakdown of working with my intern and assistant Taylor over the last year. Plus, opening up applications for my next intern/assistant.
Keep shooting and take good care of yourselves and others. <3
Wesley
PS Shout out to my friends at Carmencita Film Lab. They’re my favorite lab in the world and I’m grateful for our collaboration. Use code “PROCESS” at check out to get a free upgrade.
Gear Used
All of my images in this issue were shot on the Fujifilm XPro2 using the Fujifilm XF 23mm f/1.4 R lens and the Fujifilm X100F. These are links to my friends over at MPB.com, which has become my go-to place to buy, sell, and trade used cameras and lenses. MBP caters to over 625,000 visual storytellers and provides a 6-month warranty. Thanks for supporting the Process community, MPB! <3
Process Giveaway!
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To enter this week’s Process Giveaway answer the question below in the comment section for this issue:
QUESTION: How do you keep your creativity alive when life gets in your way?
For example, my father being a busy first-time parent who made family photography his main form of creative expression.
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Process 104 ☼ Inheritance of Creativity: The Verhoeve Family's Artistic Tapestry
when life gets in the way, the simple act of going for a walk with a camera can be tremendously helpful in finding inspiration again. I often take my bike to a different part of my city of Amsterdam and start walking, exploring and documenting anything I perceive as beautiful. Lately I've been using a konica t3 with a broken lightmeter, which forces me to pay more attention to the light that's available and be more present with my surroundings.
Wesley, wow! A truly inspirational story.
Something I learned only in the last couple of years that I wish I learned when I first started taking photography is that literally everything is beautiful. No, not the figurative version of literally, I man the literal version of literally.
The area you’re in is boring? The scenery is bland? Nothing interesting ever happens? Then make it all interesting. Photographers are not just people who are passively capturing what already exists. We are photographing subjects, yes, but if a subject is boring, look at it from a different perspective. A different angle, different composition, different location(if possible), different lighting, and different aperture settings.
Even though life gets busy, I take my camera everywhere, and while I do live in a city I consider very interesting, I still find great photos in mundane areas, it just takes more time sometimes. A couple of weeks ago, I was in a relatively boring park, and the entire park is covered in mostly clover and small weeds instead of grass. There was a bee absolutely going to town on this tiny weed, so I spent about ten minutes with that bee and a macro lens, and I got some of my favorite macro images I’ve ever gotten.