Meet your photographer

2,132 events. Clients who come back year after year.

You can rely on me. That is why Albert Heijn, Tomorrowland and many festivals keep booking me.

I’ve created content and photographed for brands and events like

2,132

events shot

10+

years in the field

Portrait of Martin Hols, smiling, in a black shirt against a warm orange backdrop

Award winner

European Event
Photography Award

Event photographer

Martin Hols

Portrait of Martin Hols

Martin Hols

Event photographer

Martin Hols smiling behind his Canon camera while photographing an event
Martin Hols with a camera on a monopod at a festival crowd barrier
Martin Hols raising his Canon camera to photograph a crowd

Award winner

European Event
Photography Award

About

Based in the Netherlands, working wherever the event is.

I’m Martin Hols, an event and festival photographer. In more than ten years I’ve covered 2,132 events, from festival main stages to brand activations and Formula 1.

In 2025 I won the European Event Photography Award in the category Music Events – Concerts, with the image “The Last Warrior”.

2,132

events shot

10+

years in the field

4

kinds of events

At a glance

Martin Hols in eight facts.

The short version, for anyone who needs to know who they are hiring.

Who
Martin Hols, event and festival photographer
Based in
Hilversum, the Netherlands
Experience
2,132 events in 10+ years
Award
European Event Photography Award
Clients
Albert Heijn, Tomorrowland, MOJO, Gall & Gall, Formula 1
Specialties
Overview photography, SFX and pyro, superfast delivery
Events
Festivals, corporate, sport, shows and music
Part of
The Arrows
Martin Hols smiling up at the camera on a festival site, holding two Canon cameras
Still close to the music, two cameras in hand

My story

It started in the front row.

After studying psychology, I became a web designer. Working on different projects, I slowly found my way into photography. I went to a lot of concerts, and one night I watched a photographer working right up close to the music. Something clicked: this is what I wanted to do.

At home I would watch the closing shows of festivals again and again, thinking: one day I’ll work in music. One day I’ll be on the big stages of Defqon.1 and Tomorrowland. So I bought a camera, left everything else behind and went for it.

I said yes to everything I could get: nightclubs, student parties, photo booths. Those nights were my first real miles. I taught myself a lot in Photoshop, and my background in web design and marketing helped me understand what clients actually needed from their images. Step by step I grew, mostly in corporate events and music, and built a group of regular clients along the way.

From 2021 the chances started coming, one after another, and I took each one with both hands. That same year I started The Arrows. I was flown abroad more often, and my fast editing and my focus on overviews and special effects brought me to bigger festivals. In 2023 I chose to focus fully on events and music.

The award confirmed that the way I work is right: be there, be prepared and deliver. Every time I’m on one of those stages, I still think of the guy on the couch rewatching closing shows.

The road so far

  1. StartPsychology, then web design
  2. The sparkConcerts, a first camera and all in
  3. First milesNightclubs, student parties, photo booths
  4. 2021The Arrows and the first jobs abroad
  5. 2023Full focus on events and music
  6. AwardEuropean Event Photography Award

Selected frames

Four kinds of events.

View portfolio
View portfolio

How I work.

From briefing to delivery

  1. 01

    Briefing

    You send a written callsheet with the programme, the must-have moments, access and one contact person on site.

  2. 02

    Preparation

    Together with you and your partners on the event, I plan the positions, like overview spots and pyro cues, and we arrange access in advance.

  3. 03

    On the day

    I photograph the show, the crowd and the brand moments, and deliver high-quality, fully edited images during the event.

  4. 04

    Delivery

    The rest of the edited set lands in your inbox within 24 hours.

What I love to shoot.

Specialties

Pinkpop main stage and festival sign at sunset, seen from above the crowd
01

Overview photography

It’s the big picture that gets me: a full main stage, thousands of hands in the air, a whole production working together. I’ll climb a tower or find a roof to show an event the way its makers designed it.

Pyro fountains and fireworks behind an ornate arena stage in front of a packed crowd
02

SFX and pyro

Fire, fireworks, lasers, confetti. The moment it all goes off is the peak of the show, and it lasts a second. I learn the cues, take my spot early and wait for it. That second still gives me goosebumps.

Formula 1 car taking a corner at the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort
03

Superfast delivery

An event moves fast, and so does its story online. That’s why I deliver high-quality, fully edited images during the event itself, so your team can share them while everyone is still talking about the night. The rest follows within 24 hours.

Let’s work together

Planning an event? Let’s talk.

Send me an email or give me a call. I reply within one working day.