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"We take you to places you just might not think about."
Born in Alberta, Canada, Jillian Macdonald left home at age 16 to study ballet in London. She danced in London, Paris, New York, and during all of those years the stage was her home, and the dancers her family. After her dance career Macdonald found herself on the road again as the Company Manager with the world renowned contemporary dance company, La La La Human Steps, touring extensively throughout Europe, the United Kingdom, North and South America, Australia and Asia. In January 1989, Jillian joined the Canada Council Touring Office as Market Development Officer, responsible for the development and management of programs and policies, including training programs designed to strengthen the Canadian marketplace for dance, theatre, music, the multidisciplinary arts and mixed-media. But the desire to return to Europe was never absent and in September 1991 Macdonald crossed the Atlantic once again to join the Dutch National Ballet as leading director for marketing and communications.
Following four years with the National Ballet and years of experience in international arts management, she started her own company ConsulArts International, with communications and networking for the arts the primary focus. Socio-cultural exchange and development have always been a priority for Macdonald and have taken her as a guest teacher/lecturer to Moscow, St. Petersburg, Siberia, Kiev, Prague, Zagreb, Krakow, across South Africa, throughout Holland and North America and then on to Turkey and Central Asia. Yet from her birth place in the Rocky Mountains of Alberta, Canada, Macdonald continues to seek the outdoors, the unknown, new adventures 4 ever.
"I met Frits Meyst in 1998. The images were there and I quickly decided to break all chains from the work desk, take only the necessary equipment to back-up all data, power all units and flee to the horizons
beyond." From that point on, Macdonald learned how to make bread and cheese from the local women in Turkey, drink vodka with the Kazakh artists and share fermented mare milk with Kyrgyz shepherds. "Let the soul free.
Breath the life around you and share".
Adventure4ever.com seeks the unknown, seeks the adventure that takes you to places you
"just might not think about".
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"Real freedom comes from the heart."
Photographer Frits Meyst graduated in 1992 at the Royal Academy of Arts in The Hague. His career as a freelance photojournalist brought him to some of the worlds hotspots. His images are published in major international newspapers and magazines. Apart from doing commissioned work for Dutch newspapers and magazines, he has also been on assignment for Time, Newsweek, New York Times, Sunday Telegraph, the Guardian, Stern, and Paris Match.
Several of Meysts' reportages were crowned with Dutch awards and an honourable mention in the World Press Photo. The crown on his work is the Silver Camera Award for the best press photo of the year 1991, covering the exodus of Iraqi Kurds after the war in Iraq. Click Here to see a selection of his Documentary and News Photography.
Coincidence brought Meyst back to the same region in 2003 to witness the ousting of Saddam Hussein. From the war in Yugoslavia, via the tribal clashes in the Kurdish autonomous region of Iraq, through the riots in Indonesia, to the earthquake in Turkey, Meyst covered massive human suffering.
"My objective is to portray people with dignity, reporting their suffering to the rest of the world so that public opinion can force politicians to take action. During my work in war zones I was always impressed at how people deal with survival situations and how flexible the human being is in adjusting to inhospitable environments."
After more than twelve years as a freelance photojournalist working amidst sorrow and human strife, Frits Meyst decided that he needed a different challenge, a challenge that would bring him instead, to some of the worlds’ most beautiful places.
"Trekking, climbing mountains, paragliding, sea kayaking and canyoning, makes me explore my limits. I want to know what my physical and mental limits are. Through my outdoor adventures I realize the strength of nature and that makes me humble. So, when I can conquer a mountain, surviving adverse weather conditions and improvising with daily living, I feel very much alive." says Meyst.
"Adventure4ever.com makes it possible for me to explore the world. A dream coming through".
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