/About

Hallo, I am Bastiaan Slabbers - full-time freelance photographer, visual journalist, community educator and bicycle enthousiast based out of Philadelphia, PA USA.

I'm constantly raising the bar, developing new ways to produce higher visual and artistic standards, learning more effective ways to tell stories. Not a short term goal, I believe that true quality comes with time.

Growing up in an artistic family I focused on Visual Arts/Multimedia from an early age on. I studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in the Hague, the Netherlands. In those days digital imaging was still in its infancy. Feeling the growing potential of the digital area I found myself often limited by the facilities but guided by the structure of this classical institute. Many experiments in (digital)photography, film/video and sculpture followed, gaining more experience in multimedia while doing.

With a market quickly evolving toward e-commerce, I worked in the bicycle industry for more than a decade. Managing a leading bicycle lifestyle retail store. Later I developed and build, from the ground up, a successful web-store plus it's retail work-flow to support it. Nowadays I ride my bike in the hills of NW Philly, I remain interested in everything that involves cycling.

The potential of hyper-local media grabbed me when photographing for Haarlem105, the public news station of my home city. A number of freelance assignments from various clients followed; I got asked to help out in international promotion campaign for Canon-Europe. Shooting in the breath-taking Swiss Alps for three months was defiantly
a dream gig. 

Moved to Philadelphia in 2010. Acclimating to cheessteaks, hoagies and the Phillies I worked on a variety of personal projects. In the fall of 2010 this resulted in an invitation to participate in an exciting new project of WHYY. Since then I enjoy this opportunity every day that I am out in the field reporting on the community that I live in.

"I first came across Bas Slabbers' photography while looking for photographs of President Obama's recent visit to Germantown. His photos reminded me of looking at Life magazine when I was growing up. I contacted him and asked him to bring that same eye to Mt. Airy." - Alan Tu, Community Editor for WHYY's Newsworks.org

I hope to continue to develop the depth and quality of my work. I am fascinated by evolving media technology like the ability to publish quality content in a blink of an eye. While the landscape is constantly changing I believe that a trained eye for quality mixed with skills to use high-end gear creates the competitive edge that I offer. Being flexible, adapting to new technologies, and embracing this ever evolving market allows me to continue learning and developing new exciting work-flows. It keeps me excited, rejuvenated and able to meet my clients' requests.

I am currently available for editorial assignments, creative projects and hands-on workshops. Please contact me via info@basslabbers.com or +1 215-847-1510