Wir Sind Die Holländer

Wir sind die Holländer. A two month Dutch take over in the city center of Berlin. Initiated by music agency Sizzer Amsterdam and HALAL Film And Photography.

© Lotte van Raalte

Wir sind die Holländer was a two month Dutch take over in the city center of Berlin in 2017. Initiated by Sizzer and HALAL as a two month temporary office. Throughout April and May they invited different players from the current creative and entrepreneurial Dutch landscape.

Photo by Lotte van Raalte.

© Lotte van Raalte

When our friends from HALAL invited us to join them on their project Wir Sind Die Holländer, we of course said yes. BYBORRE moved it's atelier for an extended weekend to the Inselstrasse in Berlin.

We held workshops where you could build your own sweater with us by handpicking BYBORRE® textiles of past years.

Apart from the workshops we also worked, connected and showed our signature knits and garments.

During our stay Lotte van Raalte of HALAL Amsterdam made a series of photos documenting our stay in Berlin.

Now, 2 years later, we interviewed Lotte van Raalte with her whereabouts and what she's up to.

Photo by Lotte van Raalte.

© Lotte van Raalte

1. Hi Lotte. Thanks again for coming with us to Berlin and to participate in this interview. Where are you based at the moment?

Right now I'm based in Amsterdam.

2. What was the last fun commercial job? And why did you like it so much?

I shot the latest campaign for one of the Netherlands' biggest online fashion department stores. It was a really great team, super people involved who gave me a lot of trust. I'm currently exploring and researching the female body through my lens, which has become a big motivation for a lot of my recent work. This project made me really excited because the overall concept fits very well with the current direction of my personal work; it was based on a diverse cast of women in different age groups.

Photo by Lotte van Raalte.

© Lotte van Raalte

3. We saw that you started to focus on moving image too, can you tell us what fascinates you the most about this?

I'm not one to stand still, and like to continuously develop and challenge myself. It felt like a natural step going more towards moving image. Last year I directed a few short video’s for several brands, but also experimented more with video in my personal work. With my photography I’m always searching for something pure, honest, a moment with a lot of empathy. It takes genuine interest and care to capture people in their most authentic and free way of being. Empathy unlocks personality, exposes stories and captures genuine energy. And that translates into moving images as well. You can tell even more about a character through movement, capturing dynamic body language and alive expressions. Secondly, I'm intrigued by the way music and moving image play together and enables you to connect with the viewer in a different kind of emotion. 

Photo by Lotte van Raalte.

© Lotte van Raalte

4. What is you last personal work? And what do you like best about this project?

I’m working on two very different long term projects. One is about Amsterdam youth culture, which I started two years ago and hopefully will continue over the next three years. The other one is about the female body, which I started last year and will hopefully be able to share through a book and exhibition this year. I like the fact that these are both long term projects in which I build relationships with people and can really take my time for editing (something that is also very important in my work). I learn how to work through waves of inspiration with patience, something that is a bit harder to do with commercial jobs. 

Photo by Lotte van Raalte.

© Lotte van Raalte

5. We saw that you where in Oaxaca lately, could you tell us what you where doing there?

For jobs and personal projects I’ve traveled a lot. Mexico is definitely one of my favourite places in the world and knew I wanted to go back for a longer amount of time. I’ve also always wanted to do an “artist in residency” which can be done in a million different ways, but in general it means you go to a place where several artist can go to work on their craft/art for a certain amount of time. I decided to go to Poco a Poco in Oaxaca city, one of the most inspiring and creative cities in Mexico, for three weeks. I actually planned to have "no plan” because that is something I never did before. I took many different workshops such as modern dance, sculpturing and natural dyeing. By the end of the residency I presented my photography and 3D work which was more of a work in progress presentation than an end product. Which was a great experience!

6. Can you give us a little sneak peak what you are working on next?

I’m working on a book and my first short documentary script… to be continued!

Photo by Lotte van Raalte.

© Lotte van Raalte

We'd like to thank HALAL Amsterdam and Sizzer Amsterdam for inviting us to be a part of Wir Sind Die Holländer and of course Lotte van Raalte for documenting our stay and the interview.

Lotte van Raalte's work can be viewed on her website.