Profile
A much-lauded Dutch documentary photographer, Canon Ambassador Ilvy Njiokiktjien has worked all over the world, taking photographs for major global publishers and NGOs.
After leaving school in the Netherlands, Ilvy spent a year studying in the United States, before returning home to study journalism and photography. She bought her first camera in 2002, and just four years later won her first photographic award. The prize was a Canon EOS-1D, and from that point her course was set.
Location:
The Netherlands
Specialist areas:
Photojournalism, portraiture, news
Favourite Kit:
Canon EOS 5D Mark IV
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM
In 2011, Ilvy received the Canon Female Photojournalist Award at Visa pour l'Image in Perpignan – and that prize came with a grant to complete a long-term project. Called Afrikaner Blood, her project dealt with the youth camps organised during school holidays by the Kommandokorps in South Africa, teaching combat skills and apartheid-era attitudes to white Afrikaner teenagers.
The completed project won Ilvy a World Press Photo Contest award in 2012, in the Contemporary Issues category, as well as receiving both a Zilveren Camera award and an Award of Excellence in the Feature category of the Pictures of the Year International award 2012 (POYi). The multimedia presentation Afrikaner Blood, on the same subject, made with videographer Elles van Gelder, won a POYi first place in the Issue Reporting Multimedia section and first place at the 2012 World Press Photo Multimedia Contest.
Warning: This profile article includes images that some readers may find disturbing.
A total of 287 multimedia productions from 48 countries were entered in the World Press Photo Multimedia Contest, with chair of the jury, Vincent Laforet, commenting that "the jury appreciated the restraint that the authors demonstrated in the telling of this story. All of the multimedia elements and careful attention to detail served to push the narrative forward, as opposed to distracting from it."
Ilvy’s work has since appeared in The New York Times, TIME Magazine, Newsweek, National Geographic and The Guardian. She also works with NGOs, including UNICEF, and her images have been displayed in a number of museums, as well as at Visa pour l'Image festival of photojournalism in 2012. In 2013, Ilvy was named Photographer of the Nation in the Netherlands and, in 2017, became a member of the prestigious VII photo agency.
Despite the accolades and recognition from her peers, one of the achievements Ilvy is most proud of is earning the trust of the people who allow her into their communities to record their lives in detail. It’s this passion for people and the opportunity to tell interesting stories that led her to photograph the extreme right Kommandokorps organisation in South Africa. Being so opposed to their beliefs but determined to portray the people involved in a fair way, she still considers this the hardest story she's told.
Ilvy regularly delivers lectures and workshops on documentary photography, and when she’s not travelling the world she works out of a converted cell in a former prison in Utrecht, the Netherlands.
How do you gain the acceptance of people whose situations you are documenting?
"For most images I take the time to sit down with people and talk. It’s important to get to know someone, to understand the challenges they're dealing with. Even if someone has opposing views to me, I try to be tolerant. I think people realise this quickly and trust my judgement."
How do you deal with someone objecting to their picture being taken?
"This happens quite a lot, especially now people are aware of the impact of social media. Very occasionally people react aggressively; usually I try to diffuse the situation by explaining to them what I’m doing. Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn’t. I always stay calm, as I don’t want things to get out of hand."
Do you take certain gear with you for specific stories, or are you ready for anything?
"I always take everything with me. I never travel with only a selection of my gear, because I never know if I’ll be travelling from one assignment to the other."
What are people most surprised by when you tell them what you do for a living?
"I think many people think I spend most of my time taking pictures, but unfortunately a lot of time goes into organising things. I spend quite a lot of time behind my computer, not only organising new projects but also spending quite some time on admin, grant applications and so on."
What has been the greatest obstacle that you’ve faced in your career?
"The biggest challenge was the bad start I had in journalism school. The teacher was sick the full year and I never had a proper education. This gave me a lack of self confidence when I got out into the real photojournalism world. It took me several internships and many more years to gain trust in myself and realise that I could actually ‘make it’ as a photographer."
