September 27, 2019 • 32 mins
In the eighth episode of Metal Maven Podcast, Belgian rock photographer, Tim Tronckoe shares the inspiration and concept behind his latest star-studded project, PORTRAITS.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to the Metal Maven Podcast where we explore
and discover the process andpassions of artists and the
Metal music and art community.
Metal Maven (00:13):
In episode eight of Metal Maven Podcast, I'm joined
by Belgian international musicand portrait photographer, Tim
Tronckoe.
Welcome Tim, how are you?
Tim Tronckoe (00:23):
Hello there.
I'm very good and you?
Metal Maven (00:26):
Oh, I'm excellent now that I'm chatting with you.
The last time I saw you was 2016at Epic Metal Fest in Tilburg.
Tim Tronckoe (00:34):
Omg, that's a long time ago!
Metal Maven (00:34):
It's been quite awhile, so I'm thrilled t o
catch up with you.
Tim Tronckoe (00:38):
Likewise– absolutely.
Always thrilled.
Metal Maven (00:42):
So let's dive in and discuss your new book
PORTRAITS, which has been verywell received.
All pre-orders are sold out, socongratulations.
Tim Tronckoe (00:53):
Yay, thank you!
Metal Maven (00:53):
I know, right?
That was quick.
What was it– three to four weeksand you were set?
Tim Tronckoe (00:58):
Yeah, it was even a bit less than three weeks I
think, which was incredible.
I could never have anticipatedthat.
I was like,"What just happened?"So it was just amazing.
But all the other peopleinvolved, they will also very
supportive.
They also shared the shit out ofit, so that helped quite a bit,
of course.
Metal Maven (01:14):
Oh, of course it does.
So for those of you listeningwho don't know, PORTRAITS is
Tim's first-ever, limitededition coffee table photography
book.
It's 180 pages of classicalportraits featuring renowned
Hard Rock and Metal musicians.
Tim, conceptually, what was theidea and inspiration behind this
(01:35):
project and how did it manifestinto this brilliant thing?
Tim Tronckoe (01:40):
Well, it all started actually because of my
love for classical art, mainly,and the Hard Rock and Metal
scene.
I love both those worlds.
People always consider it to bea big contrast, like classical
art is old and boring, and thenyou have this Hard Rock scene,
which is very, very mature andvery, very hard, and very to the
(02:03):
core, to the bone.
But actually, I love both worldsbecause I think both have their
aspects that are veryinteresting and they all go back
so many years, and ages, andcenturies.
So, it all started about threeyears ago when I was just
walking through a localexhibition of classical
portraits.
(02:23):
And I was there with myboyfriend, Simon.
We were just going through theexhibition and when we almost
reached the end, we were bothlike,"Hey, why don't we combine
Tim, your work field with thiskind of work– like, all these
classical portraits– and turnyour portraits, the work you do
with the artists in the HardRock scene, why don't we combine
(02:46):
this and find a beautifulsymbiosis for this?" I was like,
"Oh yeah, this could actuallywork." So I did my research of
it and I was very careful, ofcourse, I didn't want to share
anything at that time and Ireally know what to expect.
But then I just wrote to MylesKennedy of Alter Bridge and
Michael Starr of Steel Panther,just to give them the idea, and
(03:10):
to ask them what they thought ofit.
And why did I choose them?
Because I knew they were goingto be in the area in a few weeks
from then and they were open tothe idea, and they welcomed me
to their show in Belgium, inBrussels.
And they told me,"Tim, we cangive you 15 or 20 minutes just
before the show to shoot theportraits.
(03:30):
And when we had taken thoseimages, and I sent them to them,
they were so enthusiastic aboutthem and they both said the same
thing:" Tim if you give yourselfenough time for this, and then
if you turn this into a book,this might be such a unique
thing– this might be such a hugesuccess." So that was exactly
(03:50):
what I did.
And I didn't share this withanyone who was not involved in
the project.
Three years later it proved tobe a huge success and everyone
wanted to be involved in it aswell, so.
Yeah, but the basic idea camefrom my love, my passion for
art, art in its purest form,like the paintings, the music,
(04:11):
combining everything.
And of course, I wanted to dosomething greater than myself– I
wanted to exceed myself– sothat's when the good cause came
came along as well.
Metal Maven (04:21):
So you also with this project wanted to emphasize
the way we perceive and viewmusicians and artists, you know,
in a way we– there's thisadmiration, and worship, and
also seeing them as, you know,rock'n' roll royalty.
Tim Tronckoe (04:37):
True.
Well, yeah, indeed that's true,but that idea only came after a
couple of months.
I think during the first year ofshooting I realized that when I
had done the photo shoot withTarja, I think, where we had
portrayed her as Anne Boleyn.
I saw the pictures, I was like,"Actually, we are portraying
these artists as the way weperceive them, as the way we
(05:00):
look at them.
We put them on a stage in frontof thousands of people and we
admire them just like a King orQueen would, back in the days,
or even nowadays, showthemselves to the audience and
everyone would be in awe lookingat them." And actually, it's a
bit the same way– the samedistance between that person,
who is just a human being, justlike anyone else, we put them on
(05:23):
a stage and they become thispublic property almost that we
admire, and we find inspirationin these people.
And along the way while shootingthese portraits, it was a big
contrast for me, becauseactually by doing that, by
portraying them as royalty in away, I kind of wanted to get
(05:44):
away from the idea, maybe makepeople realize that,"Hey, I am
portraying them as royalty, thepeople we look up to, but
actually, they're just humanbeings of flesh and blood." And,
along the way, I realized thatthat was a cool contrast that I
was implementing into the bookbecause we also have some very
(06:04):
stripped down portraits likemore the Caravaggio and
Rembrandt– they are a lot moremodest, and a lot more sincere,
and a lot more open andvulnerable.
So it was my challenge tocombine both these worlds a bit
and I think we succeeded quitewell in this project.
Metal Maven (06:20):
I could not agree more.
Everything I've seen, so far,looks beautiful.
Tim Tronckoe (06:25):
Thank you.
Metal Maven (06:25):
You're welcome.
Let's transition to thephysical, the actual act of
creating this.
As you said, it was a bit of asecret project, about three
years in the making, is thatcorrect?
Tim Tronckoe (06:34):
That is correct, it was quite a challenge.
Metal Maven (06:37):
And obviously involved a lot of planning and
close attention to detail.
I mean, you had set location,artist scheduling, custom
couture design, and then on topof it, you had video documenting
and so much more.
How did you manage such a largescale project, especially in
regard to your own work scheduleoutside of this with clients as
(06:57):
well as teaching?
Tim Tronckoe (06:59):
Yeah, I am quite a bit of a control freak myself.
But what I love about the thingsI do, is I always surround
myself with a team that I cantotally trust.
And I rely on that team as muchas I can, and that helps a lot
to just get rid of all thestress that I have around it.
But still, I am a control freakand I want to have my planning
(07:20):
there, I want to scheduleeverything myself, I want to
choose my team, want to choosewho I work with.
And keeping it a secret, ofcourse, it's very important
there because that's why Iwanted to work with people I
have already worked with.
So, I was still working for myclients, of course, the bands
who wanted their band picturesfor the new albums, like Tarja,
like all the other bands.
(07:41):
That was also a very good thingbecause I got to work with new
people there and then I couldalso test them a bit like,"Hey,
would you be up to work with mefor this project?" And sometimes
they accepted and sometimes Iwas like,"Hmm, maybe I shouldn't
ask this person because maybethey won't be able to keep their
mouth shut about the project."So I had to take care of a lot
(08:03):
of things and make sure that Isurrounded myself with a good
team of people I could trust.
