Photography

Portrait photography lecturers of the year

9 March 2021
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/ Categories: Portraits / Recent projects by Michiel Bles / Universiteit Utrecht

Animated portrait series for Utrecht University


Project info: For the award ceremony of the 2020 Teacher of the Year award, I created animated portrait series of the nominees, combined with text animation. In the run up to the award night, the portraits were published on the Utrecht University social media channels, the full animations were shown during the online award ceremony.

Client: Utrecht University
 
Media: Photography, animation
 
My role: Photography, graphic design and editing
 
Languages: –
 

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Photo reportage: high tide in Holland

7 February 2021
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/ Categories: Autonomous / Background stories / reportage
Hoogwater aan de Waal in de uiterwaarden van Heerewaarden © Michiel Bles

Photography, news report




Project info: As water levels rise in Dutch rivers, I made a visual report of a Dutch couple living in the floodplains of the Waal river. .
 
Client: Autonomous
 
Media: Photography
 
My role: Idea and photography
 
Languages: Dutch

 
Watch the full photo reportage

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Animated portraits teachers Utrecht University

4 March 2020
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/ Categories: Portraits / Universiteit Utrecht

Utrecht University teacher of the year award, portrait series

Project info: For the annual award show of the teacher and talent of the year competition of the Utrecht University I shot these portraits of the nominated teachers and talents of the year. The portraits are used as background stop motion animations in short portrait movies of the teachers and on social media channels of Utrecht University.
 
Client: Utrecht University
 
Media: Photography, animation and video
 
Languages: –

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Photo report S-H-O-W dataviz conference

5 May 2019
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/ Categories: (Corporate) event photography / Geen categorie / Recent projects by Michiel Bles

Corporate event photography at the S-H-O-W data visualisation conference in Utrecht 2019

Project info: Photo report of a data visualisation conference in Utrecht in 2019 organised by data visualisation training agency Graphic Hunters. The international conference was held in the ‘Anatomiegebouw’ in Utrecht, a former anatomic lab. The pictures I made were used by the client on social media and website.
 
Client: Graphic Hunters
 
Media: Photography
 
Languages: –

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Background story: growing up in the refugee camps of Lebanon

21 December 2018
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/ Categories: Background stories / reportage / Photography
  • Sabra and Shatila refugee camp. Home of massacres in the past. Now a barren place to live. Only a few miles from downtown Beirut

Reportage of children living in the Ein el Helweh, Rashidieh and El Buss refugee camps of Lebanon

Project info: Hundreds of thousands Palestinian refugees live in refugee camps in South Lebanon. Ein el Helweh, Rashidieh and El Buss have been the makeshift home of generations of Palestinians who have fled the violence in Gaza and the West Bank. In 2010 and 2012 I visited the camps in Lebanon to document the lives of children living in these dire conditions.

Together with founder of the Dutch NGO War Child Holland and its goodwill ambassador Marco Borsato I interviewed and portrayed children and their parents. The pictures, reportages, background stories and video reports have been and are still used in War Child’s printed media, website, social media and advocacy reports.

 
Client: War Child
 
Media: Photography
 
Languages: –

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Background story: Los Valientes/the braves

21 December 2018
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/ Categories: Background stories / reportage / RNW Media

Five brave, aspiring photojournalist from Latin America face major challenges expressing their opinions. Prejudice, intimidation, violence, it's part of their daily job in Mexico, Venezuela and El Salvador.

Background photo stories

 
Project info: Five brave, aspiring photojournalists from Latin America face major challenges expressing their opinions. Prejudice, intimidation, violence, it’s part of their daily job in Mexico, Venezuela and El Salvador. This long scroll honours these young professional photographers and video reporters.

 
Client: RNW Media

 
Media: Photography, webdesign
 


Watch Los Valientes live

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Street photography by Michiel Bles

3 November 2018
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/ Categories: Street photography

As a professional multimedia maker with a background in cultural sociology, I’m captivated by the continuous interplay between humans and their social environment. Whether these interactions are inspiring, confrontational or amusing, the meeting between the individual and its surroundings creates a fascinating playing field.


The ability of humans to deal with, build upon, take advantage of or simply enjoy the world they live in, is what intrigues me. It is what I love to capture in my street photography.

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Staff portraits Radio Netherlands Worldwide

17 November 2017
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/ Categories: Portraits / RNW Media

Portrait photography Radio Netherlands Worldwide

Project info: Portrait series of members of the editorial team of Radio Netherlands Worldwide. These editors and producers work for the China, Latin America, Africa, and Middle East desks. Goal of this staff portraits series was to have a consistent visual presentation of the RNW team.
 
Client: RNW Media
 
Media: Photography
 
Languages: –

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RNTC iPad training for journalists

14 November 2017
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/ Categories: (Corporate) event photography / RNTC

Corporate event photography

Project info: International journalists and journalism students are trained on the use of iPad in their journalistic work. This photo series shows the activities of the journalists from Egypt, DR Congo, Nepal and other countries. The iPad training course is organized by RNTC in Hilversum. The photo reportage will be used on RNTC’s website, social media en corporate print outlets.
 
Client: RNTC
 
Media: Photography
 
My role: Shoot, selection and post production
 

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Gulu carwash

16 February 2017
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/ Categories: Autonomous / Background stories / reportage / Photography / Street photography

Photo series of a makeshift carwash in Gulu, Northern Uganda

Project info: When the heat of the day leaves town and the sun gets low, men gather at the washing bay in Gulu. At this roadside carwash against a tropical backdrop, cars, trucks and motor bikes get their daily clean-up.

