ART ON SAIL
“If you have passion for something, then the rest will follow.” –photographer Onne van der Wal
As a nautical, sailing, and yacht photographer, Onne van der Wal appreciates that you can’t change the elements. Yet shooting on location as he does, the conditions can be key to capturing the perfect shot. He says that in the commercial and advertising world, “Often the guys are under the gun and they’ve got to get the pictures … And it’s gray and there’s no wind and you’re shooting a sailboat.” Good thing 20-plus years of experience have taught van der Wal ways around such fickle factors as light and weather. “One has to learn to work with what he’s got. Obviously, if it’s perfect conditions, then you can really create some beautiful imagery. Otherwise, you have to be really creative to make it work.” Whether it requires an unusual angle from a helicopter or chase boat, or a simple reflection on the water, van der Wal always gets the shot.
Van der Wal’s work has graced dozens of magazine covers, won multiple awards, and accumulated in a stock library of over a million images. But as a Dutch boy growing up in South Africa, in spite of his father’s encouragement, van der Wal “was not interested one iota in photography” and found the dark room dull. “I just wanted a little point-and-shoot camera, and that’s what I got. And I ended up using that on the commercial fishing boats that I loved going on.” A continued love of the sea led van der Wal to a career as a professional sailor, including a stint with the winning Dutch race team of the 1981-82 “Whitbread Around the World” race. It was during that race that van der Wal shot his first yacht photography – and discovered he had a knack for it. In 1985, he moved to Rhode Island and later settled in Jamestown. These days, while his Newport gallery is run by his wife Tenley and his extensive stock library is managed by Kristin Browne, van der Wal travels the world on photography assignments. And he now delights in discussing it with his father.
Marine photography is a specialty field, but it encompasses a great deal. “The nautical work that I shoot is very diverse and there’s a lot to it,” van der Wal explains. “You get power and sail, large and small, and cruising and racing. And then you get chartering. And then you get the manufacturers who do the sails, the shoes, the foul weather gear, sunglasses, paint, ropes, I mean it’s endless… I would say 30% of my work is racing, but the rest of my work is commercial, shooting the ads for the boat builders in the marine industry. And I always like to put a different twist on it, and do something a little bit more creative and a little more artsy.” He admits that, “What the elements throw at you sometimes is a little unfair or hard. But other days it’s overcast and there’s a bit of breeze and you say, ‘Well, let’s go out and take a chance. Something may happen.’ And the sun pops out from behind the clouds at six in the evening, and the light is magic.”
www.vanderwal.com |