Facebook: @ilvynjio
Instagram: @ilvynjio
Twitter: @ilvynjio
Website: www.ilvynjiokiktjien.com
"Incorporating video and photography into a multimedia presentation at the same time requires a different mindset. There’s definitely a requirement for more planning when you need to shoot both because [if you're working with someone else] you don’t want to be in each other’s way too much when you’re shooting on the day."
The key kit that the pros use to take their photographs
This full-frame 30.4MP DSLR captures incredible detail, even in extreme contrast. Continuous 7fps shooting helps when chasing the perfect moment. "The pictures with the EOS 5D Mark IV are so crisp – it's just really my camera," says Ilvy.
Breaking the boundaries of high-speed shooting, this leading DSLR can shoot up to 14 fps with full AF / AE tracking or up to 16 fps in Live View.
A full-frame 30.3 Megapixel sensor with impressive detail, ISO performance and Dual Pixel CMOS AF. ""The camera is so easy to use," says Ilvy. "I didn't miss a single shot."
A professional-quality standard zoom that offers outstanding image quality and a fast f/2.8 aperture throughout its zoom range. "The quality of that lens is so good, it's been mounted on my camera ever since I got it. This zoom has it all: it’s sharp, quick and light!"
A professional grade wide-angle lens with a natural perspective, an f/1.4 aperture and low light capabilities. "I first bought this lens while on assignment in South Africa. It is super sharp and I just love the frame of the 35mm."
A versatile ultra-wide-angle zoom lens that's ideal for low-light photography and for shooting epic landscapes.
Professional L-series, f/1.2 aperture USM lens for low light and extreme depth of field control. Thanks to its Image Stabilizer, this lens delivers superb natural results in low light conditions and is fast and accurate.
A versatile high-quality 35mm lens that's ideal for street, travel and close-up photography. "The lens is small and super-sharp," Ilvy says.
"I hardly ever use flash," explains Ilvy, "I like to use natural light. But on rare occasions I can't get away with it, and then I use this flash unit."
A range of adapters that enable EF-S and EF lenses to be used on EOS R cameras seamlessly; one adds a lens control ring that makes it easy to get even more from your existing lenses.
"For captions and names I like to write things down in my phone, but sometimes I don't feel safe enough to take out my phone; in those cases I write things down," says Ilvy. "I also like making to-do lists while on assignment."
"Even though I now use 128GB cards, I still carry around my old 8GB and 16GB cards just in case I ever need them, or if a card fails," explains Ilvy.
Ilvy says: "I bought this about eight years ago – it has been amazing. For just a few lenses, a phone, a notebook and so on, the belt is the best for me. You have your gear close to you."
ARTICOLO
Scattate con la fotocamera EOS R, le foto intime di Ilvy Njiokiktjien offrono uno spaccato della vita privata di alcuni padri single e delle loro famiglie.
ARTICOLO
La fotogiornalista nota per i suoi progetti multimediali vuole raggiungere il pubblico in una nuova dimensione. Parliamo di questo e di molto altro.
ARTICOLO
La fotoreporter Ilvy Njiokiktjien ci parla del suo progetto decennale Nati Liberi, realizzato con la fotocamera Canon EOS 5D Mark IV.
LE STORIE
Le immagini belle offrono una versione idealizzata della guerra e della sofferenza? Il curatore della mostra di Milano di James Nachtwey dibatte la questione con otto fotogiornalisti.
Scopri come funziona il programma Ambassador e leggi le storie degli straordinari fotografi scelti per rappresentare Canon.
I membri possono accedere al supporto prioritario CPS, sia localmente che durante i maggiori eventi, a un servizio di riparazione rapida prioritaria e, a seconda del livello di iscrizione, possono aver diritto gratuitamente a prestiti di equipaggiamento di scorta oltre che alla spedizione di restituzione e sconti dopo gli interventi di manutenzione. Possono inoltre usufruire di offerte esclusive riservate agli iscritti.