After formally studying to be a fashion designer, Wendelien Daan gave in to the lure and romance of telling stories. It allowed her to continue to work with clothes and use her imagination to tell more stories. Having had her work featured in a range of magazines across the world, she is one of the few women photographers to admire and even follow.

Your strong suit seems to be the fashion medium.Your subjects are captured in inventive ways with great props and settings. What goes on in your mind when you consider the backgrounds and styles to use for your work?
All my images are stories I want to tell. It is never only about fashion. I love a surreal dark atmosphere. And typical strong light, where the Dutch are famous for.

A lot of photographers look towards realism for their inspiration. However, you venture into terrain that could be considered ‘unreal’. From what sources do you draw such inspirations? Does surrealistic art such as what Dali created count as an inspiration?
Yes ofcourse Dali, Magritte, Freud (Uncanny is a Freudian concept of an instance where something can be familiar, yet foreign at the same time, resulting in a feeling of it being uncomfortably strange) inspire me, but also Hitchcock, David Lynch, movies like Donny Darko, Virgin Suicides, Orlando etc.

Do you come up with a lot of the makeup and the costume ideas? Is it important for a photographer to be aware of the nuances of every medium and every tool to make a photograph stand out? Or is a personal style/stylistic statement more than enough?
I mostly work with a team of hair and makeup and a stylist, so everyone has his or her own input. Of course it is my image in the end so I guess I have the final saying about all matters.

Almost 20 years ago, you graduated in fashion design at the Academy of Arts in Arnhem. Tell us more about the things you were doing then. Do you feel it’s important that photographers study their craft at an institute or school?
I have a Bachelor’s in Fashion Design and I feel it is very important in fashion photography to h

ave an eye for fashion and love clothes as well as being able to make a beautiful and technically perfect image.

Next year, you’ll be participating at the exhibition titled ‘Gone with the Wind’ in the Netherlands. What kind of preparation are you doing for this? Are you excited about working with Maarten Spruyt, the stylist? What kind of sensibilities does she bring to your combined equation?
Maarten Spruyt (male) and I will collaborate in making an image for this exhibition (curated by Alexander van Slobbe/designer). The exhibition is about traditional Dutch crafts and design translated into contemporary art. The image will show a time line in fashion, which tells about the ever repeating styles in fashion during the centuries. All centuries have times of nudity and times of covering up. Futurism can look very ancient (Blade Runner).

What would you suggest to a photographer looking at putting up a first-time exhibition of his/her work?
Work hard and take a long breath.

You’ve worked with some well known clients such as Tommy Hilfiger, L’Oreal, Azzaro Men, and so on; have you been ‘prepared’ for every assignment or is each client a different cup of tea?
For each client I try to work with the same highly creative team of hair-stylist ,makeup artist, stylist, assistants. So the team will be the steady part and the clients are changeable.

Could you give us a few tips on how to approach fashion photography? Are there fundamental concepts that if followed, make for great photographs?
You either get it or you don’t. it is a feeling you cannot learn really. Fashion photography is totally different from for instance car photography. This you can study to a certain level. I cannot explain to someone how to shoot something in a fashionable way,if that person does not have any fashion feeling.

What kind of advice would you give to photographers who intend to take up photography professionally?
Don’t try to copy others but instead create something personal.

Photos by Wendelein | Fotosocial