Congratulations to Alain Schroeder for earning his place as the 10th Edition Winner of the Boynes Artist Award!

Photographers often speak about the birth of their career - the first time they picked up a camera; their first assignment, but restarting or reimagining a career decades later can be just as significant.

Belgian photographer Alain Schroeder has been working in photography for more than four decades; first as a sports photographer for 15 years (500 magazine covers during his tenure) before turning to book assignments spanning travel, fine art and architecture. He co-founded the photo agency Reporters in 1989 and ushered the business through the rise of digital photography and video assignments.

Ten years ago, Schroeder uprooted his life and began the next chapter of his career, selling his shares in Reporters to traverse the world with his camera. His travels have taken him through Central and Southeast Asia: Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, Indonesia, India, Georgia, Ukraine, Armenia, China, South and North Korea,…

How did your journey into photgraphy begin?

When I was 15-16, I spent a lot of time at the library reading fine art books. When I had seen all the books they had about painting, the librarian gave me some photography books. One was the famous French magazine Photo and the first story I liked and remember was made by a Japanese photographer, Kishin Shinoyama. It was a very interesting magazine as it mixed all kinds of photography - fashion, documentary, travel, war, personal work - in one issue. After that I discovered another famous magazine called Zoom and all the classic photographers like Cartier-Bresson, Koudelka,... I was hooked and switched immediately from fine art to photography classes. During my studies, with very little money I travelled to Afghanistan and caught the travel virus. It was the perfect combination of travel and photography but not easy to make a living at. Of course, you need a little bit of luck and it came by coincidence in the form of sports photography. I was asked to replace a tennis photographer who fell ill. At first I did not want to do it as I did not have the right (telephoto) lenses but the magazine had their own equipment so I could not refuse. As a long time tennis player, I knew immediately what to do and I captured the ball in almost all the pictures. The editor was impressed and hired me. That was the beginning of my professional career, and I never stopped working since.

Why did you create a photo agency?

After 12 years of freelance shooting mainly sports events, I had the intuition that working alone was not the way to continue. Life as a freelance photographer can be precarious especially if you only have 1 or 2 big clients which was my case at the time. Losing one account could lead to bankruptcy. In order to maintain market share, it was necessary to create a structure that would be strong enough to withstand client turnover.

In 1989, with two other photographers, I established Reporters Photo Agency, and within a few years it grew from 3 to 25 people. I have done all types of photography over the last 30 years, plus I had to learn all the administrative and financial aspects of running a larger company which helped me tremendously.

Around 2000, business was getting harder due to the internet and the rise of digital cameras (both great things). Competition became tougher and more diverse, not only from other agencies, but almost anybody could sell or try to sell pictures. Prices dropped. This revolution affected magazines and newspapers as well and the money suddenly disappeared. Magazines no longer offered assignments nor guaranties and we were forced to explore other sources of revenue like corporate communications and video.

In 2012, I sold my shares in order to travel the world and shoot personal projects focusing on social issues and human interest stories.

You are a tireless traveler. From Indonesia ( “Kid Jockeys” and “Saving Orangutans”, both winners of the World Press Photo) to Kyrgyzstan ( “Dead Goat Polo”) & passing through the two Koreas.

Is there a country that has impressed you more than others? Are there any countries you haven't visited yet and would like to photograph?

Yes, Afghanistan in 1974. Coming from the Iranian border, I arrived in Afghanistan late in the afternoon. The dusty main street of Herat (western Afghanistan) was backlit by the sun. Seeing turbaned men, horse carts, veiled women; it was visually magical, like entering another dimension. I had not often felt such a dramatic change of scenery. It was like travelling back in time to the Middle Ages. I returned several times, the last time was in 1978 one year before the Russian invasion, and then the war prevented me from going back there for 30 years. In 2015, I returned to Afghanistan for a few days via Tajikistan. Nothing has changed. People are always so welcoming. It is a country frozen in time.

I have a plan to go to Japan for a story in 2025. I have never been there and I am really looking forward to it.

What is the most interesting experience you’ve had while taking a photo?

Probably shooting the series Living for Death in Sulawesi, Indonesia, where people are cleaning the corpses of the deceased members of their family. They remove the coffins from their burial sites and open them. The cadavers are cleaned, dried in the sun and given a change of clothes. Expressions of sadness are mixed with the overall happy atmosphere surrounding these moments of bonding with loved ones and honoring ancestors. Very unusual but very interesting.

Which photographers have influenced you?

