The dramatic and surreal art of Laura Marijn

Laura Marijn is a portrait photographer from Holland who also likes to create dramatic portraits and invent new exciting worlds for her clients through surreal Photoshop images.

DIYP: Tell us a little of how you got into photography.

LM: Before I did photography I was modeling for a while. One I day went with a photographer outside and halfway through the shoot he asked me if I could hold the cam because he needed to get something out of his bag… on the camera was some HUGE lens, I don’t know what type of cam it was because I wasn’t in to camera’s at all at that moment.

I started to make some photo’s of the nature around me and the moment I clicked and saw the beautiful photo up on that little screen. It was like a ray of light come down from the sky, angels were singing and I had little sparkles all around me. That was the moment I fell in love with photography. As soon as I got home I went on the internet to get my own camera, a Nikon d50. It sounded like a drill when you zoomed in and out. I LOVED IT!! And so the next day I started with making my own images.

DIYP: Your portrait work has a real moody feel to it, how do you light your images?

LM: The moody feel is created in both the studio and in Photoshop. At the studio to create these kind of photo’s I always use a black or dark gray background, with a light spot on the background. This will help you get some depth in your image and a little bit of that feel in the image.

Then the model, I like to have shadows in the model. how much depends on the kind of photo you want to create an if the model in a male or female most of the time I use one or 2 lamps in the front to lighten my model, and sometimes even 3 when there is more then one model in the photo sometimes I like to add a little of a rim light to the side with a extra one or two lamps.

DIYP: Recently you have worked with many famous DJ’s shooting portraits and promo….tell us a little more about this?

LM: I’ve made quite a few portraits and artworks for DJ’s in the hardstyle/hardcore/french core scene. I think because my style fits there’s perfect. My portrait style is kinda… dark beauty ish…. but also classic. So for a DJ who does hardcore stuff… it’s kinda a good match.

DIYP: For anyone starting out with the desire to shoot in the music industry what advice would you give them?

LM: Look at what kind of music the artist makes, and what style it fits. If you’re going to shoot a hardcore DJ, you cant throw in a lot of colours and make it a happy photo. and if you shoot a party DJ of more towards the house scene, you cant make them a dark photo with almost no colour… find out what the scene wants and make it.

DIYP: How important is Photoshop in your workflow, would you be able to create your images without it?

LM: Like a said before, its kind of 50/50 (with the portraits) I cant create this style without photoshop, no. If you’re looking at the artworks, then definitely no, sometimes its 80% or more photoshop!

DIYP: Which is your most used tool in Photoshop?

LM: The brush!! I do A LOT with the brush in photoshop. Mostly I use the ”basic brushes” but sometimes also one with texture or a self-made brush.

DIYP: If you were only allowed to give one essential piece of advice to a beginner, what would it be?

LM: Make mistakes and don’t be afraid to make them! Its the hardest thing sometimes and not always the best feeling if you fail, but it means you’re learning, so the more mistakes you make, the better you will become