BIOGRAPHY
For me, photography started 35 years ago at the age of fifteen. On my mother’s birthday, my uncle Cor gave me his old darkroom equipment. I immediately became addicted to the athmosphere and excitement of printing my own photographs.
At the age of nineteen, I began my professional career as an autodidact on-the-run local photo journalist. For more than three years I covered all kind of events for local newspapers in the south of the Netherlands, racing from village to village in my Opel Kadet.
In 2000 I moved to Amsterdam where I graduated from the Photo Academy (1997-2000). I worked as a photo assistant on large commercial photo shoots and started my own business.
In 2006 I had the honor of becoming one of the twelve participants in World Press Photo’s annual Joop Swart Masterclass.
Since then I’ve been fortunate to work on assignment for magazines, newspapers, NGO's, Foundations and advertising agencies around the
world. Clients have sent me abroad more than 50 times to capture the stories of so many people.
All those encounters have changed me from a storyteller in search for thé (read: my) truth into a storyteller who tries to capture the world from the perspective of the people it affects, without dividing the world in ‘good or bad, yes or no, black or white’.
This has led to several self-initiated projects like ‘Baghdad Today’, ‘A Monday in Kabul’, ‘Outside Syria’, ‘Letters to Joep’ ‘Nederland O Nederland’, ‘The Cover’, ‘The Island of All Together’ and my new project ‘Children of the Labyrinth’ (2023).
Most of the projects have been published in leading international media. Five projects won an award at the Dutch ‘Zilveren Camera’ awards. For my most recent work, take a look at my blog.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:
'Life in Baghdad: An intimate portrait' New York Times LENS Blog (US)
''A monday, or any day, in Kabul' New York Times LENS Blog (US)
'The Pool photographer, Literally' New York Times LENS Blog (US)
'Connecting with Syrian refugees', New York Times LENS Blog (US)
‘Once upon a Greek island, migrants and toerists’, New York Times LENS Blog (US)
'The Pool photographer' New York Times Page Two (US)
'Building a bridge to Syrians', New York Times Page Two (US)
‘Des Migrants racontent a leurs enfants’ …, Le Monde (FR)
‘The giant Gas field that rocked the Netherlands’, The Wall Street Journal (US)
‘Surreal images from Belgium’s Aalst carnival’, The Washington Post (US)
‘In the Netherlands, five living generations of women’, The Washington Post (US)
'The Austrian village that's a Muslim holiday hotspot', The Guardian (UK)
'Marieke van der Velden's swimming pools' The Guardian (UK)
‘The people who fled Syria for Lebanon’ The Guardian (UK)
'This Austrian town mirrors Quran's description of Utopia', CNN Amanpour (UK)
'...Only one Austrian ski town will do', Wired (US)
‘Un giorno qualunque a Kabul ’, La Reppubblica (IT)
‘Lettere per il futuro’, Internazionale (IT)
'Dall'Uganda alla Colombia: viaggio di piscina' La Repubblica (IT)
'Pools der welt', Neue Zurcher Zeitung (CH)
'See the world through these amazing pools' Slate Magazine (US)
'When European tourists and Syrian refugees meet', Slate Magazine (US)
'Un lundi a Kaboul par Marieke van der Velden' Paris Match l'Instant (FR)
‘Pourquoi les touristes du Golfe vont dans ce coin ‘dAutriche?’, Ouest (FR)
'They come from different worlds, but they're neighbors on earth', Upworthy (US)
'This is the Afghanistan that never make it to the headlines' Business Insider (US)
One boy added teeth to his mask..’ The Observer (UK)
'Lesbos, Insel der Gegensätze', Frankfurter Allgemeine (GER)
‘Briefe von gefluchteten an ihre Kinder’, Tagesspiegel (GER)
‘Sei frei und lebe frei’, Der Spiegel (GER)
'The Island of All Together', Tages Anzeiger (CH)
'Das urlaubs-Mekka', Tages Anzeiger (CH)
‘Labirentin Cocuklari’, Atlas Dergisi (TUR)
'Humans of Syria', The Week (US)
'Faces of the day' Daily Beast (UK)
'A Monday in Kabul' Lenscratch (US)
'Pique-nique a Kaboul' 6 Mois (FR)
'Piscines du Monde' Courrier International (FR)
'Кабульные условия' Esquire (RUS)
'Daily life in Kabul photographed' Feature shoot (US)
'Another Afghanistan' Duckrabbit (UK)
'Wat New York voor westerlingen is, is Zell am See voor Arabieren', De Morgen (BE)
‘Voil Jeanetten’, De Morgen (BE)
‘Swapping sand for snow paradise in alpine Austria’, The National (UAE)
'Heel veel oma's', Volkskrant Magazine (NL)
'Vlucht verhalen', Volkskrant Magazine (NL)
'Vieze Jeanet viert carnaval', Volkskrant Magazine (NL)
‘Goedemorgen Nederland’, Volkskrant Magazine (NL)
‘Getekend’, Volkskrant Magazine (NL)
‘Een doordeweekse dag in Kabul’, Volkskrant Magazine (NL)
‘Boerka’s in de sneeuw’, Volkskrant Magazine (NL)
‘Op zoek naar de weg uit het doolhof’, Volkskrant Magazine (NL)
‘Team insanity to the rescue’, Volkskrant Vonk (NL)
'Dit is een doodgewone maandag in Kabul' NRC (NL)
'Verrassend Bagdad' NRC (NL)
'Zo zie je Bagdad maar zelden' De Correspondent (NL)
AWARDS & MASTERCLASSES:
1th prize Zilveren camera, Prijs voor Storytelling for ‘Children of the Labyrinth’ (2023).