I like Koudelka for the poetry in his pictures, Alex Webb for his personal use of color, Raghu Rai an Indian photographer, Guy Bourdin and Steve Hiett in fashion, but I am more struck by a photo or a series rather than a photographer. I forgot to mention Eugene Smith who had the most influence on my editing process; I mean in front of the computer, putting them in the right order to tell the story. I love his Spanish Village series, a masterpiece.

I like photographers in many different fields as long as they show the world through their own eyes, with strong personality. I like when you feel the photographer behind the picture, not only the subject.

Do you finance your trips or is your work commissioned?

Both. Sometimes my work is commissioned by magazines (the story on Belgian crystal in India was commissioned by National Geographic after I made a proposal). The Kushti and Living for Death series were my own initiatives as was Brick Prison, Kid Jockeys and Muay Thai Kids. After, I sell the stories through my network or with the help of my agencies in Paris.

What type of software and plugins do you use?

Mostly Photoshop and Media Pro to choose the pictures. Sometimes Capture one and Photo Mechanic.

Does the technical equipment affect the aesthetic result of images and projects?

Absolutely. Today, many cameras are able to produce images in very low light with exceptional quality. This opens up an entire low light world which was not possible before. The Kushti and Brick Prison series would not have been possible without additional lighting in the analog era.

Can you walk us through your creative process from choosing your subject to tapping into your inspiration?

I learned photography with B&W and color slides and analog cameras in the 70s. I know the techniques very well but since then, camera manufacturers have made so many technical improvements that I usually put my camera on S (so I can choose the speed). I studied fine arts and over the years I developed a good sense for framing a picture. I feel instinctively where I should place myself to get the best shots in a given situation. Photography is not made by the camera but rather a little bit by your eyes and mostly by your brain. I love a quote from Picasso where somebody asked him how long it took to make a particular painting and he said, 60 years. He was 60 at the time. Everything is in that answer. Transposed to photography, it is the way you take pictures, how you edit, the way you post produce. Your photographs are what you are, you cannot escape that. Choosing a subject is chaotic, random, irrational, I can choose from hundreds of possibilities but again these 40+ years of experience have led me to certain stories. It’s hard to explain why I choose one story versus another. Probably need a psychoanalyst to explain that.

In some countries you don't need a fixer as the path leading to the story is quite easy (Kushti, Living for Death,...). But in other countries when language is a problem (China, Korea), or when your story is simply not allowed by the government (Rohingya in Myanmar), or when you know what you want to do but don't know how to get the permission (textile story in Bangladesh), you need a guide, a fixer. Then, like for any job, you interview the candidates and you choose the one who has the best street smarts, the drive and the network to make things happen and whose English is acceptable. Sometimes I start with the local newspaper but that does not always work.

Tell us about the more difficult shot you took.

Kid Jockeys in Indonesia was not easy to start. There were almost no spectators and only 4-5 jockeys per race. I really had to think about what the story could be. As I spent more time on the racetrack, I began to fine-tune my approach to the series. In the beginning, I thought it was all about the sport, but I discovered all the associated rituals which I had no idea about when I started. I edited my pictures to reflect the bigger story. I was also impressed by the contrast between modern Indonesian lifestyle, this local custom, and the way they choose to live their passion with their horses. The tradition of horse racing in Sumbawa has not changed over a century.

The only aspect I did not really like was the fact that they do not wear helmets. Barefoot and bareback is fine but you know (or should know, even with the protection of the healer) that almost inevitably the jockeys will fall. And when that happens a helmet could save a child’s life or at least limit the injury. Well, the adults should know...

Sometimes things do not fall into place easily. For my story, Saving Orangutans in Indonesia (published in the 2019 August issue of National Geographic Holland/Belgium), I tried for one year (by writing) to get permission to shoot. With no positive response, I decided to go to Sumatra where it took two more months to build relationships, get specific permission and pass the required medical tests. When I finally got to where I wanted to be, it took another three months to get the shots I wanted. Preparation is important but patience and perseverance is key.

How do you choose between color & B&W, and how does light play a role in this decision? Is there a preference?

You have to adapt your shooting to the situation and the light. When it is the right situation for color the shooting will be easy; same thing for black & white. But trying to shoot in B&W when it is a color situation or vice versa is difficult and not rewarding and you will know it very quickly.

Light for the sake of light is not enough. Sometimes, the light is really bad and you have to work with it. My series Kid Jockeys was shot in Indonesia between 11am and 4pm. The sun was so high for most of the time that you could not see your shadow. With the jockeys wearing black face masks, I had no choice but to transform my series in B&W which ultimately added the drama that I did not have in color. There are times when the atmosphere is so interesting colorwise that you have to work on the content. In the Kushti series, it was important to connect the color with the meaning of the sport. I have seen many Kushti pictures where you just see a color picture but the photographer forgot to explain the character of the wrestlers, or had no empathy with what was happening. Every day I would focus for hours on a particular idea like the moment they come head to head, show respect to one another other during massages and periods of rest, or put earth on themselves or their opponents. I shot and reshot these situations in different light, in different locations until I felt I had the right combination of light and content. Patience is key. In one place, I noticed that for a short period of time the sun would shine through a small window lighting just a square meter of the pit. I came back everyday to that place hoping something would happen and finally it did.

