How a Crossing addiction started..
It all started when...I moved from Utrecht to Amsterdam and came to live around the corner from Muntplein (a major busy intersection) in Amsterdam meant I used to pass it several times a day. And it would often cheer me up just to see the life going on in those few square metres. I like watching crowds. 
I started studying people crossing at the intersection, observing their interactions and the way they moved. Initially I experienced them as act- ing in groups, organically, in orderly or in chaotic fashion. But within the dense movement one or more individuals would soon stand out from the crowd.

 

Poike_Unseen.jpg

About me:
I’m Poike Stomps a Dutch photographer born ’77 in Zeist, NL, working and living in Amsterdam. I studied at the HKU (BDES Photography) in Utrecht, NL, 2002-2006.
I focus on making my own series but I work commissioned as well. My free work often consists of long-running documentary projects in which I observe how people interact, usually, in the public space. I intend to focus on topics that touch me, there where I find a message to tell, a topic to touch, to learn from it and to create more awareness. Other projects are more focused on portraits and daily life, in the public or in a more personal sphere, observing and recording short-term meetings or events.

I have been working on a project with the subject about how in life we are dealing with ‘death'. Another shows a portrait of dementia, for which I followed my father for 12 years while my father was well looked after by my mother and family.
Other projects are more observing, for instance a story about a student district ‘De Uithof’ just outside Utrecht. For a different project I went to research the nightlife in Amsterdam, and for another I focused on the reality of the inhabitants of the Faroe Islands ( DK). One project is about the impact of the shadows that aircraft project as objects on the landscape, with people and animals hardly noticing it.

My most known project is ‘Crossing Europe’. The moment people cross the street fascinated me and got me addicted. I consistently worked on this project, photographing crossings in 42 capital cities of Europe. This resulted in the project and book ‘Crossing Europe’, self-published. (January 2016). These series are now being followed up by my newmajor project ‘Crossing the USA’. The next few years I will visit all 50 states of the USA to portray the people in the streets of all 50 capital cities.

The last years my project and book ‘Crossing Europe is nominated and awarded with some great prizes:

  • Lensculture Street Photography Award 2015. Finalist.

  • Magnum Photo Award 2016. Finalist.

  • Zilveren Camera 2016. 1st Prize, category: Documentary International (series) 

  • Cortona on the Move 2017. Finalist.

  • Landskrona Foto Festival 2017. Sweden.

  • Białystok Interphoto 2017. Poland. Finalist. Poland, announcement 15 Sept‘17.