And that was my starting point.
And then, of course, like yousaid, it just came down to
arranging everything from thesmallest detail because people
don't realize, it's not justpushing a button, it's arranging
everything from location–"Do Ihave a location?
(08:24):
If I don't have a location, Ineed to make myself a location.
Do we need to find that perfectmakeup artist for this, the
perfect hairstylist for this,the perfect person who can
arrange styling and wardrobe forthis project?" Because for the
big photo shoots with Agnetefrom Djerv, with Simone from
(08:45):
Epica, Sharon from WithinTemptation, and so on, we wanted
to make everything from scratchourselves.
So what did I do?
I just, the first thing I didwas months in advance, sometimes
even a year in advance, Ialready went to a show of them
or I asked them,"Could youplease take your measurements?"
Or we sent someone to a show totake their measurements so we
(09:05):
can design their outfits fromscratch.
So it was actually a bit ofcouture that we were doing.
They're not really couturecouture, like every detail
hand-made, but as much aspossible, self-made and made
custom, made for that onevocalist, for that one singer,
because I didn't just want to goto a dress up store or a
(09:27):
carnival store and I just golike,"Hey, we'll just rent a
bunch of outfits that 100 peoplehave already been wearing and
just try the best one on thesepeople.
I wanted to do this the best waypossible, and the most authentic
way possible, and I wanted thisto be unique, and I didn't want
to cut down on anything.
(09:49):
Some people were telling me,"Timis this is getting so expensive,
you must be spending so muchmoney on this." I was like,"I
don't care.
If I do something, I want togive it the absolute best that I
can and I don't want to look atthe cost of it."
Metal Maven (10:04):
Well, it obviously worked out fantastic because
everything looks amazing andyour pre-orders sold out, so...
Tim Tronckoe (10:11):
Yeah, that's the proof of all the hard work.
Yay!
Metal Maven (10:15):
Exactly, I know, right?
I want to transition intotalking about who you are
outside of the music industryand I did want to talk about
your work as a teacher.
Most people view you as only arock photographer, that's all
they know you as, but you alsowork as a– I'm assuming it's the
photography department, right?
Tim Tronckoe (10:35):
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah, that's it exactly.
Metal Maven (10:38):
It's a secondary education arts school in Ghent.
Tim Tronckoe (10:42):
Yeah.
It's actually VISO, actually,that's the way we say it.
Metal Maven (10:45):
Okay.
Reading VISO's missionstatement, the goal of the
school is to create confidentindividuals who can cope with
the constant flow of informationin our rapidly evolving world.
You mentioned in yourexplanation of PORTRAITS that
you're seeing more and morestudents struggling with mental
health, and because of this,benefits from this project will
(11:08):
support PsychoseNet.be.
Tim Tronckoe (11:11):
Yep, Correct.
Metal Maven (11:12):
My next question would be why this charity
specifically, and also, why thiscause for you personally?
Tim Tronckoe (11:20):
Well, I chose this cause– from the start, when I
started the project, I had noidea what kind of good cause I
wanted to support.
I was still thinking about,"Whatis my main interest?
Where do I find myself thebest?" And along the process, I
realized that me as a teacheractually, because I, like you
said, as a teacher, I see somany of my students, or my
(11:41):
pupils, struggling finding whothey are because they are 12,
13, 14, 15-years-old and they'rein that process of finding
themselves, discoveringthemselves.
"Who am I?
What do I want to become?
What do I want to achieve inlife?" And for some of them it's
easier than for others and,those who are struggling, I see
(12:01):
it as my responsibility.
For my colleagues, I see it asour responsibility to– not to
choose it for them but just toguide them the best way possible
and to help them overcome maybetheir anxieties and their
struggles, and not maybe havethem solve that, but support
them in that, and guide themalong that way, because it's a
(12:23):
long way when you're at school.
Most of them are at school morethan they are at home.
So it's a very bigresponsibility and it's
sometimes overlooked a bit, butthe responsibility that teachers
have nowadays with all thesedifferent media and all these
different impulses that allthese young kids get, it's not
easy to be a kid nowadays.
(12:44):
So, I see it as a very importantrole that we are playing in our
modern society, not only tostuff them with knowledge, but
also to get them to where theyshould be, as a stable person in
a not-so-stable society, whichis such a big challenge.
So when I was thinking aboutthat, me as a teacher and as a
(13:07):
photographer, because I have avery big role in there as well,
maybe not as big as in being ateacher, but I really wanted to
support what was very close toheart and it was something in
mental illnesses, and mentalstability, and in mental
healthcare.
And then along the way I waslooking for the best
organization to support becauseI didn't want to support an
(13:28):
organization that's alreadygetting a lot of governmental
support and money, and financesfrom the government.
I didn't want to go for that.
So PsychosisNet–"PsychoseNet" aswe say in Dutch, was, to me, the
best organization because theyare totally independent.
They don't rely on thegovernment– they are just a team
of people who are directly fromthe field, who are experts in
(13:51):
what they do.
There are family members ofpeople who have been through
that process.
So, to me, that was the bestorganization possible to
support.
I felt so much at home therebecause to me, I'm sometimes
also struggling mentally, maybenot as heavily as some of the
people that are at my school,but I find myself so familiar in
(14:15):
this work field that there wasno hesitation whatsoever to
start supporting this.
Metal Maven (14:22):
Well, I understand too, and maybe what prompted you
to look more into this as well,is that while working on this
project, you lost a very closefriend, Jill Janus of the band
Huntress.
Tim Tronckoe (14:33):
Yeah, true, unfortunately.
Metal Maven (14:33):
She suffered from mental health issues and took
her own life and that must havebeen an awful day.
Tim Tronckoe (14:40):
Yeah.
I still remember that day sowell.
I was sitting behind mycomputer, I was just working on
some photos and all of a suddenthat news reached me.
It hadn't been online I thinkyet, but I don't really remember
how it reached me.
And the first thing I did, intrue disbelief, I sent a
WhatsApp message to Jill.
I was like,"Jill, this cannot betrue.
(15:00):
Come on, respond to me now." Andthe response never came.
About a half an hour later, thenews was spread on the Internet,
it was everywhere, that JillJanice was no longer amongst us,
that she had taken her own life.
And that was while I was findingthe right cause to support with
this book, with this project.
It made me realize even morethat that was the decisive
(15:21):
moment for me to go for thisfield to support.
And it was such a horrible dayfor me.
Emotionally, I was devastated,but it had a double feeling.
I was devastated on one hand,but on the other hand I was
like, I had made up my mind,this is what I want to support
(15:42):
and nothing else.
Metal Maven (15:44):
What I would like to know is, if you are able to
have another day with Jill andphotograph her for PORTRAITS,
how would you have portrayedher?
Tim Tronckoe (15:53):
Well, it was all actually already in my mind for
like two years that I would likeJill in this book.
And so that made it even worseto me when when I got the news,
because now I knew,"God, she'snever go even going to make it
to the book," which, it's notthat important that she's not in
the book, but to me it was like,"Damn." I mean, she could have
(16:15):
maybe had her moment one moretime in this book and that
might've been– what we couldhave done.
It's all still a big questionmark to me.
How could we have portrayed herin the most beautiful way
possible?
And I think for her, I probablywould have portrayed her as, not
really as a Queen, but maybe asstill a strong woman, but as a
(16:37):
nowadays woman, maybe strippeddown just a little bit more, and
more to the core.
