Most martial arts fan will undoubtedly have seen her photos pass by often, yet the question is whether many people know who is behind the camera? With her company Lana Pictures, Lana is regularly seen at martial arts events across the country, including Glory, to capture the fights as beautifully as possible. In this interview, we learn about the world behind Lana's camera and about her initiative to connect women within Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

Lana, where did your connection to martial arts begin?

“Oeh let me think about it. When I was about ten years old, my mother made me go to self-defense for girls. I went with my best friend and we were taught by a man in a judo suit with a big belly underneath. At one point we had to kick pillows and we got boxing gloves on and then I thought, oh this is really fun! But my friend got compliments every time from the trainer “Oh you're really talented!”, and to me he said nothing. So I thought, okay, I like this, but yeah, apparently I'm not good at it. So in the end I didn't do anything with it either. Many years later, I was 23 at the time, I went to study to be a teacher here in Eindhoven at the teacher's academy. At the gym on the premises you could get a sports card, which allowed you to do 130 different sports. So I went through that whole list to see what I liked. And among them was kickboxing. And then I thought, screw it, I'll just go by myself, I don't care. That's where I stayed, until at some point I switched to a real kickboxing school. After that I also did muay thai and just boxing, actually I never stopped doing martial arts.”

Now you're a martial arts photographer, how did that journey start?

”I actually didn't start out as a martial arts photographer at all. When I had my second child, I wanted to buy a good camera to take nice family photos. So I went to the Media Market and bought the first camera I could find with an interchangeable lens, 300 euros I think it cost at the time, and then I thought, oh I actually like taking pictures like that. So then I started practicing on family, friends, and at a certain point I thought, oh that looks pretty good. Then I also photographed friends of friends. And so it actually went, it got crazier and crazier. Until at one point I almost converted my living room into a photo studio every weekend. And strange people came over. At one point my husband said: it's time for you to rent a studio. So I did. I absolutely wanted a studio in my neighborhood business park. That studio made me mainly busy photographing to be able to pay the studio rent. Because a studio in such a location is of course very expensive. I always kept a job next to it. So fortunately that relieved the tension a little.”

But at some point you got into the world of martial arts with your camera, when was that?

”Well, I was working out in Eindhoven at Muay Thai Academy Duran Gym. And then I thought: it seems really cool to take pictures of fighters. I saw a young girl who trained very fanatically and I asked her if she wanted to model for me. She wanted to and, together with her mother, Ruby de Bont, came by for a martial arts shoot. Not much later, Ruby participated in the Nickelodeon program “The Champion,” a program about children who are very good at something. For that, she was filmed in the gym. When I heard about it, I offered to take behind-the-scenes photos. During the filming there was some training on the punching bag and scenes in the ring. Those were the very first times I took pictures related to martial arts. My introduction to the martial arts scene came later and started when I came across Remy Online's profile on Instagram.”

I think for many martial arts fans that name rings a bell because of his work for Glory.

”Yes, when I saw his profile I thought: he takes really nice pictures. Beautiful colors and compositions. So I send, just as I am, a compliment. I was totally surprised, because I just got a response back and not all photographers do that by a long shot. I was curious and had questions about how he handles certain things as a photographer and so we were in touch from time to time. Months later I suddenly saw him posting photos of Rico Verhoeven. Until then I had only seen his model photos. Because I have affinity with martial arts myself, I thought this was very cool. Then he told me that he works for Glory and is allowed to take pictures behind the scenes. I thought that was really cool. As a joke - but with a wink - I said, “If you ever need someone to carry your bag, just let me know. ”That's where it stopped. But two months later, I suddenly got a message: Can I give you a call? Remy told me he had a press conference scheduled for Glory, but had a shoot abroad at the same time, if I would take over the Glory press conference from him. I didn't know what hit me, my heart was in my throat with enthusiasm but at the same time I thought: I can't do this. But I reassured myself by saying, “If Remy thinks I can do it, I'll be fine.”

But so you had no experience at all with that kind of event back then?

