hi, i’m eric
I make photos and video from Lansing, Michigan. Mostly of people doing things they love: riding, skating, climbing, building, and having fun.
I shoot from inside whatever is going on. At a rail jam, I’m on skis. At the park I’m following on my skateboard. At a show, I’m in the crowd. As a photographer I have found that people tend to loosen up around the camera when the person holding it is having as much fun as they are.
why “lekker”?
It’s a Dutch word that means something like “tasty”, I picked it up from my friends while I was living in Bonaire working as a dive instructor. My Dutch was terrible, but I knew how to say lekker and soon I couldn’t stop - it was just too much fun to say! Usually in reference to things that were not food, which made it all the more amusing. My business was originally called Swell Photography, an homage to my salty roots, but found that it just didn’t quite sound right. Lekker stuck. It’s got nothing to do with cameras, and everything to do with having fun. Life’s too short not too.
Light and time
My first exposure to photography (ha get it) was in high school. I needed an elective and my mom had a digital camera so I figured why not. Within a week I was hooked, and in that class my teacher explained to us that a photograph consists of exactly two ingredients: light and time. To me this clicked like nothing ever had before, sure there’s lots of knobs and settings in a camera but ultimately they only alter these two ingredients in some way. There’s something really incredible about being able to derive such beauty and complexity from just two ingredients.
projecting reality
As much as I love the name Lekker, I did want something that represents my photography; that’s where the tagline Projecting Reality comes in. In bouldering the word project is both a noun and verb; coming back to a challenging problem again and again until you send. A projector throws light onto a wall, displaying something for everyone to see. For me, Photography is both; a place for me to show you how I see the world, and my way of working on understanding it.
how i got here
I’ve been a dive instructor, a chef, a ranch hand, a lifeguard, and a valet. I’ve been in the trenches of corporate America and currently work as a flight attendant. Clearly I can’t make up my mind, but one thing that’s been with me through it all is a camera. My experience has given me so many different perspectives on this thing we call life and has taught me to fit in anywhere, but most important to me I’ve learned that taking really good care of people is just good business.
where this thing is goingwhy “studios”?
Right now Lekker Studios is just me. And right now it’s photography and video. The plan is bigger: a place where creative people who make things work together to leverage each others talents to take on exciting projects, and have a team to lean on when working on their own stuff. A creative collective. Photography is just where it starts.