Lucrees van Groningen

Photographer

Lucrees van Groningen comes from a Deventer family where photography has actively been practiced for the past 100 years. It is, therefore, no surprise that Lucrees has been taking photos since childhood. This was during her childhood in Deventer, her studies in Leiden and Delft and whilst working and living in France, Amsterdam, and in the past few years, back in Deventer. Since 2010, photography has become her profession where she publishes photographs under her own name.

Craftsmanship ‘Photography is a basic need for me,’ explains Lucrees, who prefers to work with a Leica and has also studied traditional photo printing and development techniques in addition to her professional photography work. ‘This is so much fun to do: it puts a bit of craftsmanship back into photography. I believe that a photo isn’t a real photo until you have printed it. These prints should be special enough to hang on the wall. Moreover, a palladium print is one of the most durable ways to preserve photos.’

Products & Services Lucrees is educated as an art historian and psychologist. ‘I am a good observer and always look at the “essence” of a certain place or moment. It’s more than just taking a beautiful photo. It also needs to benefit the customer. I like to make portraits and try to capture the essence of the person, unadorned, firmly entrenching the image into the viewer’s memory. This also applies when capturing events and occasions. This can be a celebration, but also a funeral. Lucrees regularly produces company reports. To do this, she travels all over the country with occasional trips abroad. She fondly remembers her company report for CERN in Switzerland; very few reporters are allowed a look behind the scenes the way she was able to do.

Lucrees believes that the power of images is becoming increasingly important. ‘Images have always been a powerful means to present yourself. The amount of time that a visitor spends looking at a website or a brochure, however, is becoming increasingly shorter. Texts are becoming shorter in favour of images. You have to make sure that your images matter! Very often, I don’t see personal images of people on websites or annual reports. That’s very unfortunate because these are often an important representation of the company or organisation. Far too much use is still being made of stock photography; photos that are so general, they will never be able to show the viewer what your company stands for. That is such a shame, because you can make really strong statements with the right images.’