PL365: Tell us a little bit about yourself:
My name is Carel van Apeldoorn. A 41 year old Dutchman living in China, married to my American wife Liz and daddy to golden retriever puppies Caya and Bella. I am the co-founder of INK361.com, passionate about photography, Internet and exploring the world.
PL365: What is Ink361 and who’s the team behind it?
INK361 is a platform for people to print, buy and sell photos. Our focus is on the ability to print photos while being social and explore great photography at the same time. We started out in March 2011 to help Instagram users manage and view their Instagrams via the web, but that was just the beginning and helped us to create awareness for our platform. The advantage of INK361 is that social networking and commerce are beautifully and seamlessly combined into 1 product. We recently launched a waiting list for people to register and open their own shop to sell their own photo products. Registration can be done here.
Another way we stand out is that we use the best printing service providers that normally only work with professional photographers. This allows our customers to benefit from the same great product quality you normally find only at professional printing houses, but at the best possible price. In the last 2 years, we built a fantastic team of 8 that work from Hong Kong, Rotterdam and New York. I run the company together with my co-founder Jurg Benders. Check out the superheroes in our team: @tostina, @codergrit, @philipskinner, @kaecreative, @heshiyou, @basboerman.
PL365: How can people participate?
Participation is as easy as going to ink361.com and sign up with your email and Instagram account. We continuously run fun photo challenges to show off your skills and to win great prizes. You can find all details on our @INK361 Instagram feed and on our blog.
PL365: What is your favorite #INK361 photograph of all time?
That’s a very difficult question to answer with so many talented photographers on the platform and so many fantastic photos. I love and am always inspired by New York City and enjoy the works from @aliveinnyc and @lydianoir. Both are completely different but original and honest in their own way. Two particular images I love:
http://ink361.com/app/#!/photo/ig-460188896334360868_4206451
http://ink361.com/app/#!/photo/ig-385588692933528911_1248442
PL365: What’s your creative process?
I am very straightforward in my process. I love street photography and submerge myself in old parts of Guangzhou where I live. Guangzhou is a very old city in the South of China and currently inhabiting over 10 million people. In the old part of the city, time stands still and creates beautiful backdrops with opportunities to capture great street life scenes. Once a photo is taken, I make minor tweaks with Snapseed and that’s it! Besides my iPhone 5, I shoot with a Canon 6D.
PL365: What did our Week in the [Project] Life challenge reveal about your creativity or style?
You guys made me question again – “what is it about a photo that can make me perfectly happy?” What my own internal compass and sense tell me about photos is ultimately all that matters to me. It feels great if people share my point of view and/or acknowledge a capture that excites me, but that doesn’t change my personal opinion about my work. My style is plain and pure. I experimented with filters in the early Instagram days but quickly moved away again. I believe that what excites me about photography is that it’s a medium to connect with people without words. Shooting street life and portraits allows me to do this. People being aware of my presence and interacting with the opportunity to get captured is just a fun and great process that never gets boring to me.
PL365: What elements/muses inspire your creativity? (music, person, food, exercise, anything)?
My inspiration comes from spotting the odd things in seemingly normal everyday situations. As a photographer I like to highlight the beauty in things by framing them in ways images touch me. Inspiration often comes easy as part of an exploration process. Traveling to unknown parts of the world with new customs, colors and culture inspires me time after time. I’ve had the privilege to travel extensively and photography helps me to remember those places and moments that ultimately altogether made me into the person I am today.
PL365: What’s overrated (in photography, social media, technology, fashion, TV, food anything)?
I would say dependence on “expert” opinions. I think it is better to keep things simple when you interpret art and photography. I love background stories but prefer not going beyond that. Art is simple! If it touches you, great! If not, no problem, look the other way and you might find something else that does make an impression.
PL365: What do we need more of (in photography, social media, technology, fashion, TV, food anything)?
It is hard to talk about “we” in general but let’s focus on what I believe I can do more of to take better photos. Basically it comes down to taking more time to look and assess all elements from background, environment, light, topics and the way I want to tell the story. I believe being more conscious in the process can help me become a better photographer.
PL365: Where do you go to find random acts of art?
I just go out on to the street to spot artistic moments.
PL365: What is one item on your bucket list?
It’s hard to only mention one item. The bigger idea would be to find a solution to cure dyslexia, but in terms of exploring, I would love to visit Easter Island, Galapagos Islands, Alaska and Greenland just to name a few.
PL365: What blogs are near and dear to your heart?
As an entrepreneur, I enjoy reading the candid and educational blog by Fred Wilson, a NYC based venture capitalist. A great place to learn more about businesses.
PL365: One product you can’t live without?
I would say books. Love getting inspired by great minds for self-development, getting new perspectives and gaining knowledge about an endless series of topics I am interested in.
PL365: What is your top tip for photographers and mobile photography?
Go out and shoot to have fun and get better at it! As Henri Cartier Bresson once said, “The first 10,000 photo’s are your worst.”
PL365: Any other comments, suggestions, or good vibes you want to give to Project Life 365?
At INK361, we all love Project Life 365. There is always inspirational content and for those that haven’t checked it out yet, try the beautiful templates they offer to print your Instagrams in fresh and fun ways.
Thanks guys for giving me the opportunity to share more about the stuff we are doing and passionate about!
Love from the INK361 Team
IMAGES C/O: Carel van Apeldoorn