Dutch Streetstyle: David Koppelaar

Delicate hands picking up a piece of chocolate cake like only a Disney princess would. Seafoam painted nails. A humongous Yves Saint Laurent ring around her index finger. It has something decadent. David can capture an ambiance with little details that he photographs. A certain mood or a feeling that people carry around with them is what he looks for the most when he’s out on the streets. ‘I can’t make the setting, people style themselves. I don’t care about a designer bag. And if I do, the person carrying it usually doesn’t appear in the photograph.’

After getting is Sony Alfa 330, 16 year old David decided that he was going to start his own blog Dutch Streetstyle. ‘The Netherlands really lacked a good street style blog. I know that it is very hard in this country but I saw it as a challenge.’ David once started taking pictures in his hometown Utrecht where he would walk around for days and only find one bag worth photographing. ‘Even in Amsterdam it’s difficult not to photograph the same person twice.’

Besides street style photographs, he also does some fashion photography. But fashion for David isn’t necessarily about designer clothes. ‘With clothes you can say things that you can’t say with words. Because photographs don’t have any text. You can transfer a message with expression but also with clothes.’ Moods and people play a key role in his portrait-like photo’s.

His blog is only the start of all the amazing things that David will do. He has been admitted to the photo academy of Amsterdam and is starting in September. His ambitions might sound corny but they are sincere . One day he is going to live in New York or Paris. Places where he feels at home and fits right in.