1th prize Zilveren Camera Innovative Photojournalism for ‘The Island of All Together’.
1th prize Zilveren Camera for ‘A Monday in Kabul’.
3rd prize Zilveren Camera for ‘Swimming pools’.
3th prize Zilveren Camera for ‘das Paradies’.
PANL Award for ‘Baghdad Today.’
2th prize ADCN for ‘The Island of All Together’.
Participant Joop Swart Masterclass from World Press Photo.
TV & RADIO:
TV: Het Perfecte Plaatje 2019 (NL)
TV: Het Perfecte Plaatje 2021 (NL)
TV: Het Perfecte Plaatje 2023 (NL)
TV: Altijd wat (NL)
TV: Vrw zkt knst (NL)
TV: De grens voorbij (NL)
TV: Serious Request (NL)
TV: Onder Ons (NL)
TV: Tijd voor Max (NL)
TV: Tijd voor Max (NL)
TV: Kraak (Omroep Brabant) (NL)
TV: RTL Live (NL)
TV: TRT World (Turkey)
TV: Fotostudio de Jong (NL)
TV: TV Mondo (NL)
Radio: Kunststof (NL)
Radio: Nooit meer slapen (NL)
Radio: Radio Bloemendaal (NL)
Radio: Bureau Buitenland (NL)
More interviews, click here.
EXHIBITIONS:
2006: FOAM Groups exhibition Joop Swart Masterclass (NL)
2010: Concertgebouw (NL)
2013: Fotofestival Naarden (NL)
2013: Gallery De Gang (NL)
2015: Gallery Bergarde (NL)
2015: Kunst RAI (NL)
2015: Tropenmuseum (NL)
2016: Museum Hilversum (NL)
2016: Atrium Den Haag (NL)
2016: Nutshuis Den Haag (NL)
2016: Noordkade Veghel (NL)
2016: Screening UN head quarters NYC (US)
2016: Photofestival PhEST, Monopoly (IT)
2017: Photofestival Istanbul (TUR)
2019: Humanity House (NL)
2019: Ministry of Foreign Affairs (NL)
2019: De Hallen (NL)
2022: Museum Hilversum (NL)
2022: Viewmaster Projects (NL)
2023: Museum Hilversum (NL)
2023: Dag van de Migratie, Beatrix theater (NL)
2023: Photofestival PhEST, Monopoly (IT)
LECTURES & WORKSHOPS
2016: TED X Youth, Zurich (CH)
2016: TED X, Maastricht (NL)
2016: Fotokroniek Pakhuis de Zwijger (NL)
2016: Lecture Amnesty International (NL)
2017: Teaching workshop in Diyarbakir (TUR)
2019: Teaching Louis Zaal Meesterklas (NL)
2019: UNICEF on Tour, 7 cities (NL)
2020: Lecture St Joris Church (NL)
2022: Fotobond Nederland (NL)
2022: Premiere ‘Children of the Labyrinth’ (NL)
2023: Lecture Theater Deventer (NL)
And many more lectures and workshops, click here to view some of them. For bookings, click here.
INTERVIEWS
For a listing of interviews about my work, click here.