read the story at leoerken.substack.com In English and Ukrainian.

read the story at leoerken.substack.com English and Ukrainian.

When I was young and foolish I went to countries in trouble as a photojournalist. Now I know better and started working together with amazing talented people on the spot. New media, new ways of working. See my short film and please read my longer story.

Substack over de erfenis van het medium fotografie.

Behind the scenes of the creation process of our new VR The March. (expected early 2026) Travel with us to Kharkiv, Ukraine and meet the fantastic artist children of Aza Nizi Maza. Use headphones to enjoy the incredible music by Frieda and her band.

Вдома

Meet Daryna and Kristina, superstar artists of Aza Nizi Maza, Kharkiv, Ukraine. The March VR.

I'm in Kharkiv, Ukraine working on a chapter of our nl12.lab VR project The March. We are creating it together with the hugely talented young artists at Azi Nizi Maza who did not stop working when war interupted their lives. The children work nearly every day in the 'save' basement of the studio.

Amsterdam today. Stand with Ukraine.

My father, Leo Erken, would have been 100 years old today... miss him dearly...

A great shout out to the wonderful people @iffr.bsky.social Rotterdam. We presented our VR project The March for 4 days during the Darkroom sessions. @maioa.bsky.social Olga Starostina and Frieda Gustavs.

A walk inside our vr the March @iffr.bsky.social Rotterdam Darkroom spotlight. Proud!

If this isn't enough to freak everybody the fuck out, I do not know what else will.

Here's the speech if you haven't heard it. 13 minutes of your time. Share it with your American friends and neighbours, because they won't see it otherwise. Circulate it in Mexico and Denmark, France and the UK, Panama and Germany, Poland and Estonia, and especially -- especially -- Ukraine.

I honestly believe our most powerful position in a toxic time that feeds on cynicism, apathy,& despair is to genuinely care and act for a better world. Cynicism is our enemy. We should check it, incl. on the left. It’s not intellectually superior. It’s the virus they’re trying to infect us with. NO

Don't miss the amazing installation 'Otherworlds' by @sophiabulgakova.bsky.social @iffr.bsky.social Rotterdam.

We are working on a huge virtual reality project: The March a vr about the culture of war. Next week we will present our first 5 scenes at IFFR Rotterdam in the Darkroom program.

A new scene in our vr in progress The March starts with an object. The March a vr about war. www.nl12.nl