EP2 Dirk - The Colours of Jazz
EP2 Dirk - The Colours of Jazz
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Dirk: [00:00:00] So, I'm Dirk Stockmans. I now tend to say I was born in Belgium, but I've lived here in Luxembourg for 32 years, more than half of my life. I came here as a translator working for the European Commission, and I then became a manager in translation. I then moved for the last six years of my career to it, but I have always been involved in, in, in it and in computers, even from my student times.
So languages and technology have basically been interwoven throughout all my career.
Konrad: Oh, that's very interesting. You mentioned that you started your career as a translator. Mm-hmm. , how many languages do you
Dirk: speak? Well, it depends what you call active or active. I, of course in Belgium you learn my mother tongue is, is Dutch.
Then we learn French even at the age of 10. Afterwards English and German. Then I studied as a translator with main languages, English and German. [00:01:00] Added a little bit of French. Took on then exotic language, which was Danish, which I did for four year, for, for three years during my normal study. I continued that for another year in, in Brussels, in another translation institute.
And then I started learning also Italian, which I continued in evening classes during my, um, military service, which was here in Arlan, just across border. And then at a certain point in around 91, 92, December 92, I. Learning a very exotic language then, which was Finn. And it took me, it was the most difficult language I ever learned, and it took me about four years to get more or less comfortable with it.
And at that point I met the lady who's now my wife.
Konrad: I, I tried to keep up and listening and, and counting how many languages you speak. And I think it was like at least six, between six and eight [00:02:00] languages.
Dirk: This is, and, and I did, I did a little bit of, of Norwegian and Swedish in between, but I've never really used it.
Konrad:This is impressive for me. I'm Polish, I speak English, I struggle with French. And now I really struggle learning Luxembourgish. How did, did you manage to learn so many languages? Is there a trick or tips for being able to, well learn the words, the grammar, I guess the grammar is slightly different for, for each country.
Dirk: I think it gets easier the more languages, you know, because you have more references. And I noticed this particularly when we were studying, we were rather a big group of about 30 translators studying in as of 92. And we were always referring to the systems that we knew. Yeah. Ah, yes. This is a bit like in English where you used another verb together with, with with the verb Francis instance.
I do know. I [00:03:00] do not know. So even the ways of saying no or don't you change those. And for the rest it's partly hard work and, and also the interest. I mean, and that of course it's there, there's a lot of interest even if you don't know beforehand and that really helps.
One thing we had to do when I was studying our one of our English teachers said I want you to listen to the BBC and make some notes so you are concentrating and I want you to do that every day. God make makes, and I don't care whether you're religious or not, meaning every single day. And that really helped me because you, you get an ear for the language and, and it's something I have decided now to start doing for Luxembourgish.
Cause I also want to learn Luxembourg C which knowing French and German and Dutch, I understand everything. I just have to figure out the grim. [00:04:00] Yeah.
Konrad: And working as a translator, I, I, I guess it's, it's a quite stressful. Work because, especially for the translator such as the European Commission or the European Parliament, which is a political institution where translating precisely what someone said and means is very important because depending on the words that you choose to translate that person, it might have a political impact in the decision making and what other politicians hear.
is that something you had to learn to pay, pay particular attention or it was something natural that came throughout the process of, of working and learning the, the language through the languages?
no. It's something you learn. I remember when I started as a translator, I had a few years experience between, it had normal translation agency with different kinds of [00:05:00] texts and, and.
Dirk: I was always attracted by, by more technologically oriented text, uh, telecommunications, et cetera. and, it really took me quite a few years of being revised. And then my first text would really look very red. Uh, even though the translates, we say it's basically good translation, but this, we don't say, and this is means something else, or this, you say in Belgium, you, but you don't say in Holland.
and depending also on the type of legislation, use particular words. so it's, I remember I just used to take notes on, on cards and always looked them up. And then, uh, and this was in the time when we, when it was purely manual. I mean, you had some dictionaries. And then you had an archive where you would go to look at old legislation that I would really dictate, which was a very strange thing because in the private sector it already worked, but worked perfect.
