What do you get when you put a socially engaged documentary photographer and a Good Guyz production together? A damn good report in expressive pictures. Steef Fleur has been shooting The Good Guyz for over a year now. Not only telling her story, but also telling the story through the eyes of the production guys. So who is Steef Fleur and what makes her so good?
How do The Good Guyz fit into your documentary style photography? “I’m not a festival photographer, I try to find a story. My assignment is to start out taking pictures of the production before show, than a few during show and a couple after show. Taking into account that I shoot the work The Good Guyz do on location. It’s more of a background photo report and I’m trying to catch the atmosphere of the day. Because I am able to go in blank with no pre-conceptions it stays interesting. The Good Guyz and festivals are a great subject, always new and fresh.”
Your career started as a Projectmanager Urbanism? “My main focus was project management urbanism or town planning for the government and a little bit of photography. It was very strange to be thinking about urban city’s and how people should live from behind a desk in an office. So, I decided to go to Brazil and explore favela’s (slums). What I found there surprised me. There was so much social control and cohesion, you really felt welcome in the favela’s. Much more than in the civilised city.”Is this where your love for photography started? “My first real project was TEAM. In 2012 five young players kicked a referee to death in Amsterdam. A big dark cloud hang over the fields of the city and the public opinion about youth football gained a very negative perspective. To give the youth their positive faces back I made this series. TEAM consists of 16 portraits of captains throughout the whole city. This series got so much exposure that I decided to keep doing documentary photography.”
That’s a pretty heavy subject. “I look for stories that show contradictions in society. I hope to give these contradictions a platform and get rid of preconceptions that people might have. I have shot two more projects on diversity. The Other Seleção focusses on the individual and the different world within Brazil shot during the World Cup 2014 and Humbolt – Green Gold USA. Green Gold USA is about small farmers growing cannabis plants and weed. Humbolts’ green gold provides good money and forms the backbone of local economy.”