Hellen van Meene
| Hellen Van Meene | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1972 (age 44–45) Alkmaar |
| Nationality | Dutch |
| Education | Gerrit Rietveld Academie |
| Known for | Photography |
Hellen van Meene (born 1972) is a Dutch photographer known especially for her portraits.
She was born in Alkmaar and became interested in photography very early after her mother gave her a camera at age 15.
For her portraits, she most often approaches girls on the street. She chooses her subject matter by finding girls who" could be said to have ‘imperfect’ faces and 'flawed' bodies". She pre-visualizes the portrait but is open to improvisation. The portraits bring out the "inherent grace in their changing faces and bodies." She usually finds the girls in her hometown. She is also trying to capture some of the details of older homes in the area using them as backgrounds.
Over the years, Van Meene has also turned to still lives, portraits of animals, and fashion photography.
She has been featured on CNN, TIME and more. She is a sought after workshop leader and has been commissioned to do projects by the Pump House to do a series on teenage mothers and the New York Times commissioned her to travel to Japan to photograph Japanese girls. She is represented by Yancey Ricardson Gallery.
Hellen van Meene was born in Allemar, the Netherlands. Van Meene began taking photographs at age 16 when she would photograph her friends, which ultimately segued into the artist continuing to focus on adolescent girls in her professional photography with the aim of examining the construction of femininity in adolescence. For her undergraduate degree, Van Meene studied Fine Art at Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam. Other notable photographers who also graduated from Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam include Ger van Elk, Rineke Dijkstra, Peter Klashorst, Dana Lixenberg and . During her studies, van Meene spent a brief period in 1995 at the Edinburg College of Art. Other notable alumnae of this institution include Paul Rooney, Katie Paterson, and Paul Carter.
Five years out of art school, van Meene was shortlisted for the Citibank Photography Prize (2001) and signed with New York's Matthew Marks gallery. Much of van Meene’s early work is focused on photographing young girls in old houses in her hometown of Allemar.
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