Zuzana Breznanikova

Jordy Casteleijn: The Dutch Crusader

JORDY CASTELEIJN is a model from Amsterdam who has appeared in photoshoots and commercials alongside big names like Adriana Lima and Antonio Banderas! He has worked with many brands including Coca-cola, Beck’s, Carlsberg, Desigual, Pegasus, Font Vella and Audi. Jordy is very charming (somewhere between Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio) and I could only try my best to try to capture his amiable personality in his photos. He genuinely cares about the environment and saving the planet. 

“I want to save this planet. I want to create work which will inspire people to think about their lifestyles and the consequences of their lifestyles and eventually make them change their lifestyles for more conscious eco-friendly ones.”

Jordy Casteleijn

Interview and Photography by London Fashion & Portraiture Photographer Zuzana Breznanikova

B&W portraiture of Jordy Casteleijn from interview by Zuzana Breznanikova

Black and white portrait of Jordy Casteleijn

Moody B&W portrait of Jordy Casteleijn

Jordy Casteleijn smiling in his portrait by photographer Zuzana Breznanikova

B&W portrait of model Jordy Casteleijn

Portrait - Jordy Casteleijn

B&W headshot of Jordy Casteleijn from his interview

Jordy Casteleijn interview and portraiture by Zuzana Breznanikova

Tell us a bit about yourself. 

I am twenty-seven-year old, born and raised in Amsterdam, young man with a passion for life and a dream of inspiring people. In Amsterdam I studied business and entrepreneurship, worked for 3.5 years in Holland’s biggest corporate retail company Ahold as a business analyst. Last two years I’ve lived in Barcelona, Spain, with a following of a couple of months in London to now finally settle back in in Amsterdam. In Barcelona I started acting and modelling, within these two years I’ve shot about 10 to 15 television commercials and did a lot of photoshoots. In London I realised I wanted to combine my intellectual capabilities, modelling experience and love for the planet into one. This is how I started working on my own projects and started my own (at the moment one-man; me!) creative agency; Fotosynth.

How did you get into modelling?

The classic story, I got asked on the streets of Barcelona. And since I just moved there when I got asked, and my only day-spending back then was Spanish classes, I said, well yeah, sure lets try this!

You have been in some cool commercials. Can you tell us bit more? 

Well, yeah, haha there some really cool ones in there and some really fun ones. Like my first commercial I did was together with Adriana Lima #HellYeah! for Desigual, upfront i didn’t knew that she would be there, so I almost cancelled because I didn’t really like my role in the commercial, but after all I was quite happy I didn’t cancel ;) Also my 10 day shoot in Istanbul for Pegasus airlines was awesome; I played the part of Thor, my suit was absolutely massive! Or my shoot on a major yacht with Antonio Banderas, or my Liverpool shoot in a F1 racing car, or shooting in Lissabon for Becks beer just acting to be partying all weekend for the video wasn’t too hard for me haha

What is your philosophy in life? 

‘A bit of fragrance clings to the hand that gives you flowers.’ - I try to be as friendly and helpful to everybody I meet, always. I believe in well-doing, being friendly without expecting anything in return. It saddens me to see that nowadays people get scared when I give them a friendly ‘Hello!’ when I pass them by on the streets. Nevertheless I won’t ever become negative or pessimistic.

What has been the most difficult job?  

E-commerce wetsuits. wow. worst day of my life. E-commerce is terrible on itself, boring as f*ck. But a full day going into (dry) wetsuits is absolutely terrible, end of the day I had blisters on my hands!

What do you like to do when you are off-duty?

I love to travel, do sports and nowadays I’m working hard on creating awareness in the society on environmental issues. I love this planet and dream of inspiring people to care more for this world.

What do you feel passionate about? 

As said at the previous question; I’m super passionate about doing work with a message, a more deeper level than just inspire people to buy products. Actually I would rather inspire people not to buy products. We can and should live with way less products. You don’t need that 11th pair of sneakers or 2nd car. And eating beef every day? really? That’s so not necessary. 

What are your aspirations? 

To save this planet. I want to create work which will inspire people to think about their lifestyles and the consequences of their lifestyles and eventually make them change their lifestyles for more conscious eco-friendly ones.

Where do you hope to be in 10 years? 

In 10 years I hope to be very busy on a broad scale of projects that help this planet and its habitants to preserve this beautiful little rock we call Earth.


Follow Jordy @jors_truly

Check out another interview with model Jordy where he talks about shooting with Adriana Lima and gives modelling and commercial acting advice

For more celebrity photography and interview announcements follow @breznanikova.photography (60k followers)

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