Maybe a very dark portrait ofher, like I made the portrait of
the guys in Slayer, of someother people in this book, and
just maybe make a very strippeddown, dark portrait of her where
she would be recognizable still,but with some mystery around it.
And I think that would have beenthe best way to portray her
(16:59):
because she was full of mystery.
When she was still so open, whenwe met, she was still such a
good friend, so I would try tofind that balance somewhere and
just make a portrait, like thatrepresented Caravaggio a bit
where he showed people for whatthey are: very dark, very
dramatic, but still this mysteryand still this personal
connection with the portraitthat he made.
(17:20):
So I would probably have had herportrayed that way.
Metal Maven (17:24):
I'm sure she would have loved it.
And I'm glad that you've beenopen to discussing this because
I know it's not something that'seasy to talk about, especially
when it hits so close to home,so thank you.
Tim Tronckoe (17:34):
No, you're welcome.
Metal Maven (17:35):
You've had the privilege and opportunity to
work with amazing artists andcreate wonderful memories with
them, not only for yourself, butfor fans as well.
How did you get to this point,Tim?
Why photography as your mediumto perceive the world around
you?
Tim Tronckoe (17:50):
Well, as a kid I've always been fascinated by
imagery.
First of all, by videos.
As a kid I used to love to makevideos.
I loved to draw.
I was always– because I didn'treally get it from my parents,
because they are not that arts-oriented, but I don't know where
I got it from, but I just lovedlooking at things, and just
(18:12):
making and turning them into myown, and showing people what I
was thinking about, and what myinspiration was, or what I saw
through my eyes.
And because, sometimes it wasvery realistic, sometimes it was
not realistic at all and I justlove to combine these things.
So it started with, and then allof a sudden it started evolving
(18:33):
into music.
I got into music, I startedlistening to Rock, to Pop music,
to Metal.
And then all of a sudden, when Iwas 16, I started combining
photography because when Iattended my first concert, I
took some crappy pictures, butstill, I loved it.
And I didn't really like thepictures at the time, but I just
loved the process of lookingback on to something that had
(18:54):
just happened the night before.
And then looking at it again,and reliving that moment.
So as of that moment, I juststarted going to concerts,
taking live pictures.
But then I was intrigued by whatwas going on behind the scenes
because everyone can seeobviously what's happening on
the stage.
All the photographers are takingthe same pictures.
So I was more intrigued by,"Hey,what's happening behind the
(19:16):
stage?
Who are these people?
Can I get to know them?
How are they, and who are they?
How are they personallyone-to-one?" So that's when I
decided to dive into the fieldof taking that portrait right
before stage time, and havingthis short connection with that
artist.
And that opened my eyes and,because of my work, that opened
(19:39):
so many doors.
Labels and managers opened doorsto me and they welcomed me
amongst their band to spend somemore time with them to choose
their pictures.
And yeah, I was able tosometimes just get carte blanche
and they came to me like,"Tim,we need new pictures.
How would you see our newimagery?
How would you see our newpictures?" And it's so cool to
(20:00):
be part of that.
And the biggest example of thatis the new pictures that I was
able to do with Tarja.
Tarja is such a greatinspiration to me, but last time
we saw each other, she mentionedas well that I am a great
inspiration to her as well.
And that moment that made alittle click in my mind like,
"Hey, I am an inspiration tosomeone I've been looking up to
(20:22):
for so many years." And that wasso cool because she was actually
listening to me and to the ideasthat I had.
And it made it such a greatturning point in my career.
Like the new pictures we did forher new album, In the Raw, we
had been talking about this ideafor such a long time and I was
so proud that we, as a team,were able to pull this off
(20:44):
actually because if we discussedthe idea where we're like,"Hey,
we're going to shoot in a cave."The main thing I was thinking
about,"Okay, how do I need toput the lights in?" I mean it's
a cave.
"How do I want to portray her inthis cave?" Because it's such a
stripped down situation, such astripped down scenery, and I
want to portray her the mostbeautiful way I've ever
(21:05):
portrayed her.
And in the end, we were able tosucceed in doing that and it all
came together.
And when doing that, I realizedthat,"Hey, as a kid of 10, 11-
years-old, how would that kidhave reacted to that idea?
Like,"Hey Tim, when you aregoing to be 28, 29 you're going
to be doing that kind ofproject." I would probably have
(21:27):
lost my mind back then because Icould not have imagined it.
But because of the process thatI've had throughout all these
years, that had led up to thatmoment, I realized I needed
those years to evaluate my ownprocess and evaluate my own way
of thinking about things andseeing things.
And I think when I see theresults, I'm just so proud of
(21:48):
it.
Metal Maven (21:49):
Well, see how far curiosity can take you just
experimenting with things, andevolving, and trying to
understand how other people liveand how other people, in your
case with musicians, perform andwho they are back stage?
It's really, really interestingto see where you began and where
you are at this point.
Now that we've discussed thepast, let's talk about the
(22:09):
future.
There will be a publicexhibition of your work for
PORTRAITS as well, beginning theday after this podcast is
released on Saturday, September28th.
Now, I don't want to botch thepronunciation of this, so I'm
going to let you say it.
It's in your hometown of Ghent.
Tim Tronckoe (22:26):
So it is in Ghent, it's in my hometown, where I
live, because I wanted to do ithere in my hometown of Ghent.
The location is called theDrongenhofkapel, which is just a
chapel, which is called theDrongenhof because it's a
medieval chapel, totallystripped down.
There's nothing, there are nofacilities.
So that was very cool to mebecause so many of the big photo
(22:46):
shoots for this book were alldone in my hometown because
again, it's a medieval city.
It's one of the oldest cities ofBelgium, if not Europe, which
still has a big medieval castleright in the city center.
It's actually very close to thecastle.
I did the photo shoot withCharlotte of Delain, I did in
Ghent.
(23:07):
I shot Agnete from Djerv inGhent, in the photo studio then.
I shot Alissa from Archenemy inGhent.
So, it was so meaningful for meto do it in my own hometown.
And I found this location whichwas so stripped down, so, naked
actually– it's like a blankcanvas, which I was able to just
(23:28):
put everything in there the wayI wanted and I could just
decorate it the way I wanted it.
So I wanted this oldenvironment, this old location,
with this very modern exhibitionin there.
So, a very big white wall withall the works, and that contrast
to me was so striking that I waslike,"I need to go for that one.
(23:50):
That's going to be the locationand nothing else, so I can just
make it my own." So it'sstarting the 28th of September,
and we start on the 27th with abig launch of course with the
press, and the people who I'veinvited who have been part of
this project.
And then the 28th we're startingand it lasts up until the 12th
of October, so it's not thatlong because I wanted to make it
(24:11):
short and fierce, but it's goingto be really beautiful.
So people who come to theexhibition can actually make a
full day trip out of it becauseGhent is such a beautiful
historical city which has somuch to offer.
Metal Maven (24:24):
I understand that there's going to be life-size
versions of your photographs andit seems like you found the
perfect canvas to display themon.
Now that I know more about thelocation, you know, it's very
personal for you obviouslybecause it's in your hometown,
it has this medieval settingwhich pairs well with the theme
(24:45):
of the work.
What should people expect to seewhen they visit?
Tim Tronckoe (24:49):
When they enter, I think they will be blown away
basically by how big thelocation is and what I've done
with it because I don't want tomake it like this very
theatrical exhibition, I justwant to bring it down to the
core and here are the pictures–just look at them, look at the
life-size pictures and justabsorb what they tell you, what
(25:11):
these images are telling you.
