Michiel Heijmans

Esther, Puck & Linde - Wijchen (NL) - 30 Minutes Shutter Time - 35mm - City Trips - 1974

Hi, I'm Michiel.

My passions are portraits and street photography. I love emotion and stillness in both disciplines. I make visible what often remains invisible - in portraits, on the street or during encounters where attention and authenticity are paramount.

Photography is fantastic, and shooting is a part of it. Besides photographing, always with people at the centre, I wrote several books on street photography:

1. The Law of the Street (2025), e-book with Charlotte Meindersma
2. The Observer (2024), published by KOMMA Publishers
3. The Street Photo Bible (2023), published by Photofacts Publishing

Where the Street Photography Bible is primarily a textbook, The Observer is much more of an art book, with my vision of the street, of the NOW. The Law of the Street is an e-book with all the rules, practically discussed with examples with lawyer Charlotte Meindersma.

With friend Niels de Kemp, I have been happily creating since 2024 the photography podcast 30 Minutes Shutter Speed, in which we discuss a variety of photography topics in a light-hearted manner (YouTube, Spotify).

Because I prefer images accompanied by text and creating a rounded narrative, I was also a regular columnist for the renowned photography magazine in 2023 and 2024 Focus Magazine. From 2025, I will write monthly columns for the online course platform Photofacts.co.uk.

Artist Statement

As a photographer and visual storyteller, I focus on people - on how we show up, how we move through the world, and what becomes visible when the noise falls away. My work moves at the interface of street and portrait photography, with an intuitive eye for the real, the small, the quiet.

In my street photography, human presence in public spaces is the starting point. I work with a fixed 35mm lens and move with the rhythm of the street. Small gestures, accidental compositions, a fall of light that evokes something - I collect moments that present themselves without notice. The street is my stage, the passer-by my protagonist. I regard this form of photography as visual poetry: short, to the point and honest.

I take that same approach in my portrait work. Whether I photograph in my studio on the NYMA grounds, in someone's home or in a place that says something about who the person is - for me, it's always about the encounter. A good portrait starts with listening. With paying attention to someone's story, body language, and the energy in the moment. I take the time to look and really connect, allowing someone to show themselves - without haste, without embellishment.

My portraits are allowed to whisper. They are allowed to leave something open. It is precisely in that space that something real is created: an image that not only shows what someone looks like, but also who someone is. I see it as my role to guide people in this. Not by steering, but by slowing down, mirroring, and providing a safe setting in which someone feels seen. Often I hear: "I don't like having my picture taken, but this felt different." That is exactly what I want. To make portraits that stick - not only because of the image, but also because of the process leading up to it.

Besides my autonomous work, I run workshops and offer mentorships for photographers who want to develop their own voice. I don't believe in tricks or rules, but in seeing with attention. Those who learn to see with wonder not only discover better images - but also themselves.

Fire manifesto

I believe that genuine attention makes all the difference - in photography, in collaboration, in how you look at people. Whether I am shooting a portrait, giving a workshop or wandering through an unfamiliar city with my camera: I am always looking for what is genuine. For what really happens, without embellishment.

My work is about delay and wonder. I want to make visible what is often overlooked: a gesture, a glance, an encounter that could have just disappeared. For me, photography is not an end product, but a way of seeing - and I like to pass that way on.

I am not a director, but an observer. Not a detached professional, but an engaged maker. I work with people, not with models. With stories, not with formats. And I believe that those who dare to look always find something special.

Room for creativity

Besides photography and writing, I regularly teach lectures and workshops, often in the field of street photography. Here you will find my agenda for the coming period.

Above all that, I am father to my daughters Puck and Linde and married to Esther, who still gives me the space to dive deeper into photography, even when I am away for a few days for a workshop abroad again (this year Zurich, Paris, Prague and London).

In a previous life, I dealt with websites and search engine marketing, including as COO and co-owner of the WordPress plugins company Yoast (120 employees at the time I quit). I am glad that in 2021 I chose to get off my desk chair and take up photography. It is a particularly rich and varied world that I have not seen nearly enough of.

I now choose my assignments on challenge and job satisfaction.

Above all, let me know what I could do for you!

Please contact me first →

A trainer from The Hook Once said to me: If you're not going to do anything with people, it's a shame for those people. The nicest compliment, and one I have always kept in my back pocket.

Michiel Heijmans photography workshops

Meyt my background, I know better than anyone what it is like to get lost in your work. Ten signs in the air and people already talking about the next deadline. You think you have a grip, but the grip leaves your hands like an uninvited guest. In your head, elephants are running around in circles and at night you have trouble getting to sleep because tomorrow you will have to do it again. Anyway, you know what I mean. You know what you should do?

You should narrow your scope with the viewfinder of a camera. Make your world small and manageable by sticking to a single assignment. Photograph the absence of people, or take a classic street shot in black and white. If you need a break from the daily grind and the running, join me. My workshops are informative, fun and mindful. Small groups of up to 5 people. Sandwich in between. Nothing is compulsory, but I am sure you will see things differently.

Thank you, Michiel. You're a true artist!

Rachelle Verhage, at Instagram