For many months we asked photographers to send us a piece of audio no longer than five minutes in length to include on our A Photographic Life podcast. These became a book which is now out of print but remain in audio form within the podcast archive, available wherever you get your podcasts . However, we are responding to listener requests and offering transcriptions of some of our favourite contributions. Enjoy!
Hellen van Meene was born in the Netherlands in 1972 and studied Fine Art at Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam and briefly in 1995 at the Edinburgh College of Art. Five years out of art school, she was shortlisted for the Citibank Photography Prize (2001) and signed with New York’s Matthew Marks Gallery. As her work gained recognition, she expanded her subject matter and spent time working in England, Russia, Latvia, the United States and Japan. Van Meene’s work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, The Photographer’s Gallery, London, and The Art Institute of Chicago. Her work is held in the collections of major museums worldwide including the Guggenheim Museum, New York, the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, Art Institute of Chicago, MoCA Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Five monographs of her work have been published; Hellen van Meene:The Years Shall Run Like Rabbits in 2015, Helle van Meene: Japan Series in 2002, Hellen van Meene: Portraits in 2004, Hellen van Meene: New Work in 2006, and Hellen van Meene: tout va disparaitre in 2009. She lives and works in Heiloo in the Netherlands and is represented by galleries in London, New York and Tokyo.
“Working with photography is a fast way for me to connect with my subject. For me the loveliest way of making photographs is when I meet someone in the street and for whatever reason I feel connected with that person. I will then try to find a way of making a beautiful photograph of them. Sometimes, I will try and find a location close to where I met the person and other times, I will already have a location in mind that I have researched.
I may try and find a subject that fits the profile of the location I have in mind, for example, if I have an old house, I will look for someone who is appropriate visually for the wallpaper in that house or the light there.
I love making photographs, especially when I have an idea, the model is in front of me, and I am waiting for the light. I see that something is growing, the person is feeling more secure, the beauty is coming out of them. Most of the time when you photograph someone who is unfamiliar with being a model, it is really lovely when you see them opening up like a flower in front of the camera. That is why I like to work with non-professionals, there is something for me to experiment with, I can have my input into the photograph. When I am with professional models there is not so much for me to gain. I love to get into the emotion of the person who is not used to being photographed, someone who doesn’t realise how beautiful they are. There is a wonderful communication between us.
I like to work with daylight, it allows me to respond to the model, just as the light touches their face, or the hair or the background. I don’t really like working in studios where everything is fixed and there are no spontaneous moments of light. When the light goes in and out you have to think quickly how you want the model to pose. The changing of the daylight on the materials in the photograph is the best way for me to communicate what I have in my mind.
Photography is my language, and my way of translating my ideas to an audience that are willing to see my photographs.”
© Grant Scott 2026
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