And I didn't want to add toomuch text to it, I just wanted
to let the images speak forthemselves and I think when
people will see the actualexhibition, they should all be,
I think they will all be, a bitin awe.
But I just wanted it be a verypersonal experience, and I want
everyone just to experience itin their own way.
(25:32):
And I think if somebody exitsthe exhibition and tells me,
"Tim, I've been able to seesomething which I've seen in the
book, but also something whichwas not in the book." If they
recognize that, because that'sgoing to be the case– there are
going to be things, elements,pictures that are not going to
be in the book and then whenthey get the full package, I
think that's going to be mybiggest success.
Metal Maven (25:51):
That's, that's interesting to know.
I didn't realize that it wasgoing to be other photos that
weren't included in your book.
So, all right guys, you got toget there if you're in Ghent–
it's a must visit.
Tim Tronckoe (26:04):
I hope so!
Metal Maven (26:04):
Another question I have for you is, and I know it
can be a difficult one because Iknow you love everybody that you
work with, but, do you have afavorite portrait?
Tim Tronckoe (26:12):
Well, I'm just moving through my own hallway
here of my home because we haveeverything displayed over here
like in small size, how theexhibition is going and what the
exhibition is going to looklike.
We have it all over here.
I just put everything on thewall here, like smaller.
So I'm just looking at theimages right now and I'm just
looking at them, I'm wonderingwhich of the photos shoots, like
(26:33):
the light, which photo shoot didit all come together that I have
the feeling like,"This is it.
Here, we have exactly what weneed." And I have a couple of
examples, I think.
I think Mina from Life of Agony,when we shot her pictures it was
like in 10 minutes at afestival, but she has this one
picture where she's justportrayed so beautifully, you
(26:53):
can still see the veins on herarms, in her hands, and then
she's got this very, verysincere and very, very serene
look in her face.
And when we shot that pictureand when I put it on my computer
and I printed it, that was thefirst image where I was like,
"God, this is such a cool,picture, which tells such a cool
(27:16):
story, which is such a personalpicture." But then when I'm
looking further back, I see thepicture of Alissa in her
beautiful blue dress.
It's one of the last picturesthat we made during the one-day
photo shoot where we just wentup to the Chinese salon of this
beautiful Rococo house here inthe city of Ghent, and it was
the last picture that we took ofher in front of this beautiful
(27:38):
wallpaper.
And that picture just pops.
She just like jumps out of thepicture, it's unreal when you
look at it.
So it's going to beone of thecentral pieces in the exhibition
as well.
And when I saw the picture, itjust shows everything that I
wanted to show in this portrait,like the classical way that
Alissa is in the picture, butstill she shows who she really
(27:58):
is.
She doesn't lose her trueidentity.
She doesn't lose who she is, shedoesn't lose what she stands
for.
And I think that is a verystriking picture because the
light, of course, has to beperfect.
The outfit has to be perfect,the pose has to be perfect.
And I think in an image likethat, everything really, really
came together.
I'm just looking at the otherpictures that I have and they
(28:20):
all have this element becausewhen I was choosing these
pictures, I had about 100 or 200pictures to choose from and it's
like I needed to bring it downto like how many pictures?
About 60 or 70 pictures for theexhibition.
So it was like killing my ownchildren.
So I had to go for thesepictures that were striking to
me in one way or another.
(28:40):
So I think they all have that.
But I think that picture ofAlissa and that picture of Mina
have that– I don't know if Ilook at it, I just keep looking
at, it's still, even a yearafter we've made that picture.
And we also have this picture ofSimone.
Simone is in this very bigElizabethan white dress designed
(29:01):
by my wonderful boyfriend, bythe way, I have to give him some
credit.
And she was in this bigcathedral here in Ghent, and in
this one picture we just put herin front, not in the actual
cathedral setting, but just infront of a beautiful plain blue
canvas, painted canvas, andshe's just looking over her
shoulder a bit into the camera.
(29:21):
And that was the most strikingimage, which is so cool and
which is a bit weird because weare in this beautiful setting of
a cathedral and then we put herin front of a blue canvas and
that's actually the best pictureof the entire setting, stripped
down again, just Simone, as sheis, looking at me in front of a
blue canvas and nothing else.
So image to me is also very,very striking.
(29:43):
But I have a couple of them, soif you want to see them, you
really have to see theexhibition where all the images
are going to be life-sized.
So that's going to be veryspectacular.
Metal Maven (29:52):
I know, it's very different looking at photos in a
book versus in-person and biggerthan the normal size, like
full-size.
It's a lot to take in and youactually can get close and see
detail.
Everything looks stunning fromwhat I've seen Tim.
Your work is always veryinspiring and executed
meticulously.
Tim Tronckoe (30:11):
Well, thank you.
Metal Maven (30:11):
A little side note: I work with your band
photography all the time in mywork.
I wanted to thank you forcreating such beautiful art to
integrate into my designs.
It makes my job easier.
Tim Tronckoe (30:22):
It's all my pleasure.
Yeah, I'm happy that you saythat because there are so many,
and I don't want to talk shitabout other photographers, but
there are sometimes magazineswho come to me like,"Hey Tim,
we've just got these new presspictures of this band, but we
can't do anything with itbecause they don't work for our
publishing or for our graphicdesign.
(30:44):
It just doesn't fit the articleor it doesn't fit the cover.
What can you offer us?
Which pictures do you have ofthis band?" And it's always
something that I try to do.
I always try to not only focuson,"Okay how can I make this an
artistically interestingpicture, but also how can this
reflect and how can this work onpaper and magazines and not only
in a beautifully designedbooklet of an album?" So that's
(31:06):
what I always try to do, so I'mvery happy that you say that I
make your work a lot easier.
Not easy like,"Hey, you don'thave to do anything anymore."
But still I make it a lot morechallenging, and a lot more
cool, and cooler for you as wellto really show what you can do
as well.
Metal Maven (31:20):
Yeah, I mean that's the brilliant part of it for me
because you make yourphotography very accessible for
other artists to work with.
And I think it's also, the photois still very powerful, but
again, it's that stripped down–you see the personality of the
band instantly and that's thevisual impact that I want to be
the forefront of my design work.
(31:41):
And you know, every time I get aphoto from you I'm like,"I know
what photo I'm choosing, I knowwhat I'm doing with this."
Tim Tronckoe (31:46):
Okay, cool.
Teamwork, yay!
Metal Maven (31:49):
Collaboration, it always works out great.
Well Tim, I wish you the best ofluck, though everything seems to
have already gone great so farfor this project, and I expect a
wonderful turnout to theexhibition launch party.
Tim Tronckoe (32:00):
Oh, thank you.
Metal Maven (32:02):
Yeah.
Well thank you so much fortaking time out of your day to
talk with me and share yourvision.
Tim Tronckoe (32:08):
Really my pleasure.
It's always cool to share someof my thoughts and it's always
cool to just talk to a friendwho I haven't seen in so many
years.
Metal Maven (32:17):
I know! I hope the next time we chat it's in person
because it's been far too long.
Tim Tronckoe (32:22):
Indeed.
But, you know what, I'll taketoday, you know?
That's good that I can chat withyou.
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (32:30):
For more information on Tim's portraits project and
his exhibition in Ghent,Belgium, open to the public with
free entry beginning September20 until October 12th.
Visit Tim trunko.com visit metalMaven, podcast.com for links to
Tim's social profiles, photos,videos, and read the full
transcript of this interview.
