“When you work with young people, you notice they’re open and so flexible,” says photographer Hellen Van Meene to the Phoblographer in an interview. “It’s so different from working with adults or with elderly people. A young person is so open and so fresh, you can guide them much more than adults.” Hellen’s work is at the center of an exhibit at the Yancey Richardson Gallery. More importantly, though, her conceptual photographs are a type of ethereal fine art that’s really only now getting the spotlight it deserves in the gallery and museum world.
All images by Hellen van Meene. Used with permission. For more, check out her website and Instagram.
We’ve featured lots of work just like Hellen’s. Her photographs are images that are creative and dream-like — almost inspired by fairy tales. For several years, we haven’t seen work like this in museums, galleries, etc., unless it was associated with fashion. But Hellen’s work is truly art in and of itself. And we’re so incredibly elated for her and the many photographers she will hopefully inspire.
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The Origins of Hellen van Meene
In high school, Hellen realized she wanted to be a photographer — so her parents got her an analog camera. “I already made them pose and directed a lot,” she says of working with her friends. “I never made street or documentary-style photos. I always searched for interaction with the subject and directed the ‘model’ in what I thought was necessary for the photo.” Indeed, Hellen is someone who creates instead of captures.
The cat hanging from the ceiling is also real, not made by photoshop etc. The energy that comes along when you create something by yourself, to find easy solutions and not based on big money productions. Just work with what you have got. The fire photos were the first time I needed to spend more than I had ever done. The stunt team was there for safety measures…
Hellen Van Meene
She shoots with Hasselblad cameras — specifically the vintage ones in front of digital Hasselblad backs. She did this after her favorite film emulsions weren’t made anymore. “I discovered it works really well for me. I think because of the fact I still have my old camera, and the way of working has not changed,” she says. “Instead of film it is now digital.” Because of this, she’s huge on doing things in-camera.
The Creative Side
Hellen is all about photographing people in their youth. In fact, some of her latest work is all about the transformation process into adulthood. “If you’re taking portraits of someone, for example, in their forties, you find they really know what they want, so it’s more difficult to pry them open, to get into their soul, to really get a feel of the person,” she tells us. “It’s more difficult because they already know what they want from life, they already have experienced things, either positive or negative; and that results in a different outcome.” This means that Hellen can’t always realize her full creative freedom.
Hellen also tends to work with fire a lot in her images. To her, it stands for transformation, purification, and rebirth. For example, the photo of the woman and the clothesline has her father’s clothes after he passed away. The photo with the stroller on fire is more symbolic than anything else. “It is the role of expectations or dreams that will not happen. I like to make photos that can have a free interpretation by the viewer.”
Authenticity Statement
The Phoblographer works with human photographers to verify that they’ve actually created their work through shoots. These are done by providing us assets such as BTS captures, screenshots of post-production, extra photos from the shoot, etc. We do this to help our readers realize that this is authentically human work. Here’s what this photographer provided for us.