You might have wondered who this woman was, aiming her camera at you during your workshop at the ESC?
That was me. My name is Marjolein Roeleveld.

Taking photo’s at the European Shiatsu Congress was a perfect match. It gave me the opportunity to taste the congress by litteraly being at every location to capture moments. And there were some great ones!
My goal is to put Shiatsu on the map by shooting inspiring images. And by doing that, helping people that don’t know anything about Shiatsu to be drawn into it and learn more about it through my photo.

I was born and raised in Amsterdam and studied theatre (Mime) at the Amsterdam School of Arts.
In my theatrework my starting point is the body, an empty space around me and images that often pop up in my head out of the blue. It can be absurd, capricious. But it always makes me want to put it on stage and see what scene comes out of it. This one image can give the performance its core. Never know where it leads and that’s the fun of it. I was always inspired by visual arts. And I always liked playing with composition. So rolling into photography felt natural.

A few years ago I started Shiatsu at the Zen Shiatsu school in Amsterdam. A piece of the puzzle fell into place.
My background as mime performer reflects a lot of what shiatsu is for me.
Mime starts from the power of the body, being in the moment and awareness that arises from the senses.
It asks for a performer to be present and to make direct contact with the surroundings, the audience. You could swap ‘audience’ for ‘client’.

To capture Shiatsu in its core. Reflect the energy that was so strongly present at the congress. And while doing that, preferably with a touch of humour like mister “Be optimistic” Ohashi so nicely did, why not search for the edge? Maybe even go a bit further than the typical Shiatsu images. How do you want to be portraited as a practitioner? How do you want Shiatsu to be portrayed?
Something to think about in this world of image, no? I would love to search for that core with you and create the images you want. I’m open for explorations.

Wishing you a beautiful, flowing and physical (!) new year.

Marjolein
www.marjoleinroeleveld.com