(32:51):
Thanks for tuning in and be sureto subscribe to metal Maven
podcast on Apple, Stitcher,Spotify, and Google.
Welcome to the Metal Maven Podcast where we explore
and discover the process andpassions of artists and the
Metal music and art community.
Metal Maven (00:13):
In episode eight of Metal Maven Podcast, I'm joined
by Belgian international musicand portrait photographer, Tim
Tronckoe.
Welcome Tim, how are you?
Tim Tronckoe (00:23):
Hello there.
I'm very good and you?
Metal Maven (00:26):
Oh, I'm excellent now that I'm chatting with you.
The last time I saw you was 2016at Epic Metal Fest in Tilburg.
Tim Tronckoe (00:34):
Omg, that's a long time ago!
Metal Maven (00:34):
It's been quite awhile, so I'm thrilled t o
catch up with you.
Tim Tronckoe (00:38):
Likewise– absolutely.
Always thrilled.
Metal Maven (00:42):
So let's dive in and discuss your new book
PORTRAITS, which has been verywell received.
All pre-orders are sold out, socongratulations.
Tim Tronckoe (00:53):
Yay, thank you!
Metal Maven (00:53):
I know, right?
That was quick.
What was it– three to four weeksand you were set?
Tim Tronckoe (00:58):
Yeah, it was even a bit less than three weeks I
think, which was incredible.
I could never have anticipatedthat.
I was like,"What just happened?"So it was just amazing.
But all the other peopleinvolved, they will also very
supportive.
They also shared the shit out ofit, so that helped quite a bit,
of course.
Metal Maven (01:14):
Oh, of course it does.
So for those of you listeningwho don't know, PORTRAITS is
Tim's first-ever, limitededition coffee table photography
book.
It's 180 pages of classicalportraits featuring renowned
Hard Rock and Metal musicians.
Tim, conceptually, what was theidea and inspiration behind this
(01:35):
project and how did it manifestinto this brilliant thing?
Tim Tronckoe (01:40):
Well, it all started actually because of my
love for classical art, mainly,and the Hard Rock and Metal
scene.
I love both those worlds.
People always consider it to bea big contrast, like classical
art is old and boring, and thenyou have this Hard Rock scene,
which is very, very mature andvery, very hard, and very to the
(02:03):
core, to the bone.
But actually, I love both worldsbecause I think both have their
aspects that are veryinteresting and they all go back
so many years, and ages, andcenturies.
So, it all started about threeyears ago when I was just
walking through a localexhibition of classical
portraits.
(02:23):
And I was there with myboyfriend, Simon.
We were just going through theexhibition and when we almost
reached the end, we were bothlike,"Hey, why don't we combine
Tim, your work field with thiskind of work– like, all these
classical portraits– and turnyour portraits, the work you do
with the artists in the HardRock scene, why don't we combine
(02:46):
this and find a beautifulsymbiosis for this?" I was like,
"Oh yeah, this could actuallywork." So I did my research of
it and I was very careful, ofcourse, I didn't want to share
anything at that time and Ireally know what to expect.
But then I just wrote to MylesKennedy of Alter Bridge and
Michael Starr of Steel Panther,just to give them the idea, and
(03:10):
to ask them what they thought ofit.
And why did I choose them?
Because I knew they were goingto be in the area in a few weeks
from then and they were open tothe idea, and they welcomed me
to their show in Belgium, inBrussels.
And they told me,"Tim, we cangive you 15 or 20 minutes just
before the show to shoot theportraits.
(03:30):
And when we had taken thoseimages, and I sent them to them,
they were so enthusiastic aboutthem and they both said the same
thing:" Tim if you give yourselfenough time for this, and then
if you turn this into a book,this might be such a unique
thing– this might be such a hugesuccess." So that was exactly
(03:50):
what I did.
And I didn't share this withanyone who was not involved in
the project.
Three years later it proved tobe a huge success and everyone
wanted to be involved in it aswell, so.
Yeah, but the basic idea camefrom my love, my passion for
art, art in its purest form,like the paintings, the music,
(04:11):
combining everything.
And of course, I wanted to dosomething greater than myself– I
wanted to exceed myself– sothat's when the good cause came
came along as well.
Metal Maven (04:21):
So you also with this project wanted to emphasize
the way we perceive and viewmusicians and artists, you know,
in a way we– there's thisadmiration, and worship, and
also seeing them as, you know,rock'n' roll royalty.
Tim Tronckoe (04:37):
True.
Well, yeah, indeed that's true,but that idea only came after a
couple of months.
I think during the first year ofshooting I realized that when I
had done the photo shoot withTarja, I think, where we had
portrayed her as Anne Boleyn.
I saw the pictures, I was like,"Actually, we are portraying
these artists as the way weperceive them, as the way we
(05:00):
look at them.
We put them on a stage in frontof thousands of people and we
admire them just like a King orQueen would, back in the days,
or even nowadays, showthemselves to the audience and
everyone would be in awe lookingat them." And actually, it's a
bit the same way– the samedistance between that person,
who is just a human being, justlike anyone else, we put them on
(05:23):
a stage and they become thispublic property almost that we
admire, and we find inspirationin these people.
And along the way while shootingthese portraits, it was a big
contrast for me, becauseactually by doing that, by
portraying them as royalty in away, I kind of wanted to get
(05:44):
away from the idea, maybe makepeople realize that,"Hey, I am
portraying them as royalty, thepeople we look up to, but
actually, they're just humanbeings of flesh and blood." And,
along the way, I realized thatthat was a cool contrast that I
was implementing into the bookbecause we also have some very
(06:04):
stripped down portraits likemore the Caravaggio and
Rembrandt– they are a lot moremodest, and a lot more sincere,
and a lot more open andvulnerable.
So it was my challenge tocombine both these worlds a bit
and I think we succeeded quitewell in this project.
Metal Maven (06:20):
I could not agree more.
Everything I've seen, so far,looks beautiful.
Tim Tronckoe (06:25):
Thank you.
Metal Maven (06:25):
You're welcome.
Let's transition to thephysical, the actual act of
creating this.
As you said, it was a bit of asecret project, about three
years in the making, is thatcorrect?
Tim Tronckoe (06:34):
That is correct, it was quite a challenge.
Metal Maven (06:37):
And obviously involved a lot of planning and
close attention to detail.
I mean, you had set location,artist scheduling, custom
couture design, and then on topof it, you had video documenting
and so much more.
How did you manage such a largescale project, especially in
regard to your own work scheduleoutside of this with clients as
(06:57):
well as teaching?
Tim Tronckoe (06:59):
Yeah, I am quite a bit of a control freak myself.
But what I love about the thingsI do, is I always surround
myself with a team that I cantotally trust.
And I rely on that team as muchas I can, and that helps a lot
to just get rid of all thestress that I have around it.
But still, I am a control freakand I want to have my planning
(07:20):
there, I want to scheduleeverything myself, I want to
choose my team, want to choosewho I work with.
And keeping it a secret, ofcourse, it's very important
there because that's why Iwanted to work with people I
have already worked with.
So, I was still working for myclients, of course, the bands
who wanted their band picturesfor the new albums, like Tarja,
like all the other bands.
(07:41):
That was also a very good thingbecause I got to work with new
people there and then I couldalso test them a bit like,"Hey,
would you be up to work with mefor this project?" And sometimes
they accepted and sometimes Iwas like,"Hmm, maybe I shouldn't
ask this person because maybethey won't be able to keep their
mouth shut about the project."So I had to take care of a lot
(08:03):
of things and make sure that Isurrounded myself with a good
team of people I could trust.