Dirk: And when I arrived at [00:06:00] commission in 1990, we don't, we didn't have any computers at all. but, but then when we got, since I had been working with computers before, I started saying, uh, to colleagues about, you can use this here and you can use that there. And this, this was start of my technology career in the commission.
Konrad: So you pioneered the introduction of computers in the translation office for the print?
Dirk: I wasn't responsible, but I, I was very naturally helping people out that said, well, I don't know how to do this, or I always get stuck. and I would say, oh yeah, but I'll come and, and show you cuz I think I know a trick.
And after a while I was nominated, it was called, it correspondent. So I would then go to meetings with the it, unit where they would present new versions and things like that. Then afterwards I became chair of, of a user group. And then that gave me, experience in working with groups [00:07:00] and that then pushed some colleagues afterwards to say, well, wouldn't you apply for this job of, of head of unit because we don't really want anyone from outside to come and be our boss.
We try to be that. It's, uh, someone who know. Who knows the craft. and well, that was the start of my management career.
Konrad: Wow. Impressive. And the, the, the head of unit, was it in the translation office? Yes. Or the digit. Okay. Yeah. And you mentioned because you, you did a very nice transition to your experience, uh, working as a translator for technology related topics , and it, so you have worked, uh, completely on the translation side, or you moved then to the IT department?
Dirk: I worked for 26 years in, in the translation, so 13 years as a translator and another 13 years as a manager. and then, the commission had this scheme of rotating managers. If you'd been [00:08:00] for more than 10 years in one service, you were asked to rotate to another service. All across the commission and, well, my first, thought possible cable.
I've always been interested in it. Now, it would be nice to, to work on that side. And I happened to, to know the director general of it, because she had started her career also in the translation service. And we'd known several projects to get her. So I sent her a mail. Uh, she said, okay, well let's see.
We have a couple of posts open. We're not yet sure. And we're in the process of reorganizing. In the end, it was very, peculiar because I had an interview with one of the directors and he told me, yeah, okay, we've looked at your CV and okay, we have a good track record. The only thing is we can offer you a job as the head of units, but I cannot say yet at this moment what your unit will be doing because we are in the middle of designing the reorganization. [00:09:00] So it was basically a jump into the dark, but I said, well, any, any surface where this person is, is, is, is a director general. He cannot be totally wrong. So I just, went for it and I never regret it.
Konrad: Wow. Awesome. the it part, that you have worked in, and I'm trying to, to think how, how to make this transition to photography , because I know that this is interesting, topic to you. when did you start, working with photography and how, how the interest in photography, came to you is that something that you started before? Your interest in it or because you are interested in it, and digital photography is related to, to it. Because, you know, if we take, we think about, cameras, they have operating system, they work very similar, especially these days.
They, they work very similar to, to a computer. Uh, how that photography topic started
Dirk: Yeah. For you. Actually it [00:10:00] started way before digital, photography. I think I took the first photos when I was probably 15 or 16 with my father's camera, which was a, a very, very basic canon AE one, so half automatic with a 50 millimeter lens.
and also what my father had at a certain moment, I think it was around the same time or perhaps even earlier. was an old eight millimeter film camera with real, real peal, uh, film. I basically got interested because I, I wanted to take photos of surroundings and of girlfriends. and then afterwards it grew into, well learning more about how this works and being better at composition.
Dirk: And I only switched to digital photography I think in around 2003 when I [00:11:00] bought secondhand Cannon D 30 or 30 D, one of the first, cannon Digital cameras. and, and then discovered in the wake of that how to. Deal with, with these how to use Photoshop, lightro, et cetera. So, I actually started really very much with the analog, photography, and I found out later that actually my grandfather had a photography shop, but I never really discussed photography, with him.
he went into photography after the first World War and they've had a real shop and he had a lake car at so, so at point, but it somehow with his comaraderie through the gene stand through direct, uh, contact.
