About

Hello world,

I am Tobias Groenland. Freelance Photographer based in Amsterdam. I’m focused on new technology, digitalisation, and innovation. My style in photography is autonomous and corporate. I create my own projects, or work to visualise your stories.

Tobias Groenland on the beach at Gretek Bali 2016
Tobias Groenland on the beach at Gretek Bali 2016

My work consists of abstract and industrial photography, and my main subjects revolve around themes such as digital safety, security, and awareness. Through these images I’m trying to pose questions about our blind reliance on technology. 

The inspiration for my work comes from a variety of media including Twitter, Newspapers, Blogs, E-books on technology, and scifi movies. I am attempting to visualize the unseen and unknown side of this digital world, which so fundamentally influences the way we life.

To make the abstract tangible, I would like to make the viewer aware of the ways digital systems are ruling our lives and of the looming dangers of the dominance of technology. In my photography, I use unexpected objects to visualize this hidden world of codes. With my images, I aim to symbolize how our systems become more like humans while humans tend to become more like machines.

My work has been obtained by both private collectors and public institutions like The Dutch House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer) in The Hague. My “Digital Awareness Campaign” was not only commissioned by the Tweede Kamer,  but was selected to be included in their archives preserving fine-art prints for future generations.

Furthermore, my images have been used for book covers, websites, brochures, and campaigns.

I studied photography at The Royal Academy of Arts in The Hague where I graduated with a project called “Connected – The Age of Connectivity”, which was a visualization of the digital world by means of plants and flowers.

My fascination for these topics, however, goes back even further to my studies at the Graphic School of Arts in Rotterdam, where I specialized in design & technology. 

For my graduation there, my team-mates and I, created  a video-based platform that instructed people on building their own websites.  Completing this in 2006, we were one of the first to use online platforms to provide home-made, or do-it-yourself educational content signalling the now worldwide trend.

This combination of creative multimedia studies and photography laid the foundation for my unique style of photography, as well as for specificity of my topics. My independent and corporate photography are best visible in my portfolio.

I’m represented by De Beeldunie agency in Amsterdam and use the terms and conditions of the Dutch Professional Photographers association or in short Dupho.

Education

Although I’m learning every day, my roots are…

  • 2006 – 2010
    KABK: Bachelor of Design in Photography from the Royal Academy of Arts,
    The Hague, The Netherlands
  • 2002 – 2006
    Graphic School of Arts Rotterdam, Design & Technology, Creative Multimedia
  • 2002 – and before
    Vrije School

Projects

At the moment, I’m working on the following projects.

  • tobiasgroenland.nl | Photography portfolio website.
    Creative images inspired by technology, digitalisation, and innovation.