And that was my starting point.
And then, of course, like yousaid, it just came down to
arranging everything from thesmallest detail because people
don't realize, it's not justpushing a button, it's arranging
everything from location–"Do Ihave a location?
(08:24):
If I don't have a location, Ineed to make myself a location.
Do we need to find that perfectmakeup artist for this, the
perfect hairstylist for this,the perfect person who can
arrange styling and wardrobe forthis project?" Because for the
big photo shoots with Agnetefrom Djerv, with Simone from
(08:45):
Epica, Sharon from WithinTemptation, and so on, we wanted
to make everything from scratchourselves.
So what did I do?
I just, the first thing I didwas months in advance, sometimes
even a year in advance, Ialready went to a show of them
or I asked them,"Could youplease take your measurements?"
Or we sent someone to a show totake their measurements so we
(09:05):
can design their outfits fromscratch.
So it was actually a bit ofcouture that we were doing.
They're not really couturecouture, like every detail
hand-made, but as much aspossible, self-made and made
custom, made for that onevocalist, for that one singer,
because I didn't just want to goto a dress up store or a
(09:27):
carnival store and I just golike,"Hey, we'll just rent a
bunch of outfits that 100 peoplehave already been wearing and
just try the best one on thesepeople.
I wanted to do this the best waypossible, and the most authentic
way possible, and I wanted thisto be unique, and I didn't want
to cut down on anything.
(09:49):
Some people were telling me,"Timis this is getting so expensive,
you must be spending so muchmoney on this." I was like,"I
don't care.
If I do something, I want togive it the absolute best that I
can and I don't want to look atthe cost of it."
Metal Maven (10:04):
Well, it obviously worked out fantastic because
everything looks amazing andyour pre-orders sold out, so...
Tim Tronckoe (10:11):
Yeah, that's the proof of all the hard work.
Yay!
Metal Maven (10:15):
Exactly, I know, right?
I want to transition intotalking about who you are
outside of the music industryand I did want to talk about
your work as a teacher.
Most people view you as only arock photographer, that's all
they know you as, but you alsowork as a– I'm assuming it's the
photography department, right?
Tim Tronckoe (10:35):
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah, that's it exactly.
Metal Maven (10:38):
It's a secondary education arts school in Ghent.
Tim Tronckoe (10:42):
Yeah.
It's actually VISO, actually,that's the way we say it.
Metal Maven (10:45):
Okay.
Reading VISO's missionstatement, the goal of the
school is to create confidentindividuals who can cope with
the constant flow of informationin our rapidly evolving world.
You mentioned in yourexplanation of PORTRAITS that
you're seeing more and morestudents struggling with mental
health, and because of this,benefits from this project will
(11:08):
support PsychoseNet.be.
Tim Tronckoe (11:11):
Yep, Correct.
Metal Maven (11:12):
My next question would be why this charity
specifically, and also, why thiscause for you personally?
Tim Tronckoe (11:20):
Well, I chose this cause– from the start, when I
started the project, I had noidea what kind of good cause I
wanted to support.
I was still thinking about,"Whatis my main interest?
Where do I find myself thebest?" And along the process, I
realized that me as a teacheractually, because I, like you
said, as a teacher, I see somany of my students, or my
(11:41):
pupils, struggling finding whothey are because they are 12,
13, 14, 15-years-old and they'rein that process of finding
themselves, discoveringthemselves.
"Who am I?
What do I want to become?
What do I want to achieve inlife?" And for some of them it's
easier than for others and,those who are struggling, I see
(12:01):
it as my responsibility.
For my colleagues, I see it asour responsibility to– not to
choose it for them but just toguide them the best way possible
and to help them overcome maybetheir anxieties and their
struggles, and not maybe havethem solve that, but support
them in that, and guide themalong that way, because it's a
(12:23):
long way when you're at school.
Most of them are at school morethan they are at home.
So it's a very bigresponsibility and it's
sometimes overlooked a bit, butthe responsibility that teachers
have nowadays with all thesedifferent media and all these
different impulses that allthese young kids get, it's not
easy to be a kid nowadays.
(12:44):
So, I see it as a very importantrole that we are playing in our
modern society, not only tostuff them with knowledge, but
also to get them to where theyshould be, as a stable person in
a not-so-stable society, whichis such a big challenge.
So when I was thinking aboutthat, me as a teacher and as a
(13:07):
photographer, because I have avery big role in there as well,
maybe not as big as in being ateacher, but I really wanted to
support what was very close toheart and it was something in
mental illnesses, and mentalstability, and in mental
healthcare.
And then along the way I waslooking for the best
organization to support becauseI didn't want to support an
(13:28):
organization that's alreadygetting a lot of governmental
support and money, and financesfrom the government.
I didn't want to go for that.
So PsychosisNet–"PsychoseNet" aswe say in Dutch, was, to me, the
best organization because theyare totally independent.
They don't rely on thegovernment– they are just a team
of people who are directly fromthe field, who are experts in
(13:51):
what they do.
There are family members ofpeople who have been through
that process.
So, to me, that was the bestorganization possible to
support.
I felt so much at home therebecause to me, I'm sometimes
also struggling mentally, maybenot as heavily as some of the
people that are at my school,but I find myself so familiar in
(14:15):
this work field that there wasno hesitation whatsoever to
start supporting this.
Metal Maven (14:22):
Well, I understand too, and maybe what prompted you
to look more into this as well,is that while working on this
project, you lost a very closefriend, Jill Janus of the band
Huntress.
Tim Tronckoe (14:33):
Yeah, true, unfortunately.
Metal Maven (14:33):
She suffered from mental health issues and took
her own life and that must havebeen an awful day.
Tim Tronckoe (14:40):
Yeah.
I still remember that day sowell.
I was sitting behind mycomputer, I was just working on
some photos and all of a suddenthat news reached me.
It hadn't been online I thinkyet, but I don't really remember
how it reached me.
And the first thing I did, intrue disbelief, I sent a
WhatsApp message to Jill.
I was like,"Jill, this cannot betrue.
(15:00):
Come on, respond to me now." Andthe response never came.
About a half an hour later, thenews was spread on the Internet,
it was everywhere, that JillJanice was no longer amongst us,
that she had taken her own life.
And that was while I was findingthe right cause to support with
this book, with this project.
It made me realize even morethat that was the decisive
(15:21):
moment for me to go for thisfield to support.
And it was such a horrible dayfor me.
Emotionally, I was devastated,but it had a double feeling.
I was devastated on one hand,but on the other hand I was
like, I had made up my mind,this is what I want to support
(15:42):
and nothing else.
Metal Maven (15:44):
What I would like to know is, if you are able to
have another day with Jill andphotograph her for PORTRAITS,
how would you have portrayedher?
Tim Tronckoe (15:53):
Well, it was all actually already in my mind for
like two years that I would likeJill in this book.
And so that made it even worseto me when when I got the news,
because now I knew,"God, she'snever go even going to make it
to the book," which, it's notthat important that she's not in
the book, but to me it was like,"Damn." I mean, she could have
(16:15):
maybe had her moment one moretime in this book and that
might've been– what we couldhave done.
It's all still a big questionmark to me.
How could we have portrayed herin the most beautiful way
possible?
And I think for her, I probablywould have portrayed her as, not
really as a Queen, but maybe asstill a strong woman, but as a
(16:37):
nowadays woman, maybe strippeddown just a little bit more, and
more to the core.