Konrad: Oh, you mentioned that you only switched to digital photography around 2003. I remember that in 2003, I still, the digital photography was [00:12:00] a novelty.
back then, I was already in Belgium and I think I had my. Hands on some kind of digital camera, but it was, saving the pictures on a three and a half, uh, inch, DiSette or however you call it. There was no memory cards or anything. And I still, I think, have a couple of pictures from that camera.
Konrad: And the quality, you can barely recognize the people in those pictures, and I think you could save maybe up to 10 or 15 pictures on this disc. So I think you, you made the switch to digital relatively quickly, I was, I was rather critical of the first cameras. And I mean, the first ones were they cost thousands of euros and, and they were really for professional photographers.
Dirk: I remember buying one of these, these cameras, I think it was an old Sony, uh, for, for my, here secondhand, for my brother. And really indeed, you could [00:13:00] fit 10 or 20 photos on a disco, but it was, it was much cheaper than the, than the memory cards. Someone could, discs didn't, didn't cost anything.
And indeed, you had something like photos of 800 times, 400 pixels or something, but I mean, good enough to, to make very small prints for family elbow. But I was, uh, I was at, at that stage already very much into jazz photography. So I was also looking at something that could deal with, with higher iso, even though, well, anything above 400 800 was becoming quite, quite grainy.
I would borrow, or would, rent, let's say, 2.8 lenses here in photo trade, which they did before I finally decided then to invest in my own. and then I would go to, to Jess. Concerts and, and festivals like in the, in Charles and in in Ye and over here. and the Gomez festival, which was where I started.
Dirk: This is close to, [00:14:00] to Neufchateau.
Konrad: So photo trade, and I know that the shop, they're close to the center. The photo trade was already existing back then.
Dirk: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I would bring, my films to them and I would, because when I come back from, from a festival, I, I would have perhaps between 20 and 30 roles film.
And I didn't want to print all the photos, so I had them, make, uh, contact sheets. So one film is one a four piece and you'd see all the photos in small. Uh, and then I would just select from those and then have them printed, professionally.
Konrad: and, why Jess particularly?
it started in, 96 when, I, got to know that there was a concert at the casino in Maldive by, the jazz giant, Belgian Jazz giant.
put Stillman who placed the harmonica, and he was playing together with two other [00:15:00] important people. One was Philip Karine, Q Guitarist, also another world renowned musician. and I
Dirk: thought that, okay, well let's try. And I phoned the guy who was organizing this. I said, well, could I take photos there and I'll send you some photos afterwards? And he said, okay. And so I, I borrowed this 7200, 2 0.8 lands. I spent the evening, uh, taking photos, and I, I showed them and I made a few other concerts, with that same, organizer.
And, and that really got me hooked. Well, first on, let's say visually, but by listening to jazz. And then I appreciated also the music. And then afterwards the combination was all the more, uh, rewarding
Konrad: because being a jazz photographer, it's a very interesting and narrow specialization. Have you ever considered. [00:16:00] going into another path instead of being a translator or, and, you know, switch progressively and be a professional photographer.
I have thought about that, but what I've seen around me, what I've read from other people, and also I have a brother who, who has a sort of a degree in photography and design and, it's very difficult. It was already difficult 20 years ago to make a living. from that. And, uh, as we were just discussing, I think nowadays photography has become, a commodity.
Dirk: You open the tab and photos come out. You, you go on on Google images and or other, photo sharing sites and you, you get images of anything for free. I did some exhibitions and I was lucky if from one exhibition, one or two photos were sold and mostly none were so, so I found out relatively quickly that [00:17:00] it's good to have this suspicion, but as a career it would be a struggle.
Konrad: But still congratulations on having, exhibitions. I mean, this is, also very nice to have people look at your photographs and come to the exhibition and enjoy the, picture even though, you know, at the end of the day it might not get sold.
Dirk: Yeah, no, we know it, it's very rewarding as well.
