NMU 2020 alumnus Simon Berghoef is featured in a June profile in SNOWBOARD Magazine for his Midwest action photography, which focuses on snowboarding, lake surfing and skateboarding. Berghoef is from Grand Haven. He said he found his niche documenting and photographing the snowboarding runs of friends he had shredded with, and cemented his love for the medium in high school classes before pursuing a BFA with a photography concentration at NMU.
“My [NMU] adviser/photo professor was phenomenal,” Berghoef said in an interview. “She really pushed me to think differently and shoot out of my comfort zone. And having access to a professional studio and darkroom was super sick. I also really enjoyed learning about the classic paintings and other art mediums. I think that really helped widen my inspiration, not only for photography, but with page layout and general design.
“A big thing that helped was the critiques–having multiple viewpoints about our work. I definitely wish I learned more in depth about the business side of things and ways of getting more clients in today's world. Most of my buddies were also in art school, but different mediums, so that was also sick, to be around so many different ideas and thought processes.”
Berghoef is currently working a nine-to-five job in Michigan but enjoyed the snowfall the UP had this past winter, saying that he's been “extremely productive” photo-wise. He's currently working on putting all of his photos from the past season into a 30 page magazine and expects it to be out by mid-summer of this year.
The introduction to the Q&A with Berghoef in the magazine, written by Mark Clavin, reads: “With artificial intelligence and global warming breathing down our necks, who knows how long snowboard photography is going to survive! Didn't think that was going to be the opening sentence did you? Well, hopefully it sticks around for awhile, because up-and-coming photographers like Simon Berghoef deserve a shot at some recognition and to get on some trips, because as you could guess, he is pretty damn good. There is no real standard way to break into the business anymore, so Berghoef is kind of blazing his own trail while learning from those that have come before him and just diving in.
Read the full “In Focus” profile here. View Berghoef's work on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/simonberghoef/.
