From fashion to travel photography: Cuno de Bruin's journey across different worlds

"My dream was to do cover shoots for Vogue, but after a couple of years I let that go."

Cuno de Bruin's journey into professional travel photography began in a very different place. After graduating from Amsterdam's Photo Academy in 2011, where he focused on fashion and commercial photography, he spent around six years shooting for fashion brands and working as a graphic designer. He particularly enjoyed collaborating with startups and small brands, he says: "It was great to help guide them towards a certain style." Cuno also worked with established names, including Dutch fashion label McGregor and Tommy Hilfiger.

"I loved it – but it just wasn't my world," he admits.

A trip to Japan in 2018 planted the seed of inspiration. "I totally found my thing in travel photography and documenting people and places," he says. "I was there with my wife, so I had to find a balance between having a holiday and travel photography, but when I came back and I started publishing the shots on Instagram, people loved them. It was a validation that I was on the right path."

Cuno says being free from working within the boundaries of a fashion brand's guidelines felt like a release. "I could show a country through my eyes, and I think that was the spark within photography that I needed. In Japan, I found out, OK, I love to capture people, capture stories, capture the landscapes and everything around them – so more of a rounded story compared to what fashion is."

Winning the Columbus Travel Magazine Nature Photo of the Year Award 2019 with an image he took in the Dolomites brought Cuno's work to a new audience. "That was basically the kickstart of my travel photography career, because brands started reaching out."

Unfortunately, this new-found freedom coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic and its far-reaching travel restrictions. "So, I had a conversation with the Dutch authorities about what we could do to promote the country and travel in a different way," Cuno says.

The resulting project saw him and another photographer documenting the lesser-travelled regions of the Netherlands. "Amsterdam is basically all the Netherlands is for many people. So, we started promoting these cabins, beautiful forests, beautiful smaller cities and towns – something which we did for a full year."

Developing a narrative around the details, people, weather and atmosphere, rather than simply capturing a destination at face value, has become central to Cuno's workflow – and a key part of his appeal to brands.

This quality helps him stand out online, with 90% of his clients discovering him via social media. "I think that's getting stronger as well, when people are showing just epic places," he says. "That's nice, but it's not something that tells a story. The way I've been approaching Instagram and other social media for the last couple of years is showing brands that I can actually tell a story."

Naturally, prospective clients are drawn by the way he sees things too. Cuno's training in fashion and commercial photography is evident in his visual style. "I love a clean frame," he says, "so I try to shoot quite minimal. I try to work with the golden ratio most of the time as well. So, if you draw the lines on my images, then you'll see there's something going on there.

"I'm also a graphic designer. So, there are certain rules in my mind that I use in my photography as well – although sometimes I have to let that go."

Cuno's choice of lenses also makes a difference to the way he frames his images, as well as allowing him to keep his kit at a manageable size and weight for travelling. His core trio of lenses includes two lightweight zooms – the Canon RF 24-70mm F2.8L IS USM and RF 70-200mm F4L IS USM – plus the RF 50mm F1.4L VCM hybrid prime.

"I'm a sucker for a prime lens," he says, explaining that the way a prime lens forces him to step closer if he wants a tighter shot makes a difference to his images.

"That was something I learnt to do at the Amsterdam Photo Academy. For the whole first year, I had to shoot with just a 50mm lens. I still love to do that, and maybe that's helped me to create my own style. I use the RF 50mm F1.4L VCM for details, for food and for shooting more documentary-style images." Being able to take advantage of a fast f/1.4 aperture to accentuate depth and create a cinematic look also helps.

"The lens is great for filming as well," Cuno adds. "Overall, I'd say I use it at least 50% of the time in my work."

Work is something that comes readily to Cuno these days, after several years of hard graft. "2020 was the point at which I could start building a portfolio to show, but the beginning of 2024 was the moment that things really started to take off."

It's not just travel and tourism-related organisations that are drawn to his design-conscious travel images. His diverse client base now includes diverse brands – from cars and computers to clothing and loudspeaker brands.

"I think now, if I wanted to, I could be away every week of the year," he says, "although I'm not sure that would lead to a happy home life."

Like many travel photographers with a young family to support, he has to make every moment count when he's behind the camera. While it's easy enough to plan the optimum time and shooting angle before you arrive at a destination, Cuno likes to build in space for more intuitive photography.

"When I go somewhere, I want to be there for multiple days rather than just a couple of hours," he says. "If you're climbing a mountain, that's different. But when I go to a city or a region, I'll stay there for two to three days in order to 'feel' the place. So that's planned, of course, but in that way I can also take my time to shoot.

"If I'm there alone, then I can fully concentrate on shooting, which is something I can really lose myself in. I shoot a lot, because I'm quite a perfectionist. Not every moment, location or weather condition is perfect, and not every shot can be perfect either. I've had to learn to let go of that and instead concentrate on what the story is, which has helped me."

What has certainly helped Cuno is a willingness to take a leap of faith and follow his instincts. It's not unusual for professional photographers to shift between genres, but leaving behind a career you've trained for to enter the competitive world of travel photography would be a daunting prospect for many – especially while raising a family.

Cuno combines his graphic design and commercial photography background with a more instinctive, story-led way of working. His dream may have changed, but the desire to create work that feels like his own has remained.

Travel photography has given him the freedom to show the world through his eyes.

Learn more about Cuno de Bruin’s approach to travel photography on Canon Club.