What equipment do you use?

I use only one camera. At the moment, it is a Fuji XT5. I have a spare camera (never used) wrapped in a box in my suitcase. I work with 3 Fuji lenses - 18mm 2, 14mm 2.8, and a zoom 55-200mm 3.5-4.8. I have a Nikon flash SB28 and a small remote control (Pawn Wireless Flash Trigger, TF-362RX) but I use it rarely as the quality of the Fuji XT5 allows me to take pictures even when it is very dark. I use the flash only when I have an assistant to hold it on the side of the subject. The last time I used it was for the story on Belgian crystal for National Geographic in 2014!!!

Do you spend a lot of time editing your images?

If by editing you mean choosing the right image for the series in the right order, yes. I agonize for weeks over which pictures will make it to the final selection of 10 images and often I have to leave good shots out. For example, in the Orangutan series (which won a World Press prize in Nature Stories) I did not choose the image of the dead baby orangutan for the series, because I thought it was stronger as a single picture and I was right. The picture won a World Press prize in Nature Singles.

About the process: I choose 15 to 20 shots that work together and try to place them in a cohesive order. Once it makes sense and I feel that I’ve got a good story, I start the post-processing work. After, I choose an additional 20 images to broaden the selection. It’s possible to tell different stories based on the editing.

I learned post-processing with B&W film. I was making prints with an enlarger, using hot water to accelerate the developing process sometimes, or developing some parts with a paint brush, exposing others longer or the opposite. Today, all these techniques exist in Photoshop. The difference is that now you can work in a cafe sipping coffee instead of using dozens of sheets of paper to achieve the desired effect. But those hours, days and nights spent in the darkroom helped me a lot. I know immediately what should be done on a given picture. The best post-processing is almost invisible. No excessive post-processing approach will fundamentally change the light. When the light is not good you are just adding a trick on top of a picture. The general public might not see or understand it as a trick but professionals will. The main thing is to take a good picture. The rest (technique) is easy to learn. Plus the camera engineers are absolutely brilliant, I love the way they make our lives (as photographers) easier. Remember how difficult it was to achieve perfect exposure for slides 30-40 years ago, and there was no way to save an over-exposed image at the time; it was directly for the garbage even if it was a great shot. Today, there is more pressure for the quality of the stories rather than the technique. The overall level of professional photographers and photojournalists is much higher than before.

I like to tell stories in a personal, visual way. I try to be impartial in the sense that I don't want to misguide the audience about what I saw, but I always try to do it in a more personal way by the sense of framing, the use of color or black and white. Shooting a series gives a better understanding of a story. In general, I am not a single shot photographer. I think in series and editing is key. You can tell one story or another by where you place the accent.

Magazines ask for +/- 30 photos and they make their own editing which does not always reflect what you had in mind. They often go for cliché shots, or sometimes they don’t recognize the best pictures. In those cases, I diplomatically suggest a different selection and usually they listen.

What advice would you give to an aspiring photographer who wants to turn his passion into a job?

Let’s start with the advice I did not get when I was a young photographer. I started to study photography in 1971. I had very good technical B&W teachers (of course analog at the time, which has helped me a lot throughout my career) but unfortunately nobody in the photojournalism field. I had to learn by myself when I started as a professional sports photographer. To give you an example, over the summer holidays in 1974, I hitchhiked from Belgium to Afghanistan crossing Europe, Turkey, and Iran for my final school project. Along the way I documented people in all those countries but I “forgot” to make a story about the people in their twenties called hippies, traveling the world. At the time I did not understand the journalistic value of that particular story because I had no photojournalism background, only an aesthetic approach to photography.

To give advice, I have to share an interesting experience I had when I was a sports photographer. I was invited for many years to participate in the making of the book “Roland Garros seen by the 20 best tennis photographers in the world” managed by Yann Arthus-Bertrand, the famous French filmmaker and photographer. In the confined area of Roland Garros, the idea was that every day 20 photographers had to bring back a few good pictures that were immediately displayed on a wall. Yann would select the best ones for the book. Some days you did not even make the wall selection! But every day your colleagues made good pictures sometimes when you had not seen anything special. They might have found a new location, a new way of seeing things from a higher perspective or taken photos at night after the matches, etc. What does it mean? The pictures are there, they exist. You have to ask yourself, how can I make a good picture and where is the best place, then find the spot and make it happen (I mean wait for it to happen not provoke it). So I know that the pictures “exist” in a sense, and if I don't get them myself another photographer in the same place will find the way to reveal them. There is always a good picture to be taken, you just have to work hard to get it. That idea never leaves me.