”Nothing at all. Zero. So that started with a press conference. There was also the pressure of delivering photos right away. I wasn't used to that at all and I wasn't really ready for that. My equipment was not professional at that time. For example, I also had a simple laptop, so I couldn't meet the pace that was expected of me at all. I experienced an awful lot of stress and tension in the beginning. I wanted to deliver perfection, but there was no time for that, and in the meantime I also had to deal with a laptop that kept crashing. I think I had three or four times when I thought, I'm going to call that I think it's super cool, but I just can't do it. I was closer to crying than laughing at those moments. But I didn't want to give up. Coming in to an organization like that is obviously a once in a lifetime opportunity and I didn't want to throw it away. I also don't think anyone knew I had so little experience. I mean, if Remy Online puts you on, people probably assume you're good. I'm incredibly grateful to him for believing in me even before I did myself. I owe my start in martial arts to him.”

Were you watching Glory before that? Or did you only know Rico Verhoeven?

”No, actually I didn't. I knew who Rico Verhoeven was, but I wasn't a groupie haha. I just really liked kickboxing myself. I find watching sports on TV incredibly boring. Now I do follow it a little bit because I know the people from behind the scenes now. I follow the ones I have photographed. I used to go to martial arts events to watch matches, but I have become spoiled. As a photographer, you are always very close to the action. The referee has the best spot and but then me, haha. Nowadays I only like events if I get to be on top of them with my nose (and camera). And if not, I don't have to.”

Nowadays we also see you at MMA and BJJ events, did that happen just as fast?

”Well, so when I was allowed to photograph for Glory, of course other people thought: then she must be able to do something. I actually couldn't do that yet. I had just done two press conferences. But there was a gym near me that said at one point, we have an MMA event, Versus Events (now Cage Warriors Lowlands.) Can't you take pictures for us? Me with my big mouth said of course, yes I can. Never done it, no idea, but I knew I would make sure it was going to be good. So the first martial arts event I photographed was an MMA event. That was quite a challenge, because shooting between the fencing of the cage is not easy, but it worked. Not much later, I got to assist American photographer Matt 'Burn' Ferris with a Glory poster shoot and then shoot with Remy Online at Glory's kickboxing events and later photograph independently at Glory at ringside.

At one point I was asked by the owner of Versus Events like, oh do you want to take pictures of a BJJ event as well. At that time I had no idea what BJJ was, but of course I wanted to help. Once there I really thought, what are these people doing. Meanwhile, I was photographing MMA and kickboxing and compared to that, pretty little was happening at BJJ in my eyes. I thought: what is this? I saw people kind of pulling at each other, lying on top of each other, but other than that, there wasn't much action. There was a referee standing by who kept giving points. So every time he raised his hand, I just shot a few pictures of the participants and I played around with the composition. But I had no idea what they were all doing. Consequently, I thought there was pretty little to it.”

I think that opinion has changed a bit by now? Because anyone who follows you on social media sees that by now you are also super busy with BJJ.

”Yes, that did take a while. So I did my first BJJ event at the invitation of that same promoter of Cage Warriors. At that time, there weren't that many BJJ photographers. Even though I had absolutely no understanding of the sport, seemingly I knew how to capture good moments, because other organizations like Nijmegen Open BJJ and Kaizen League also knew how to find me and asked me to come take pictures at their BJJ events. Slowly I started to see a little bit which moments were important. I still had no idea what everything was called. I did notice that I kept seeing the same people at different BJJ events. It really is a small world, I thought the vibe was cool and began to appreciate the sport more and more. That encouraged me to want to learn it myself. Partly to be able to photograph better, but I also just thought, I think those people are cool! Everyone is super friendly and the sport has something. I'm used to an atmosphere of a lot of testosterone and adrenaline in kickboxing and here the people were very calm and sporty.”

Do you have a preference for which sport you like best to photograph?

”In the beginning, yes. Now I don't. In the beginning, I liked MMA the most. Kickboxing is mostly standing. So you're basically always shooting at the same level.... Yeah, that's fun too, but there's less variety in it, so to speak. A little less creative. In MMA and BJJ, as a photographer, there is a lot of challenge in it because they have different levels that they fight at. So one moment they're standing, the next moment someone is flying through the air and then it's on the ground again. So where your focus points are varies all the time. During the event, you're just in your own bubble. Actually you are fighting your own match in your head. I want that corner, do I have enough pictures of him already? Well I want to capture these punches. For example, some fighters are very good at following orders from their coach, Tyjani Beztati for example. When that coach says something, that's so bizarre, he says something and Tyjani does it immediately. So I know then what is going to come. That's so nice for me!”

