CREATE - Bert Teunissen

SPR E A D DE SI GN M I R JA M L EPPERS

CREATIE Bert Teunissen

ALL EYES ON ME

Te aching and studying at the

To me that is what my business to this

Being a self taught photographer, it has always

Crossmedia Design depar tment

institution is all about: to teach and to learn.

been obvious to me that the learning process

of the AKI

never stops. Not even now, when I’ve reached the age of 57 or now, when I’ve become a teacher or even now, when I’ve reached international recognition through my work.

Still, every day of the week I’m in the learning process and without experiencing that feeling I feel kind of lost.

FEARLESS STORYTELLING

TEACH AND LEARN

GIVE AND TAKE

COMMITMENT

BELIEVE

CONNECT

So before I committed myself to teaching

I have never regretted doing this; as a matter

The way I have been able to shape this is to

(photography/image) at the AKI, I asked myself

of fact this decision has helped me to find a

constantly try to connect the assignments

and the people who approached me for

way out of my own misery. Not because of

I give to the students to commissions and

the job, whether it would be an appropriate

the financial allowance (teaching is still highly

questions from reality.

thing for me to teach youngsters the trade of

underpaid) but because this way I needed

photography while I myself was hardly able to

to deal with the fact that the learning process

make a living out of that profession.

is still there and ongoing, every day

Once they convinced me that such was not

I was seeing my students.

the case and that I would be teaching about

I see it as a constant reality check.

photography to crossmedia design students,

What it means for me is that whatever I want my

I agreed to come to Enschede.

students to learn or to believe in, I first have to believe in myself.

Living in Daylight Exposition 2017 Working together with Danish architect and founder of the Velux Daylight & Architecture Magazine, Torben Thyregod .

REALITY

IMPRESS AND ESTABLISH

RECOGNIZE AND ENCOUNTER

For instance the time we worked together

Another way we try to establish a true

I strongly believe that these encounters are

with the ADCN to produce tons of ‘Polaroids’

connection between the students and reality is

of vital importance for youngsters for their

(Impossible Project®) for the 2016 Annual.

by inviting professionals from the field to come

understanding of the world they are being

That is a fine example of dealing with a real

and lecture and if possible to do workshops.

prepared for.

For myself it is of vital importance to keep

assignment, with conceptual development and We do this both at the academy but also in our

connection with the world around me; being

extended excursion program.

a photographer alone is already a lonely and

Or the time we worked together with Danish

During the New York excursion for example,

sometimes autistic existence.

architect and founder of the Velux Daylight &

which is fully booked an hour after opening

Architecture Magazine, Torben Thyregod to

the entry, I always organize at least three

think about and develop ideas about

studio visits in which I connect people from the

‘Living in Daylight’.

working field directly to our students. These

Both assignments resulted in

are the moments where the penny drops.

publications and exhibitions.

Those are the moments when the students

Not just theoretical ideas that could

become grown-ups or at least start to grow up.

photographic skills.

havetaken place in real life, but real assignments for which the students

Memorable (and legendary) examples are the

received full responsibility and credits.

meetings with Tim Rollins at KOS, Lesley A. Martin at Aperture, NY based drawing artist Jason Polan, online gallery owner Jen Bekman, photographers Gerald Slota, Chantal Heijnen, Tony Vaccaro and Justin Brice Guariglia, photojournalist and founder and owner of Bronx Documentary Centre Michael Kamber and creative director Ray Mendez at Concept Farm.

All these have been meetings that left indelible impressions with our students just like lectures and workshops by Maddie Raedts creative director at IMA - Influencer Marketing Agency and film collector and director Wim van der Aar.

NEW GENERATION

PRACTICE THE PREACH

RELEVANCE

Storytelling is the business we’re in and we’re

Or to quote Kevin Spacey: “If you have done

Storytelling is what we teach and we try to

trying to teach our students to find their own

well enough in the business that you wanted to

teach them to do that without fear.

way in doing that. We don’t believe any longer

do well in and if you have been successful, it is

in the different disciplines in which we grew up

your obligation to spend a good portion of your

This means that we make the students deal

and have worked in.

time sending the elevator back down.”

with their personal blockades so they prepare themselves for the real world and to become

The future is going to be (already is) totally

free spirits who can deal with real problems.

different and we need to find a way to use our

Our teaching tableau consists of

skills, experiences and knowledge to educate

photographers, art directors, architects,

the new generation.

producers, script writers, directors,

This way we hope to stay prepared for relevant

philosophers, graphic designers, illustrators,

questions of the future.

We try to do that by sharing and we strongly

typographers etc. and whatever we cannot

believe in the vision of young students and the

deliver ourselves directly will be found in the

will they have to find their own direction and in

active field.

the power to reach that goal.

It’s like a father who helps his kid to ride a

None of us has a full time commission.

bicycle; we keep hold of them until we feel they can ride on their own and then they

Each one of us has his own practice so we can

choose their own direction.

feed straight from the field.

It is a constant cross over way of dealing with reality and that is what makes it so interesting to work in.