photo Tyler Stalman - http://www.stalman.com

Let’s go English! The first post of this new area of the blog is dedicated to the great Dutch photographer Ivar Teunissen (iStock membername: ivar). Ivar is a great man, full of energy and crazy ideas, he is also working as inspector for iStockphoto and worked as creative director during some of the previous iStockalypses. I had the honor to have Ivar as Team Leader during the iStockalypse in Istanbul and for me this has been a moment of great inspiration.

Hi Ivar, thanks for accepting my invitation, it is awesome to begin the English area with you. Please tell me a little bit more about you and your professional activity in the “real world”.

- First of all, thanks for having me Giorgio. It’s a honor be the first one in your English section! In my everyday life I try to be a good boy, stay out of trouble and live a normal life. But somehow this keeps on failing so I set up a little business called “I am Ivar” that allows me to try and use the excuse that it’s all for the sake of creativity. It helps…sometimes…

Some weeks ago I read on Twitter about your idea of becoming a Creative Director, do you plan to hire photographers and develop stories with them? What is your plan? It sounds exciting…

- The idea is to hook up with the most inspiring creatives and try to take over the world by creating all kinds of beautiful things, be it imagery, knitted underwear or the new design for toilet paper. But as a start, I’ll try and focus on photography. At the moment ideas are coming faster than I can shoot them, and I would love to see them become reality. What good is an idea if it isn’t brought to life?

You are also going to Canada and US in the next weeks, any plans connected with photography or is it just a holiday?

- Best thing of our job is that we’re able to combine work and holidays. But the biggest reason for this trip is that my friend Tyler Stalman (www.stalman.com) is getting married!

You are a member since January 2003… that is long time ago. How did you discover iStockphoto in that era?

- Ooh wow, that is a long time indeed! I stumbled upon iStockphoto while looking for images during a design class and used some imagery and thought it could be a nice place to share some of my snapshots. I still remember the people in my class laughing at me when I was more than happy to have sold an image and earned $0.10. A lot has changed since then, except for the fact that they’re still laughing. But now it’s about crazy moments during my trips all over the world. iStockphoto really changed my life in an unforeseen way.

In the last 7 years I guess you have seen big changes on iStock. What do you think are the biggest changes we had in these years?

- This is a difficult question, I think there are a couple of changes that made a really big impact on iStockphoto and how the world sees iStockphoto. For example like the iStockalypse / minilypse program, but also more recently the Vetta collection. And of course we shouldn’t forget the forometer

You are a great photographer, but man… you look a little bit lazy on iStock, you have just 276 images online. Do you have any plans to upload more images  or maybe you have a special strategy that we don’t understand?

- Your numbers are old, I’ve been really, really busy uploading and am at 280 images now. No seriously, I’ve always been very protective over the quality of my brand. This includes my iStockphoto portfolio. But I’m working hard on creating more quality images. So let’s make a bet. If I’ll make it to 350 by the end of the year, you buy the beers…if I won’t, I will.

You are also an inspector, what do you think is the best thing a newbie can do in the first period on iStock?

- If you get rejections, please do not see them as negative critique. We’re trying to show you how you could improve your photography. If you take them as positive feedback, there is a lot to be learned in a short period of time.

Do you have any funny story about the inspection work (I know this is a hidden world with special agents and lot of dangerous secrets, but maybe you are brave enough…)?

- Haha I can’t risk losing my trigger finger over this so I’ll stick to what I think is the best thing of the inspection team; solid friendships. We communicate on a daily base and get to know each other even without meeting face to face. But once we do meet face to face, it feels as if we’ve been hanging out since we were in kindergarten, it’s seriously crazy. It’s a group of beautiful people with lots of passion for what they do and I’m proud to be part of it.

You are usually one of the art directors during the iStockalypse, did you take part in many Lypses? Where? What is your favorite Lypse so far?

- Hard to say which one is my favourite, they’re all special in their own way. I can say that the best thing for me about any ‘lypse is meeting up with old and new friends. Nothing beats sharing your passion in some of the best locations on the world. Seeing the sunset from a balcony in Buenos Aires, overlooking Istanbul from a rooftop, boating through the beautiful waters around Malta or dancing in the rain during a thunderstorm in Austin and so on…it really is hard picking one that is the best.

Canon or Nikon? Windows or Mac? Pizza or Pasta? Wide angle or Tele? Daylight or Night?

- At the moment Canon. Both Windows & Mac. Pasta or if the pizza is better, the pizza. 24-70. Both, totally depends on the situation.

What is your favorite keyword?

- Geek

Who are your favorite iStock photographers?

- Oooh no, another question with too many answers haha Maybe it’s easier to link to my lightbox filled with personal favourites:

http://www.istockphoto.com/file_search.php?action=file&lightboxID=1576336

Describe iStockphoto with one word!

- Passion

Where the hell can we find you? Links, addresses, phone number for the italian girls, websites, social media! Anything!

- Look in to the mirror at midnight and say “I am Ivar” seven times. Or if that doesn’t work check:

• http://www.iamivar.nl
• http://www.facebook.com/iamivar
• http://www.twitter.com/iamivar

Thanks a lot for spending your time with us, it is a great pleasure to have you on the blog, I am totally honored! I wish you the best for your future and I hope to see ya soon!

- Thanks again for asking me Giorgio! And indeed, see you soon, some time, some place. Maybe then you can help me make up my mind on the pizza vs pasta debate once and for all.