Paul van Riel ( Amsterdam, 1948) publishes his first portfolio in 1968. Travels and works extensively in the Americas in late sixties and early seventies. In New York he irregularly works as a trainee-assistant photographer in 1970-1971. At home and abroad shoots jazz concerts and studio recordings for newspapers and music magazines. Joins Dutch professional photographers’ association GKf in 1975. Between 1974 and 1990 photographs over 1.000 Prêt-à-Porter and Haute Couture fashion shows and related events in Paris and Milan for international publications and operates a (fashion) studio in Amsterdam. Travel assignments continue all that time (and up to this moment) for magazines and newspaper supplements, sponsored media, corporate publications. After an eight year stint with Paris based photo agency Gamma, in 1985 he signs up with Black Star (New York) which provides him with regular assignments for Fortune Magazine, BusinessWeek, The New York Times, Wine Spectator. Asian subject matter ( and especially Japanese) dominate Van Riel’s assignment calendar since 1978 and he regularly exhibits his personal projects in Dutch and Japanese galleries and musea ( for details see www.paulvanriel.com). A Pacific - Asia travel promotion body requests his presence (1980-2005) to cover their annual conference, travel mart in a plethora of locations from Bali to Beijing, Los Angeles to Delhi. This enables him to build a vast library of images of exotic cultures in the South Pacific and along the Pacific Rim. Recent assigments for National Geographic magazine ( Neth/Bel) took him to Japan for a story on Dutch/Japanese diplomatic and cultural relations and Amsterdam, where he immersed himself in the world of classic music, shooting a story about the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra being named ‘Best orchestra in the world’. His affiliation with Dutch stock agent Hollandse Hoogte started in 1986 and continues until this day. Paul van Riel lives in an Amsterdam suburb, very conveniently located near Schiphol International airport, with his (Japanese) wife and two children aged 20 and 17.
