Fine art photographer / Designer / Autodidact
About me
The dustiest locations on earth are the locations that inspire me the most. Locations that are abandoned, given up and often isolated. Each with their own story, with their own uninhabited world, waiting to be captured and passed on. That’s why I travel all over the world, under the name of Baksteen.
My own name is Levaronne Lourens and I am a photographer from The Netherlands. Historical and architectural remains are what I prefer to photograph. What is an old, dilapidated building for some, is the scene of a wild spectacle for me.
How magnificent is it to see how nature completely takes over a building and ensures that it can take back its own place.
I want to capture these scenes and pass it on with love to ensure that no one misses its beauty. My website is the place where I have put all these pictures together.
The Story
That one fantastic shot that stimulates your fantasies is usually not made at once. Sometimes it will take me five attempts to make that one shot of a location that I am very proud of and satisfied with. It is way more than just pushing the button to create these photos. I would like to explain a little bit more about what I do as a Urbex photographer.
Before I start with the shoot itself, we do research to spot new locations for months. One important rule in the Urbex world is: ‘’Never share your exact location with others’’. I look for the perfect spot to shoot through articles on the internet and to compare photo’s with maps on Google maps. It sure feels like police work sometimes, but for me that’s part of the fun! I plan the trip by choosing the right month and to pick a perfect route to get there.
On the day itself you have to take the weather into account at all times. Rain, wind and sun can influence your photos and you are fully depending on nature because you don’t make these photo’s in the studio with artificial light. This is what Urbex photography makes so special. With this challenge I keep myself busy for over five years now. You could call it a addiciton, cause if you would take Urbex photography away from me I would show signs of withdrawel because of it. If I havent had the time to shoot in awhile, ideas would occur in my dreams again and before you know it I have planned a new trip somewhere to shoot.
One of the biggest cons of Urbex photography is that you have no guarantee whatsoever that you can actually visit the location that you’ve picked beforehand. To clarify, it’s not always legal to visit those locations. Sometimes I visit locations that are not accesible because there is a risk that those buildings in these locations can collaps. And because of that some locations are being guarded. If that’s the case when I arrive I try to get into the building the right way, at the right time, and at the right place. Sometimes people broke into the place before I was able to shoot the location, copper thieves and antique traders could have taken valuable pieces out of the location. And sometimes these people trashed and wrecked down the place. My opinion as a Urbex photographer is that when that happens to a location you take away the beauty of the building and then it is impossible for me to create a creative masterpiece. My months of preparation then falls apart but that’s the risk of this profession in this particular field.
I am a perfectionist when it comes to photography and my work. From the moment I press the button untill I edit and deliver the photo, everything is about perfection for me. It always takes longer to shoot a location than I thought beforehand. But I don’t mind to shoot longer if it isn’t exactly like I had imagined. I keep on going untill I am satisfied with the results I created.
The Process
I can print my photos for you upon request. This doesn’t mean that I just sent the photos to the printing office and am not involved with the print process of my photos. I think alot about the materials that I use and choose and I am in close contact with the printing office to make sure I deliver perfection to your
doorstep. I only work together with printing offices that understand their work and have more than over 30 year of experience in their field. I only deliver photo pieces that I am 100% satisfied about. I distinct myself with the fact that I deliver qualitatively work, not quantative work. Because of my passion for Urbex photography and the photos I make I am 100% dedictated to deliver perfection to anybody’s home.
A Baksteen piece stands for beauty, security and exclusivity. It is a real acquisition for every art lover who knows that art becomes even more beautiful when you have invested more time into the piece itself.
There are only 25 limited edition per artwork. If you really wish for something exclusive, you can choose for fine art with the Raw Edge Finishing of which only six pieces are made.