Client: Autonomous

Media: Photography

Languages: –

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Photo series: Beirut taxi

3 January 2017
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/ Categories: Autonomous / Street photography

Photo series: passengers and taxi drivers on Hamra Street, Beirut, Lebanon

Project info: A night on a Beirut pavement. Hamra street is one of Beirut’s most bustling avenues. Taxi’s swarm the street. The hot weather made passengers to open their window. Which created to opportunity to portray them while patiently endeavouring Beirut’s traffic nightmare.

Client: Autonomous

Media: Photography

Languages: –

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Corporate event photography: photo series of training sessions RNTC

22 June 2016
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/ Categories: (Corporate) event photography / Photography / RNTC
 

Corporate event photography

Project info: For the new website of training institute RNTC, launched June 2016, I produced a photo series of their training courses for international students.

By applying a specific, distinctive color grading to the photography, the website gets a consistent look and feel. The photo series represents the activities RNTC organizes for their international clientele.
 
Client: RNTC
 
Media: Photography
 
Selection only
 
Go to the new website of RNTC to see the full photo series

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Idle indulgence

20 December 2015
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/ Categories: Autonomous / Background stories / reportage

Idle indulgence, an ongoing photo series

Project info: In times of work pressure, stress and our newly acquired need to be in touch 24/7, room and time for indulgence are diminishing. This photo series explores situations and persons who take time for enjoyment. Forget about time, being idle.

Exercising, as French revolutionary Marxist socialist journalist, political writer and activist Paul Lafargue stated, the right the right to be lazy. These progressively scarce moments are captured in this ongoing photo project.

 
Client: Autonomous
 
Media: Photography
 
Languages: –

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Portraits of editorial staff Love Matters at RNW

9 May 2015
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/ Categories: Portraits / RNW Media

Portrait photography

Project info: Portrait series of RNW’s editorial team ‘Love Matters’. Goal: to develop a consistent visual presentation of the team.
 
Client: RNW.org
 
Media: Photography
 
Languages: –

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Photo reportage Amsterdam Gay Pride 2014

8 May 2015
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/ Categories: (Corporate) event photography / RNW Media
 

Corporate event photography

Project info: Visual report of Amsterdam Gay Pride 2014. For five days I followed eight LGBT activists from seven countries around the globe
 
Client: RNW.org
 
Media: Photography, social media reporting
 
Selection only. Photos are cropped for navigational purposes.
 
Watch the Amsterdam Gay Pride 2014 in 18 photos

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Various portraits

8 May 2015
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/ Categories: Portraits / RNW Media / War Child

Portrait photography

Project info: Various portraits for various clients
 
Client: War Child and RNW Media
 
Media: Photography

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Cinecook film night Amsterdam 2013

7 May 2015
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/ Categories: (Corporate) event photography
 

Corporate event photography

Project info: Visual report of an inspiring film night ‘Cinecook’ at the Jeruzalem church in De Baarsjes neighbourhoud in Amsterdam
 
Client: Booming Baarsjes
 
Media: Photography
 
Selection only. Photos are cropped for navigational purposes

 
Watch the full photo report of Cinecook 2013

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Autonomous photography portraits

7 May 2015
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/ Categories: Autonomous / Portraits

Portrait photography

 
Project info: Various photography portraits I made when working in the field and studio portraits at the Photo Academy Amsterdam
 
Client: Free work
 
Media: Photography

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International students at RNTC courses

6 May 2015
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/ Categories: (Corporate) event photography / RNTC

Corporate event photography

 
Project info: Visual report of international students participating in various media courses organized by RNTC. Used on RNTC’s social media pages.
 
Client: RNTC
 
Media: Photography

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Photo series: musing on the ferry

1 May 2015
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/ Categories: Autonomous / Background stories / reportage / Photography

Photo series of Amsterdam ferry men

Project info: No less that 80 times Amsterdam ferrymen and women go up and down the IJ canal each shift. Each day, each week. 80 times the same 5 minute passage. 40 times a view on the same quay.

A few meters above the passenger deck, they look down on the cargo disembarking their vessel. A couple of minutes when docked allow for a moment of woolgathering.

When the buzzer sounds, the mesmerizing is over and a new crossing is about to begin.

Is this the most peaceful or the most dreary job in the world? ‘Musing on the ferry’ is a visual quest for the answer to this question.

Client: Autonomous

Media: Photography

Languages: –

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Concert photography

15 August 2014
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/ Categories: (Corporate) event photography

Concert photography of shows at North Sea Jazz, Mundial and So What’s Next festival

Project info: Concert photography for various outlets at North Sea Jazz festival in Rotterdam, Mundial festival in Tilburg and So What’s Next jazz festival in Eindhoven (Holland).
 
Client: Various
 
Media: Photography
 
Languages: –

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Street photography on Instagram

19 October 2010
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/ Categories: Photography / Street photography

As a professional multimedia maker with a background in cultural sociology, I’m captivated by the continuous interplay between humans and their social environment. Whether these interactions are inspiring, confrontational or amusing, the meeting between the individual and its surroundings creates a fascinating playing field.


The ability of humans to deal with, build upon, take advantage of or simply enjoy the world they live in, is what intrigues me. It is what I love to capture in my street photography. I share these streets shots on my Instagram page. Follow me on on Instagram.












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