William Rutten

After the sudden dramatic death of his father, William (then 16 years old) knew for sure;He became a pop photographer and decided that anything is possible.

He had to succeed, because a return to school was absolutely not an option for him.  At the age of 20 the studio with his mother in the attic became too small and he went looking for his own and larger place. Colleagues advised him to go to Amsterdam, because the stars did not want to travel far. He was stubborn and involved the old post office of the small village of 's-Graveland with a large financial risk. In no time the stars came by in his now renovated and blinded photo studio between the cows and green meadows. The stars quickly felt at home and thought it was so fantastic that they kept eating, partying and sometimes even sleeping.

The studio in the middle of nowhere became a place to be and was a kind of Willy Wonka's chocolate factory full of mysteries in the eyes of outsiders;He even received the men from Kiss in his studio and also had Queen for his lens. 

The "Doka" audience gets the golden ticket, giving them a glimpse into this studio where the stars stayed. William tells anecdotes about his years with the stars in this studio but also about the emotional departure after 33 years to grow as a photographer. It is also a lecture in which he shares his knowledge with fellow photographers and tries to motivate to dare to dream big.

In 2026 William Rutten is celebrating his 40th anniversary as an entertainment photographer.

No dream turned out to be too big ...