Ruimteschip Aarde
Wildlife unit
October, 2023. “The opening film of WFFR ’23, Our Nature – The Wild Belgium, is an ambitious nature documentary about the nature in the backyard of Belgium. Beautiful stories about familiar and unfamiliar animals that inspire wonder and increase love and respect for the nature of our neighboring country. This is the story of the winners, the opportunists, the fighters, the clever ones, the bosses. But also of the losers and the species that we may not encounter anymore in a few years… Survival of the fittest, in its most brutal and fascinating form, in a land where at first glance there seems to be no space for that wild nature.” Source wffr.nl.
February, 2023. In KRO-NCRV’s new documentary series Ruimteschip Aarde, you’ll get a different view of the world, and the Netherlands, together with André Kuipers. From space, André Kuipers, naturalists and stunning nature images take you on a magical journey of discovery. And experience how beautiful but also fragile our planet is.
February, 2023. ‘Onze Natuur, de film’ emerged as the winner in the Best Documentary (Film) category. This not only serves as a remarkable and valuable recognition for the entire team’s hard work, but also provides a significant boost for the exquisite yet vulnerable Belgian nature.
January, 2023. After the cinema success of Onze Natuur, the Movie, VRT and Hotel Hungaria are bringing wild Belgium even closer with the long-awaited documentary series on Canvas and VRT MAX.
December, 2022. Hotel Hungaria: “A quarter of a million Belgians have already seen the documentary on the big screen, a great result for a Belgium made film.
March, 2022. A 4-star review in the Volkskrant (newspaper). Kevin Toma: “Cameraman Dick Harrewijn’s images are among the most hallucinatory in Dutch cinema.”
October, 2021. The film ‘Silence of the Tides’ has been nominated in two categories for a prestigious award, the Gouden Kalf: one for Best Feature Documentary and one for Best Sound Design. The outcome of these nominations will be revealed on Friday evening during the film festival in Utrecht.
For this series, I accompanied the Najade, a flat-bottomed boat, on a journey for the Kampioen (ANWB). Together with forest ranger Arjen Postma, we ventured to one of the wildest locations in the Netherlands: the Wadden Sea. We departed at night, stranded on a sandbank, and at sunrise, we set out to explore emerging mussel banks in the most dynamic area of our country. Thus, this flat-bottomed boat offers a remarkable nature experience to those who have come on board.
The area stretches from Den Helder in the Netherlands to Esbjerg in Denmark. It has a length of 500 km of coastline and a width of only twenty kilometers on average. It’s area is as much as 10,000 square kilometers, and about 7,500 square kilometers is depending on the tides.
This series was created for the The Champion in issue 01/2022.
For National Geographic, I had the opportunity to create a series about the traditional ‘wilsterflappen’. In the past, these were used for consuming various types of meadow birds. Nowadays, only a handful of permits have been issued to wilsterflappers who utilize their skills for scientific purposes. The NIOZ conducts scientific research on these birds and, through this trapping method, attaches transmitters to the backs of the Rosse grutto birds. The transmitter never exceeds 5% of the body weight, ensuring that the bird does not experience any disadvantages.
The use of state-of-the-art transmitters allows scientists to watch the behaviour of the Bar-tailed godwit. They ultimately tell a story about global warming, but also about our dealings with the Wadden Sea and our pastures as well. Because of a solar panel on the transmitter, the tagged Bar-tailed godwit can provide scientists with information for a very long time. That information is essential to the survival of this species.
This series was posted in National Geopgrahic 09/2022 with text by Rob Buiter.
The Netherlands is built full of high ways. It crosses all kinds of natural areas and more and more asphalt is being added in the past few years. Wildlife viaducts simultaneously reconnect those areas, but despite our good efforts, fragmentation occurs. More and more animals are losing habitat as a result. Happily, this is just not true for all species. Along highways, nature sometimes develops. For example: at both sides of the A1 highway. Asian water buffalo have been given a place there. In addition, some animals do not care about highways, such as the red ant and the stork.
For the Kampioen, I went to see how nature is doing around highways. I went out looking for insects, birds and mammals in places where we drive by at 70 mph. Those who look closely will find another piece of nature there, and perhaps we can arrange it in a way that biodiversity actually increases. For example: flowery roadsides and nesting opportunities for birds. In doing so, we may be able to create a new type of habitat and increase opportunities for beetles, bees, storks, rare martens and ants.
This series was created for the De Kampioen in issue 06/2022.
The number of geese wintering and breeding in the Netherlands have increased dramatically in recent years. As a nature lover, I loved seeing this, but during my studies I found out that too many geese also bring problems. Farmers in particular suffer greatly from the large flocks of birds: they eat the crops and pedal the land. In my opionion, this contradiction is very interesting. For where the geese thrive on our soil, we do everything we can to map and regulate their numbers. For this series, I have looked over the shoulder of hunters, farmers, scientists and others involved, to portray this tension.
Groene camera, jury report: “In this series we see how humans battle the large population of geese in our country. A wealth that is by no means appreciated by everyone. Again and again, man invents ways to limit nuisance from geese. From shucking eggs, gassing, setting up special refuge areas to directly shooting them. Eventually, many end up on a chef’s table. The series takes us through the various methods of control, but the photographer does not pass judgment. With his objective way of recording, he leaves it to the viewer to form his own opinion.”
This series was named a winner at the Groene Camera in 2020.
From an early age, Jeffrey has had a passion for nature and photography. Growing up, he spent a lot of time in the Veluwe and always carried a camera with him. This passion for nature naturally led to an interest in ecology combined with photography and film. Consequently, he pursued a degree in forest and nature management at Wageningen University. During his studies, Jeffrey collaborated on the film ‘WILD’, which showcased the beauty of the Veluwe. Following that, he received a year-long mentorship at National Geographic and started working as a camera assistant on ‘Silence of the tides’. The world of nature filmmaking has captivated him ever since, leading him to work on projects such as ‘Our Nature’, ‘Spaceship Earth’, and ‘The Wild North Sea’, which perfectly align with Jeffrey’s interests and ambitions.
Jeffrey works primarily on nature film projects for cinema or television. There he works as a cameraman and second unit or as a camera assistant on the larger shoots. He has experience with long lens, high performance cameras (Sony Venice, FX9, FX6, Varicam), drones (Mavic 3, Inspire 2), timelapse, gimbals (Movi Pro, DJI RS2 & RS3), macro (probe or extereme macro), jibs, sliders and slow-motion (phantom flex). There is always a chance to go out and film in nature, whether it is raining, snowing or when it is 45 degrees in summer. In addition, Jeffrey has a converted van that can provide the set with coffee, heat (heater), coolness (air conditioning) or a good amount of power (for drones and camera batteries).
The Ensor’s ‘Best documentary film’: Onze Natuur (2022)
Feb. 2023 – Camera assistant and 2nd unit
250,000+ visitors to ‘Onze Natuur’ the movie.
December 2022 – Camera assistant and 2nd unit
Nomination for a Gouden Kalf ‘Best Documentary’ with Silence of the Tides (2021)
October 2021 – Camera assistant
Natourale: Best Film for Silence of the Tides (2021)
December 2020 – Camera assistant
Groene Camera: nature photographer of the year (2020)
September 2020 – Photographer