He fell for documentary photography in his late twenties and applied for an internship at Amsterdam-based daily newspaper Het Parool. He also worked for Dutch newspapers de Volkskrant and NRC Handelsblad. He has won four Silver Camera press photo awards in The Netherlands, among others for his black and white portrait of the poet Simon Vinkenoog. In 2015, he was awarded the Belgian Nikon Press Prize for the portrait of fellow photographer Anton Corbijn, made for newspaper De Morgen.