We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sandrien De Bruijn-Mesman. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sandrien below.
Sandrien, appreciate you joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
The most meaningful project I worked on is 20 Men Project. Right after George Floyd was murdered in June of 2020 a group of concerned Chester County residents came together on ZOOM ( because we were in the midst of the global pandemic) to talk about about what was happening so far away in Minneapolis and if this could happen in our community.
One of the points of discussion was, the way black and brown men are portrayed in the media. Christine Martey Ochola had the vision of positive images of men in our community and reached out to me to see if I would like to bring this project to life.
My dad is black and during the start of the project I did a lot of research on the effects of how black men are portrayed in the media in every day life. My dad had Alzheimer’s disease and in the end of his life was sad and angry some days and it turned out it was from experiences with discrimination and micro aggressions he never told us about. The idea was to ask the men who signed up to be part of the project during their photo session: How do you want the community to see you, where do you want to be photographed, with whom do you want to be photographed, how is to be a black man in Chester County, what would you like to change to make sure your children will live in a better world.
It took almost 9 months for the first man te be photographed. But when more and more men were being photographed, there came more trust and understanding about the project and as of February 2024, 32 men have been photographed and interviewed so far.
The project is a volunteer project, mostly grassroot funded, some canvasses were donated by my photography lab, and 35 easels were donated through an Amazon wishlist within one day by friends on Facebook,
We printed 30×40 size canvasses of each man and created a traveling exhibition that will be shown to the public at community events, in schools and public buildings like the PA state Capitol. The men created an organic network and stay connected to me and eachother through email but also participate in panel discussions during exhibits and become mentors to black boys and young men in the community.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I’m a professional photographer from Chester County, PA about 40 minutes from Philadelphia.. I worked as a registered nurse in the Netherlands for 20 years and got my photography degree in 2014.
When my family and I moved from the Netherlands to the US in 2014, I shifted my focus from nursing to photography and became a succesful photography business owner.
I grew up in a large and diverse family. My dad is from Curacao and my mom’s family has more than 35 members! They were some of the first people I photographed and I think it is because of that I love photographing large groups or families.
I’ve always loved connecting with people, listening to their stories, and making them feel comfortable. Taking care of others is something that comes naturally to me. I volunteer for local charities, and as a former RN, I am gladl I am an affiliate volunteer photographer for the national organization Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep
I love to travel. After moving to another country I realized how much I’m inspired by new places. That’s why I love traveling for work. I’m always happy to capture beautiful photos of my family and other people from anywhere in the world!
One of my favorite things to photograph are dancers and dance events. Both of my daughters dance, and I’ve gotten many opportunities to photograph within their local dance community.
When I’m not behind the camera, you can find me spending time with my family or strolling through book and stationery stores
“I love the experience of taking photos because it provides my clients with a priceless keepsake. In 30 years, the photos you take today will be so important. You can show them to your children and your grandchildren, you can display them in your home.
As a photographer, my goal is not only to capture genuine moments, but to present them in beautiful printes photos that you can keep forever.
We spend a lot of our time looking at our phones. in 20 to 30 years the next generation has almost no printed photos of themselves and their lovedones, please let me change that for you”
I specialize in portrait and branding photography. Dance, family, seniors, personal branding and event photos are just a few examples of the sessions I love to photograph. My goal will always be to capture genuine emotions and real facial expressions and smiles.
Forced posing makes for awkward photos and they are not worth your investment.
That is why I capture portraits in a photojournalistic or documentary style. I strongly believe that this is a wonderful way to create portraits to stand out and are unique to my clients.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
I think always showing up your best self. Talking to everyone, be interested in others, try to remember what people said or did before and ask about it or mention it.
Be kind to everyone at an event, the guests, the host, the people that work the event, other vendors ect.
Make sure to give each client y0ur best, go above and beyond.
When there is a personal tragidy of a client, see if you can print old photos. When a client has a business success, send them a small gift to celebrate with them.
I don’t go to network meetings, but I talk to people at events and when I volunteer for local charities and make great connections like that. It feels more natural to me and I feel more comfortable doing it that way.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
I started watching Creative Live videos to learn better English and to learn more business practices. After that I attended a few converntions with PPA (Professioinal photographers of America) where I mostly took business classes.
During the pandemic, I read books by Roberto Valenzuela and Michele Celentano. But I also took short online courses and listened to a lot of podcasts, especially The Portrait Masters, PhotoBizX and Photofield notes.
I learned a lot about in person sales from these sources and how to serve your clients best.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sandrienbphotography.com
- Instagram: @SandrienBPhotography
- Facebook: @SandrienBPhotography
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandrien-de-bruijn-8473044b/
- Other: Pinterest: @SanBPhoto
Image Credits
Headshot: Kim Koks – https://www.kimfotografie.com/ Other images: Sandrien B Photography – www.sandrienbphotography.com