What mistake should a young photographer avoid?

In photojournalism, the important thing is that light helps you tell the story and that is hard to explain in a few words. A few months ago, I was asked to review some portfolios and I found that a few photographers did not understand how to use light to set the mood in their stories. Have you ever noticed that in a movie it often rains when something sad or a murder is going to happen? Then one photographer showed me night pictures of his story on factories in the middle of a town in Brazil, and that was the perfect light for the subject. It was very good because parts of the image were very dark and you could see some windows well lit with people inside. The same pictures in daylight would not have been as interesting. Choosing the moment to shoot a story is sometimes as important as the story itself, but of course it is not always possible.

What do you think about photojournalism as a career today?

Unfortunately, I know a lot of very good photojournalists who find it extremely hard to survive and to do their work. Assignments are drying up and the money you get for your stories is shrinking. However, Internet has brought new opportunities for photojournalists including more contests with prize money awards, crowdfunding platforms for projects, grant funding opportunities, exhibitions, online sales of pictures, etc.

Anything else you would like to share?

When I started in the 70s, we waited feverishly, impatiently each month for the next issue of Photo or Zoom to see new photographs, photographers, styles. Everything was in slow motion. We had the time to understand the style of every photographer. What I see now is too many average or poor pictures and a public that doesn't care about quality. Although cell phones now offer amazing technical quality, people are used to seeing their own pictures on their phones, and with no references or visual education, they think the pictures are good enough. At the same time, many more people are visually educated and are waiting for and appreciate good photojournalism. After a decline over the last 10-15 years, the next decade could see a revival for more quality stories. Regretfully, many magazines no longer have the budgets to pay the right price for a skilled photographer.

I like to understand the intention/vision of a photographer. Do you have a specific intention when you're there and have a specific vision for the final image, or do you work on getting a well-composed/exposed image and finalize it by experimenting during post-processing?

Let’s talk about the Kid Jockeys series as it won 1st place at World Press in the category Sport Stories. The first day when I saw the race track and what was (not) happening I almost wanted to leave. But then every day for 7 days I would focus for a few hours on a different aspect of the races; the jockeys and horses cornered in the starting blocks, kids climbing the trees to have a better view of the race (I put the camera on a monopod and held it above my head at arm’s length and with my other hand I triggered the shutter via the remote app on my phone), the role of the healer, the action pictures as the riders crossed the finish line, the bathing of the horses after the races, … I was disappointed by the light. The sun was very harsh and on the one day that races lasted longer, big clouds covered the sun. The first evening, I decided to convert the pictures in B&W and immediately I knew it was the right thing to do. Every day, I tested the best shots in B&W to see if they would make a homogeneous ensemble. And picture after picture, slowly, I began to have the feeling that I had a good story.

Same thing for Muay Thai Kids. Day after day, I better understood the game and the pictures I needed to tell the story that was unfolding before my eyes. I wanted an image that would show that while they fight like professionals, they are still children. I had pictures of children/fighters sleeping in a car and then the one I chose; the world champion of 10 years old taking a nap with his teddy bear. I also wanted pictures that would express the aggressiveness and the fear of the fighters, so yes, I definitely have a specific intention and a specific vision once I have seen what is happening.

What is your strategy for distributing your images? Do you go directly to newsrooms or agencies? And what is the part of social media in this process?

I have direct clients to whom I offer my subjects and then I distribute them by REA my agency in Paris. I only show the stories on Instagram after the story has been sold to magazines. I also submit the stories to various contest and grants.

What are your projects for the future? What are you working on now?

Like many photographers my plans were totally disrupted by Covid-19. I went to Kyrgyzstan in the beginning of March 2020 to shoot a few stories and had to shelter in place for 5 months until end August. I went back to Europe for a few months and then back in Kyrgyzstan again until the end of 2020, working on the Dead Goat Polo series with pictures of the game in the snow. In 2021, I shot only one story ; the Muay Thai Kids in Thailand. In 2023, I shot a few stories in Bangladesh and Nepal and in January 2024 a story in Indonesia.

Do you have specific projects for 2024 (photography, books, exhibitions)?

Yes a few exhibitions but I cannot reveal where and when as they are part of winning contests and it is confidential.

A documentary about my work and career is in the final stage of production, but again I cannot give any details.

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