I was born in the Netherlands and grew up there and in 1970's London. I am an engineer by training, with a degree from London University. But even when I was young and working as an engineer in places like Baghdad (during a war), Libya and Nigeria I knew I wanted to be a photojournalist. To share what I saw, to help people understand worlds normally hidden to them.
But I was young; I had to make money. So I worked as an engineer, and later as a business executive: I was Chief Technology Officer of an international corporation for nine years. But photography was my passion, and eventually, while on the road I started doing photojournalistic projects and travel photography. That got me into newspapers and into commercial photography. Today, and for several years now, I have worked exclusively as a photographer and teacher of photography. And I blog daily on http://www.michaelwillems.ca/, my teaching blog. Yes, every day.