Maybe a very dark portrait ofher, like I made the portrait of
the guys in Slayer, of someother people in this book, and
just maybe make a very strippeddown, dark portrait of her where
she would be recognizable still,but with some mystery around it.
And I think that would have beenthe best way to portray her
(16:59):
because she was full of mystery.
When she was still so open, whenwe met, she was still such a
good friend, so I would try tofind that balance somewhere and
just make a portrait, like thatrepresented Caravaggio a bit
where he showed people for whatthey are: very dark, very
dramatic, but still this mysteryand still this personal
connection with the portraitthat he made.
(17:20):
So I would probably have had herportrayed that way.
Metal Maven (17:24):
I'm sure she would have loved it.
And I'm glad that you've beenopen to discussing this because
I know it's not something that'seasy to talk about, especially
when it hits so close to home,so thank you.
Tim Tronckoe (17:34):
No, you're welcome.
Metal Maven (17:35):
You've had the privilege and opportunity to
work with amazing artists andcreate wonderful memories with
them, not only for yourself, butfor fans as well.
How did you get to this point,Tim?
Why photography as your mediumto perceive the world around
you?
Tim Tronckoe (17:50):
Well, as a kid I've always been fascinated by
imagery.
First of all, by videos.
As a kid I used to love to makevideos.
I loved to draw.
I was always– because I didn'treally get it from my parents,
because they are not that arts-oriented, but I don't know where
I got it from, but I just lovedlooking at things, and just
(18:12):
making and turning them into myown, and showing people what I
was thinking about, and what myinspiration was, or what I saw
through my eyes.
And because, sometimes it wasvery realistic, sometimes it was
not realistic at all and I justlove to combine these things.
So it started with, and then allof a sudden it started evolving
(18:33):
into music.
I got into music, I startedlistening to Rock, to Pop music,
to Metal.
And then all of a sudden, when Iwas 16, I started combining
photography because when Iattended my first concert, I
took some crappy pictures, butstill, I loved it.
And I didn't really like thepictures at the time, but I just
loved the process of lookingback on to something that had
(18:54):
just happened the night before.
And then looking at it again,and reliving that moment.
So as of that moment, I juststarted going to concerts,
taking live pictures.
But then I was intrigued by whatwas going on behind the scenes
because everyone can seeobviously what's happening on
the stage.
All the photographers are takingthe same pictures.
So I was more intrigued by,"Hey,what's happening behind the
(19:16):
stage?
Who are these people?
Can I get to know them?
How are they, and who are they?
How are they personallyone-to-one?" So that's when I
decided to dive into the fieldof taking that portrait right
before stage time, and havingthis short connection with that
artist.
And that opened my eyes and,because of my work, that opened
(19:39):
so many doors.
Labels and managers opened doorsto me and they welcomed me
amongst their band to spend somemore time with them to choose
their pictures.
And yeah, I was able tosometimes just get carte blanche
and they came to me like,"Tim,we need new pictures.
How would you see our newimagery?
How would you see our newpictures?" And it's so cool to
(20:00):
be part of that.
And the biggest example of thatis the new pictures that I was
able to do with Tarja.
Tarja is such a greatinspiration to me, but last time
we saw each other, she mentionedas well that I am a great
inspiration to her as well.
And that moment that made alittle click in my mind like,
"Hey, I am an inspiration tosomeone I've been looking up to
(20:22):
for so many years." And that wasso cool because she was actually
listening to me and to the ideasthat I had.
And it made it such a greatturning point in my career.
Like the new pictures we did forher new album, In the Raw, we
had been talking about this ideafor such a long time and I was
so proud that we, as a team,were able to pull this off
(20:44):
actually because if we discussedthe idea where we're like,"Hey,
we're going to shoot in a cave."The main thing I was thinking
about,"Okay, how do I need toput the lights in?" I mean it's
a cave.
"How do I want to portray her inthis cave?" Because it's such a
stripped down situation, such astripped down scenery, and I
want to portray her the mostbeautiful way I've ever
(21:05):
portrayed her.
And in the end, we were able tosucceed in doing that and it all
came together.
And when doing that, I realizedthat,"Hey, as a kid of 10, 11-
years-old, how would that kidhave reacted to that idea?
Like,"Hey Tim, when you aregoing to be 28, 29 you're going
to be doing that kind ofproject." I would probably have
(21:27):
lost my mind back then because Icould not have imagined it.
But because of the process thatI've had throughout all these
years, that had led up to thatmoment, I realized I needed
those years to evaluate my ownprocess and evaluate my own way
of thinking about things andseeing things.
And I think when I see theresults, I'm just so proud of
(21:48):
it.
Metal Maven (21:49):
Well, see how far curiosity can take you just
experimenting with things, andevolving, and trying to
understand how other people liveand how other people, in your
case with musicians, perform andwho they are back stage?
It's really, really interestingto see where you began and where
you are at this point.
Now that we've discussed thepast, let's talk about the
(22:09):
future.
There will be a publicexhibition of your work for
PORTRAITS as well, beginning theday after this podcast is
released on Saturday, September28th.
Now, I don't want to botch thepronunciation of this, so I'm
going to let you say it.
It's in your hometown of Ghent.
Tim Tronckoe (22:26):
So it is in Ghent, it's in my hometown, where I
live, because I wanted to do ithere in my hometown of Ghent.
The location is called theDrongenhofkapel, which is just a
chapel, which is called theDrongenhof because it's a
medieval chapel, totallystripped down.
There's nothing, there are nofacilities.
So that was very cool to mebecause so many of the big photo
(22:46):
shoots for this book were alldone in my hometown because
again, it's a medieval city.
It's one of the oldest cities ofBelgium, if not Europe, which
still has a big medieval castleright in the city center.
It's actually very close to thecastle.
I did the photo shoot withCharlotte of Delain, I did in
Ghent.
(23:07):
I shot Agnete from Djerv inGhent, in the photo studio then.
I shot Alissa from Archenemy inGhent.
So, it was so meaningful for meto do it in my own hometown.
And I found this location whichwas so stripped down, so, naked
actually– it's like a blankcanvas, which I was able to just
(23:28):
put everything in there the wayI wanted and I could just
decorate it the way I wanted it.
So I wanted this oldenvironment, this old location,
with this very modern exhibitionin there.
So, a very big white wall withall the works, and that contrast
to me was so striking that I waslike,"I need to go for that one.
(23:50):
That's going to be the locationand nothing else, so I can just
make it my own." So it'sstarting the 28th of September,
and we start on the 27th with abig launch of course with the
press, and the people who I'veinvited who have been part of
this project.
And then the 28th we're startingand it lasts up until the 12th
of October, so it's not thatlong because I wanted to make it
(24:11):
short and fierce, but it's goingto be really beautiful.
So people who come to theexhibition can actually make a
full day trip out of it becauseGhent is such a beautiful
historical city which has somuch to offer.
Metal Maven (24:24):
I understand that there's going to be life-size
versions of your photographs andit seems like you found the
perfect canvas to display themon.
Now that I know more about thelocation, you know, it's very
personal for you obviouslybecause it's in your hometown,
it has this medieval settingwhich pairs well with the theme
(24:45):
of the work.
What should people expect to seewhen they visit?
Tim Tronckoe (24:49):
When they enter, I think they will be blown away
basically by how big thelocation is and what I've done
with it because I don't want tomake it like this very
theatrical exhibition, I justwant to bring it down to the
core and here are the pictures–just look at them, look at the
life-size pictures and justabsorb what they tell you, what
(25:11):
these images are telling you.
