Hellen van Meene
author · photographer
Hellen van Meene is a Dutch photographer and artist known primarily for her evocative and painterly portraits of adolescent girls. Born in Alkmaar in 1972, she studied fine art at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam and the Edinburgh College of Art in Scotland. Her work is characterized by a meticulous staging of subjects, often set in older homes that serve as evocative backdrops, creating a tension between reality and fantasy. Her style is frequently compared to the works of Dutch Masters like Vermeer and Rembrandt due to her sophisticated use of light and formal composition. Van Meene explores themes of femininity, the construction of identity during adolescence, and the 'imperfect' beauty of human forms. She has received international recognition, including an Honorary Fellowship from the Royal Photographic Society in 2016, and her work has been exhibited globally in institutions such as the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Art Institute of Chicago.[1,2,3,4,5]
- adolescence
- femininity
- portraiture
- painterly photography
- identity construction
Books
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Untitled€90.00
Works by Hellen van Meene
- 2000 Untitled Primary work identified in request.
- 2003 Japan Series Photographs of young Japanese women.
- 2007 New Work Includes an exhibition history and bibliography.
- 2005 Portraits Publication of portraits.
- 2015 The Years Shall Run Like Rabbits Collection of square portraits of adolescent girls.
Works about Hellen van Meene
- 2019 Wild women: 19th century painting as inspiration of women in contemporary Dutch photography Academic analysis of her work's influence.
Exhibitions
- 2018 And everything goes on when you die
- 2019 Make Believe
- 2017 Terrains of the Body: Photography from the National Museum of Women in the Arts
- 2008 Girls on the Verge: Portraits of Adolescence
Awards
- 2016 Honorary Fellowship
References
- Hellen van Meene. Wikipedia. 2024 link
- Scott Tillett. PDN's 30 our choice of emerging photographers to watch: Hellen Van Meene. Photo District News. 2002
- Hellen van Meene has photographed awkward adolescents for 20 years. i-D Magazine. 2015 link
- Animal Magic: Photographer Hellen van Meene Finds a New Path. Time Magazine. 2015 link
- Honorary Fellowships. Royal Photographic Society. 2019 link
- Hellen van Meene. Huis Marseille. 2018 link
- Make Believe. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. 2019 link
- Terrains of the Body. Whitechapel Gallery. 2017 link