De Graaf mainly photographs street scenes and portraits. He tries to place present modern time in the background as much as possible. Atmosphere is the most important thing to him: "a geniality that takes you back forty years. It is not that I don't feel at home in present time, it is more that characteristics of present time are obviously present in street scenes and cast an annoying shadow on the beautiful and ugly things the past has given us." He searches for places "where the cobblers are worn without someone getting the idea to cover them with concrete."