And I didn't want to add toomuch text to it, I just wanted
to let the images speak forthemselves and I think when
people will see the actualexhibition, they should all be,
I think they will all be, a bitin awe.
But I just wanted it be a verypersonal experience, and I want
everyone just to experience itin their own way.
(25:32):
And I think if somebody exitsthe exhibition and tells me,
"Tim, I've been able to seesomething which I've seen in the
book, but also something whichwas not in the book." If they
recognize that, because that'sgoing to be the case– there are
going to be things, elements,pictures that are not going to
be in the book and then whenthey get the full package, I
think that's going to be mybiggest success.
Metal Maven (25:51):
That's, that's interesting to know.
I didn't realize that it wasgoing to be other photos that
weren't included in your book.
So, all right guys, you got toget there if you're in Ghent–
it's a must visit.
Tim Tronckoe (26:04):
I hope so!
Metal Maven (26:04):
Another question I have for you is, and I know it
can be a difficult one because Iknow you love everybody that you
work with, but, do you have afavorite portrait?
Tim Tronckoe (26:12):
Well, I'm just moving through my own hallway
here of my home because we haveeverything displayed over here
like in small size, how theexhibition is going and what the
exhibition is going to looklike.
We have it all over here.
I just put everything on thewall here, like smaller.
So I'm just looking at theimages right now and I'm just
looking at them, I'm wonderingwhich of the photos shoots, like
(26:33):
the light, which photo shoot didit all come together that I have
the feeling like,"This is it.
Here, we have exactly what weneed." And I have a couple of
examples, I think.
I think Mina from Life of Agony,when we shot her pictures it was
like in 10 minutes at afestival, but she has this one
picture where she's justportrayed so beautifully, you
(26:53):
can still see the veins on herarms, in her hands, and then
she's got this very, verysincere and very, very serene
look in her face.
And when we shot that pictureand when I put it on my computer
and I printed it, that was thefirst image where I was like,
"God, this is such a cool,picture, which tells such a cool
(27:16):
story, which is such a personalpicture." But then when I'm
looking further back, I see thepicture of Alissa in her
beautiful blue dress.
It's one of the last picturesthat we made during the one-day
photo shoot where we just wentup to the Chinese salon of this
beautiful Rococo house here inthe city of Ghent, and it was
the last picture that we took ofher in front of this beautiful
(27:38):
wallpaper.
And that picture just pops.
She just like jumps out of thepicture, it's unreal when you
look at it.
So it's going to beone of thecentral pieces in the exhibition
as well.
And when I saw the picture, itjust shows everything that I
wanted to show in this portrait,like the classical way that
Alissa is in the picture, butstill she shows who she really
(27:58):
is.
She doesn't lose her trueidentity.
She doesn't lose who she is, shedoesn't lose what she stands
for.
And I think that is a verystriking picture because the
light, of course, has to beperfect.
The outfit has to be perfect,the pose has to be perfect.
And I think in an image likethat, everything really, really
came together.
I'm just looking at the otherpictures that I have and they
(28:20):
all have this element becausewhen I was choosing these
pictures, I had about 100 or 200pictures to choose from and it's
like I needed to bring it downto like how many pictures?
About 60 or 70 pictures for theexhibition.
So it was like killing my ownchildren.
So I had to go for thesepictures that were striking to
me in one way or another.
(28:40):
So I think they all have that.
But I think that picture ofAlissa and that picture of Mina
have that– I don't know if Ilook at it, I just keep looking
at, it's still, even a yearafter we've made that picture.
And we also have this picture ofSimone.
Simone is in this very bigElizabethan white dress designed
(29:01):
by my wonderful boyfriend, bythe way, I have to give him some
credit.
And she was in this bigcathedral here in Ghent, and in
this one picture we just put herin front, not in the actual
cathedral setting, but just infront of a beautiful plain blue
canvas, painted canvas, andshe's just looking over her
shoulder a bit into the camera.
(29:21):
And that was the most strikingimage, which is so cool and
which is a bit weird because weare in this beautiful setting of
a cathedral and then we put herin front of a blue canvas and
that's actually the best pictureof the entire setting, stripped
down again, just Simone, as sheis, looking at me in front of a
blue canvas and nothing else.
So image to me is also very,very striking.
(29:43):
But I have a couple of them, soif you want to see them, you
really have to see theexhibition where all the images
are going to be life-sized.
So that's going to be veryspectacular.
Metal Maven (29:52):
I know, it's very different looking at photos in a
book versus in-person and biggerthan the normal size, like
full-size.
It's a lot to take in and youactually can get close and see
detail.
Everything looks stunning fromwhat I've seen Tim.
Your work is always veryinspiring and executed
meticulously.
Tim Tronckoe (30:11):
Well, thank you.
Metal Maven (30:11):
A little side note: I work with your band
photography all the time in mywork.
I wanted to thank you forcreating such beautiful art to
integrate into my designs.
It makes my job easier.
Tim Tronckoe (30:22):
It's all my pleasure.
Yeah, I'm happy that you saythat because there are so many,
and I don't want to talk shitabout other photographers, but
there are sometimes magazineswho come to me like,"Hey Tim,
we've just got these new presspictures of this band, but we
can't do anything with itbecause they don't work for our
publishing or for our graphicdesign.
(30:44):
It just doesn't fit the articleor it doesn't fit the cover.
What can you offer us?
Which pictures do you have ofthis band?" And it's always
something that I try to do.
I always try to not only focuson,"Okay how can I make this an
artistically interestingpicture, but also how can this
reflect and how can this work onpaper and magazines and not only
in a beautifully designedbooklet of an album?" So that's
(31:06):
what I always try to do, so I'mvery happy that you say that I
make your work a lot easier.
Not easy like,"Hey, you don'thave to do anything anymore."
But still I make it a lot morechallenging, and a lot more
cool, and cooler for you as wellto really show what you can do
as well.
Metal Maven (31:20):
Yeah, I mean that's the brilliant part of it for me
because you make yourphotography very accessible for
other artists to work with.
And I think it's also, the photois still very powerful, but
again, it's that stripped down–you see the personality of the
band instantly and that's thevisual impact that I want to be
the forefront of my design work.
(31:41):
And you know, every time I get aphoto from you I'm like,"I know
what photo I'm choosing, I knowwhat I'm doing with this."
Tim Tronckoe (31:46):
Okay, cool.
Teamwork, yay!
Metal Maven (31:49):
Collaboration, it always works out great.
Well Tim, I wish you the best ofluck, though everything seems to
have already gone great so farfor this project, and I expect a
wonderful turnout to theexhibition launch party.
Tim Tronckoe (32:00):
Oh, thank you.
Metal Maven (32:02):
Yeah.
Well thank you so much fortaking time out of your day to
talk with me and share yourvision.
Tim Tronckoe (32:08):
Really my pleasure.
It's always cool to share someof my thoughts and it's always
cool to just talk to a friendwho I haven't seen in so many
years.
Metal Maven (32:17):
I know! I hope the next time we chat it's in person
because it's been far too long.
Tim Tronckoe (32:22):
Indeed.
But, you know what, I'll taketoday, you know?
That's good that I can chat withyou.
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (32:30):
For more information on Tim's portraits project and
his exhibition in Ghent,Belgium, open to the public with
free entry beginning September20 until October 12th.
Visit Tim trunko.com visit metalMaven, podcast.com for links to
Tim's social profiles, photos,videos, and read the full
transcript of this interview.
(32:51):
Thanks for tuning in and be sureto subscribe to metal Maven
podcast on Apple, Stitcher,Spotify, and Google.
Popular Podcasts
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.