Our friend photographer Isabella Rozendaal (1983) can be considered a remarkable young lady. While other young female photographers might prefer creating pretty little shots of their gorgeous friends eating gorgeous cupcakes while wearing gorgeous gowns, Isabella likes to do practice her skills a little different. For example, she has an extraordinary fascination for hunting and travels to all sorts of foreign places to depict local hunting scenes, she even took a course and is now qualified to take the rifle in her own hand. In this issue of BLEND magazine you’ll encounter a 16-page shoot of Isabella’s hunting trip in Louisiana, United States. Besides this ongoing project, Isabella has just presented her new book called En Masse, How Holland Holidays. Mainly shot in French and Spanish beach resorts, En Masse shows you the characteristics of proper Dutch families on their yearly holidays in an honest and humorous way. Read a little Q&A about Isabella’s book and fascinations below.

Where did your fascination for the Dutch on holiday start?
‘As a Dutch child I used to go on holidays with my family as well and I’d always wonder why it was that one could recognize a Dutch family in an instant. Dutch people tend to all do the same thing during their well-deserved summer holidays; they’re not looking for new perspectives, new cultures or adventure, they just like to relax and enjoy a comfortable stay at home away from home. As long as the sun is shining, there’s plenty of Dutch food from home and the kids are able to play with their Dutch friends everyone is having a nice time.’

You’ve captured a series of intimate moments. How did you manage to comfort the people in the picture?
‘Actually, that part wasn’t too difficult. I just travelled around and set up my tent on camping sites that attract a lot Dutch families. I would stroll around and just start talking to a family, explain what I was doing and hang around with them. After spending some time they’d usually let me do my work. Sometimes they didn’t even notice I was photographing them anymore. Some pictures turned out pretty funny and some are really intimate and sweet, sharing key family moments such as a mother reading a bedtime story to her kids.’

What are your plans for 2011?
‘Next year, I’d like to continue with my other series on hunting. I’m planning to shoot in several places all over the world such as England, Colorado and Wyoming in the US and Saudi Arabia. I’d also like to focus more on writing, therefore I started studying English at the University of Amsterdam.’

Isabella Rozendaal \ En Masse
Available here.