It's such that, you have to decide why you, do this if you do it for exhibitions in the end I built my own website, Colours of Jazz because I was the only person at that moment who was taking corner photos of jazz. Everybody else was still into black and white because black and white film, you could push harder, you could, the grain didn't matter so much, but I was really, captured by the colors and,I thought the, the colons really reinforced this passionate, um, aspect of jazz and, the concentration and, sometimes the suffering of, [00:18:00] people's soak.
So, that has always been, been my style. And so, uh, then gradually I started publishing more of my website. And then I think a few years ago I, closed down the website cuz I hadn't updated it for,years. And, Now, I only flicker, I'll have to check it out because I'm really, surprised, in a positive way, obviously, how you describe, how you see the just music and the color interlinked.
I've never thought about it to be honest. I'm also not a just enthusiast. but the way that you describe it, I could actually envision it and, and imagine. So I, I really look forward to, to checking your flicker page, uh, after we finish talking. and learn more how you, how you captured, those two topics of the music, the just music and the colors, and like you said, the struggles of, of the musicians.
Konrad: So your website is not up [00:19:00] anymore and you publish only on, on Flicker? Yes. Okay. And, these days, do you only take digital pictures or do you also sometimes take the I'm doing air quotes, old fashioned photography?
Dirk: No, I've completely moved to digital. I, I have one old analog camera, but I don't think it's, it still works.
It just, it's not worth anything in the, I used to show the kids, well, this is a role of film. This is like . because also I never had the patience to develop film myself because I, I didn't want to spend hours in a dark row just to come out with three or four rolls. but with the digital dark room nowadays, you can do.
Everything. And lately, the, the past years I've been more focusing on landscape photography, in two ways. landscape's normal. and I spent a week in Tuscany last [00:20:00] September, October, which was really revelation for me. Cause there, I mean, you have beautiful landscapes, you have fog in the morning, you have so many different things in, in a very small area.
so it was so enthusiastic that I'm organizing a photo trip with my photo club there for next May. But the other thing that I discovered a passion for is, what we call TimeLapse photography. With TimeLapse, you would take 300 photos. . And then if you play them back, you have 10 seconds of video and you see the clouds move, you see the fog go over the fields and you see the sunrise or go down.
and that is really, it's a new type of challenge because first of all, you work with the same composition. So the composition really has to be very good. You have to work with the light. So you have to do quite a lot of research where the sun comes up, how we will move across the frame. [00:21:00] you have to be quite, uh, particular about the, exposure and how it evolves.
and then afterwards there's a lot of of post-processing to, to be done, to put them together. You have software to make sure that the small differences of, of exposure between the different frames don't. End up in a flickering image and you have software to delic at that. And then you have to find how to put all these clips of 10 seconds together and make them into a movie and then, add music to that.
and so it has different levels of challenge that's a very nice thing for photographer who's done different things to, to say, oh, well I want to give myself the challenge to, to build something like that. So, uh, that's, that's been op occupying me for the past years. And of course the covid times [00:22:00] were very good because we weren't traveling and I discovered how many beautiful landscapes we have here in Luxembourg to that kind of thing.
Konrad: Yes. I was actually going to ask you if you were doing this also in Luxembourg, because I like to hike in Luxembourg quite a lot and it has everything well, except for the mountains and the sea . Yes. But it has, you know, uh, flat plains and then also a bit of hilly areas. so I think Luxembourg is also very, very nice place, to do it.
Mm-hmm. . And how do you, how do you share those, videos? Because these are videos, right?
Dirk: Yes. I, I've shared a few of those on, Vimeo channel and I'm sort of not quite decided whether I continue with Vimeo or go onto YouTube, or I just post them on Flicker. I thought I would do, I will do all that when I retire.
Now I'm retired and I far too busy to , at this moment to, uh, to find time for that. So, [00:23:00] so this is again, part of the transition. in retirement seeing. Okay. Well now, this time I will, I will work on this project and, really make up my mind on this.
