Gerald Peterson

BIOGRAPHY

My name is Gerald Peterson. I was born in 1951 in Aruba. After my secondary education I got my masters degree in Business Economics at the University of Groningen in Holland. I am married and I have two daughters.

During my student years, in the seventies, I started with analog photography. In 2003/2004 my curiosity for digital photography was triggered by an article in the Dutch newspaper “De Volkskrant”, which I was reading in a KLM jumbo jet high above the Atlantic Ocean, stating that Canon had broken the € 1000 price barrier with the EOS 300D.

In 2005 I decided to follow a formal digital photography education with the intention of becoming a photographer / photography teacher next to my profession as a marketing teacher. I started with  basic digital photography at the Fotoacademy in Amsterdam. At the “Fotovakschool” in Apeldoorn I finished the professional photography  education. Mich Buschman, Ger van Leeuwen and Jaap van Riessen were my teachers. After I got my degree in 2009 I started teaching photography to communication students. I also give photography lessons to my colleague’s. I enjoy giving these photography lessons.

To enlarge my knowledge and skills I followed in 2010/2011 the “Leergang Fotoreflectie”. This formal training is for photography teachers to brush up on their photography knowledge and how to transfer this knowledge to students.The "Leergang Fotoreflectie" is an initiative of: the "Fotobond", the "Kunstfactor", the "Nederlands Fotomuseum", the "Beeldfabriek" and the "Nederlandse Fotovakschool".  The “Leergang Fotoreflectie” teaches you how to function as a bridge between the viewers of a photograph and the intentions of the photographer. Gestalt (how our brain sees images), semiotics (language of signs in an image) and retorica (how to convince with images) play an important roIe in the bridge function. Because of this training I started teaching photography reflection lessons to communication and marketing students during their project/practical work.

On a regular basis I follow workshops / courses to keep abreast with new developments. In February 2016 I finished the course Broadcast journalism - video producer at the Hogeschool Utrecht. I made a video of my wife: from woodcut to iPad art. You can watch the video under the heading Gerald Peterson / Video. I do a lot of work  together with my wife. She followed a formal training to become an artist at the Klassieke Academie in Groningen. Specialised in making woodcuts. Photography and image manipulation also played an important role during her formal training. She makes photographs as a preparation for making an artwork and to record the process of the art piece. You can visit her website via my links.

I have a very broad interest in many photography fields. That is visible via the different categories / subjects on my website. During my formal education I have been guided by my teachers on photography trips to several  countries where on the spot / context dependable lessons were given of different facets of photography.

Less is more is an important starting point in my photographic images. I also spend a good bit of time on composition and color.

For questions about my website you can contact me via the contact information button.