Viviane Sassen

Viviane Sassen
Born	1972 (age 44–45) Amsterdam
Nationality	Dutch
Education	Ateliers Arnhem
Known for	Photography
Movement	Contemporary Art
Awards	International Center of Photography's Infinity Award, Kees Scherer Award, Prix de Rome (Netherlands)

Viviane Sassen (born 1972) is a Dutch artist living in Amsterdam. She is a photographer who works in both the fashion and fine art world. She is known for her use of geometric shapes, often abstractions of bodies. She has been widely published and exhibited. She was included in the 2011 New Photography exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art. She has created campaigns for Miu Miu, Stella McCartney, and Louis Viutton, among others. She has won the Dutch Prix de Rome (2007) and the Infinity Award from International Center of Photography.

Sassen lived in Kenya as a child and often works in Africa. She started studying fashion at Arnhem, but soon turned to photography. She received her MFA from Royal Academy in Arnhem.

She is of the generation of photographer/artists that alternate personal, editorial, and commercial work and embrace an interdisciplinary attitude. She says, "You should always be able to judge a photograph on different grounds, on political, social, emotional, but also on personal grounds."

She is known for her use of geometric shapes, often abstractions of bodies. The photographed bodies are often intertwined, inspired by daily physical contact with strangers she experienced in Africa. Conscious of the stereotypical images of famine and poverty, she includes contemporary elements abundant in Africa like cell phones and automobiles.

Sassen was shortlisted for the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize 2015 for her exhibition Umbra at Nederlands Fotomuseum.

Commissioned by Italian luxury goods manufacturer Bottega Veneta, Sassen photographed Mica Arganaraz and Sven de Vries at the Kröller-Müller Museum for the brand's spring/summer 2016 advertisements.

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