Guy Houben

“Analog photography makes you take a step back and not just shoot 30 pictures of one thing… You have to think about the shot before just snapping away”

Intercru: Where are you from?

Guy: I’m from Maastricht, a lovely city in the south of the Netherlands.

Where do you live and work now?

I’m still based in Maastricht. I’ve lived in Bangkok for half a year for an internship and in Turkey (Alanya) for half a year and I definitely see myself living abroad again at some point.

How did you get started in photography? What was your first camera?

I started photography after starting a study Communication and Multimedia design. There was a 5-week introduction to photography and I was doing mostly video at that time. Together with a classmate I was photographing our sneakers and urban stuff. After a while I got into the illegal rave subculture we had going on here and I started photographing all the illegal raves inside marl caves around my hometown and just across the border of Belgium.

After a while I started shooting more and more legal events and other things as well. My first camera was my father’s Nikon D60.

What do you like most about shooting on film?

I like film photography because of the look and feel it adds to the pictures. It’s so much different from a digital or digital photo that’s been edited to look like an analog photo. And analog photography makes you take a step back and not just shoot 30 pictures of one thing. You have to think about the shot before just snapping away due to the limited number of photos on one roll.

How would you describe yourself?

I would describe myself as a person with humor, who’s respectful to everyone, and pretty humble.

What really makes you happy?

Being able to create things without boundaries. Lately I’ve been doing a lot of client work and most of the times this means photographing what others want/need me to photograph, without actually having to use my creativity. My best work in my opinion is personal, unpaid work.

What’s your favorite show on Netflix right now?

I just finished watching The Serpent. It’s not my favorite show but I haven’t been watching a lot of Netflix lately to be honest.

What is the best gift you’ve ever been given?

My girlfriend bought us a short holiday to Ibiza for my birthday. Love that place!

What’s your proudest accomplishment?

Being able to live from photography and have time to do other things I love.

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you choose?

I still have a lot of places that I would love to visit, but I could definitely see myself living on a tropical island in Thailand or on Bali, owning a few very photogenic villas and a bar/club that hosts great events.

Who would play you in a Hollywood movie about your life?

I think that would be a younger Michael Pitt but with the haircut he had in Boardwalk Empire! Or a young Leonardo DiCaprio.

What is the best advice you’ve ever received about photography?

I’m not sure what’s the best advice I’ve received. There are quite a few things that have helped! But as advice, I would definitely tell other photographers to keep on trying new things and look for inspiration in everything.

All the amazing work that passes by on Instagram or other social networks can really make you doubt your own work- I still experience that daily myself. You see so much amazing work and so many great photographers and want to achieve that yourself, but you need time to be able to do your own thing and perfect your own vision and style. This can be hard as you also need to make a living!