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Menno Boermans: Frozen images from Broad Peak
May 27, 2005 11: 50 EST
Previously published Mar 9, 2005 10: 04 EST.
In 2004, on assignment from Dutch newspaper Het Parool, photographer Menno Boermans (Holland) left for an expedition to Broad Peak. He returned without the summit, but brought back a stunning set of pictures which were eventually compiled into a book.
“I want my pictures to show why I am so passionate about mountaineering. It’s more than a sport,” Menno says. “It’s a way of life.”
Working from the inside, gazing out
For that reason, Menno is more than just a climbing photographer. He is an active team member of the expeditions that he shot. He always takes the route himself on foot or by ski because he thinks that’s the only way to capture the atmosphere of the climb. Usually, he performs his climbs and ski descents twice: At first, to become familiar with the route, then again to fulfill his assignment and shoot the pictures. “Oh, I always end up walking twice as much as everybody else,” figures Boermans.
Lately, he has managed to spend about six months out of the year in the mountains and the rest of the time freelancing for Het Parool. He is employed by the Amsterdam daily but seizes any possible spare moment to climb and ski the Alps. The agreeable schedule suits Menno perfectly. “When I am in Amsterdam I can dream about new climbs and think of ideas. And when I am climbing, I think about portraiture and can daydream about the ‘easy’ life in a city. I think the combination works well.”
The commitment: at all costs!
Menno boasts his preparation “to go to any length” for a good photo, but maintains respect for the hazards of mountaineering, insisting that he’ll only embark on a climb if it is safe. “I climb to have fun,” he says, “so always with good friends. And if the weather turns bad, I don’t mind turning back and trying another time. In the Alps, we end up spending a lot of time in the pub.”
Regarding Broad Peak, Menno claims to have been a climber first and a photographer second: “It was actually hard work. Sometimes I had to use all my energy for moving and simply forgot to take pictures. A shame, for a professional photographer!” he says smiling.
Menno Boermans (born in 1977) discovered the mountains during a trip on the Alps when he was 16 and has been photographing his tours ever since. In the last few years he has seen his photographs in the Dutch Magazines Limits, OpPad, and Hoogtelijn as well as in the American Outside Magazine and Alpinst Magazine. He has also worked on assignment for the National Geographic Channel, the Swiss tourism agency, Olympus, and Swiss equipment-company, Mammut.
Images by Menno Boermans – images number 3 and number 5 (bottom) from Broad Peak 2004. All photos © Menno Boermans.
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