You have now started training BJJ yourself. What attracts you so much to that sport?

”So I especially like the type of people in BJJ. They are people who can put their ego aside and are perseverers. Because you don't learn BJJ in a year. No. It really takes years before you get the hang of it. In the beginning it was a bit intimidating. Because yes, you can't do anything yet. Then you have to rely on your training partner to just go easy on you. As a beginner, you kind of feel like you're holding others back. I still often feel like: is there anyone left who wants to do a round with me? In BJJ you are very much working in each other's aura. You know how someone feels, how someone smells, you're just literally lying in each other's sweat. In the beginning that's quite something, you really have to get over that. In daily life I'm not into body contact at all, two meters away is fine with me. I see BJJ as a kind of therapy. Just letting people in a little bit. Because you have to, if you want to do this sport. You can't escape it. But it also gives you a different kind of contact with people. And not with everyone, of course. It's not when you've rolled with each other that you think, oh, then you can get really close forever. But, you then immediately get a whole different connection. I have that with the ladies for example. And I never had that with kickboxing.”

You started your own nonprofit organization to promote Ladies BJJ, right? Can you talk a little bit about that?

”Yes, Bellatrix Community is called. When I just started, I was uncomfortable training with men. So I thought, I'll wait until there's a woman. But when I went to those classes, half the time there were no women. Still, I really wanted to learn. So I resolved to keep going to class anyway. I would train if there was a woman there and otherwise just watch to learn. Well, that didn't work out at all. You can't learn BJJ by just watching and the times that ladies did come were so scarce. So it didn't work out. I didn't understand, because at competitions I always saw women. So how could it be that I couldn't find a female training partner? After some inquiries, I heard that more ladies had this problem. I did want to change that. So then I thought, you know what? I had already built a website for myself, if I built a website where you could just put profiles of which ladies train where. That you already know that they are there and where they are. That just seems cool. And yes, it would also be cool if you could train with another woman. Because there aren't that many women at one gym. It would be cool if you could ask someone from another gym to train with you without any direct costs. Then you invite people to travel more to train with each other. Sort of like gym partners, you know. That if someone else trains at another gym, then if you are a woman, you can bring your own female training partner for free. That way both gyms keep their ladies motivated and the ladies have someone to train with.”

You have since started organizing your own ladies only events. Are you seeing some effect of your efforts yet?

”At my gym, I think I'm still the last one who started. So that still hasn't changed. But at one point I got a message from a gym owner, and he said, ‘If you ever want to organize something yourself for ladies, just let me know. Then you can just use the mat here.‘ At first I was a little hesitant because what am I supposed to do as a white belt to organize a little event of my own. I can't do anything. I don't know anything. But after a month or so it started itching a little bit. And then I thought, these ladies just need to get to know each other a little bit. And then they will train together more easily. But also if you run into each other at an event, then at least you have a chat, instead of, she is my opponent and we stay far away from that. So I just asked my own trainer if they were open to giving a seminar. That's how those events came about. At the first event, there was an immediate turnout of 22 women, which I thought, wow, perfect. I've never done this before. They don't know at all what to expect, but there are just 22 women who make the effort to come. And who just have confidence that this is going to be fun. We've now had three events. At Sportvision Eindhoven, Tribe Grappling Amsterdam and Energia Martial Arts in Nijmegen. The events are organized by me in cooperation with a local gym. They provide their venue and host the seminar. I handle the promotion, registrations, communication and snacks after the training. The whole initiative is non-profit in order to keep it accessible to everyone. The next event is scheduled for November 9, 2024 at Amsterdam Grappling Academy. After two seminars and free sparring, the ladies will head into Amsterdam to get to know each other even better over pizza and some drinks.”

”My goal with Bellatrix is to connect as many BJJ ladies as possible. The biggest effect visible is that both ladies and gentlemen act as ambassadors out of enthusiasm and refer BJJ ladies to the Bellatrix community website, Instagram and events. That's just super cool to see.”