With an eye for the human and a heart for the personal.

My artistic photography always revolves around people. It's about what connects us deeply, what moves us internally, what hurts us emotionally, or what gently touches us. These are images that don't just capture superficially, but truly empathize. They arise from an inner impulse, an intense personal resonance, a profound emotional interest. My artistic photography always revolves around people. It's about what connects us deeply, what moves us internally, what hurts us emotionally, or what gently touches us. These are images that don't just capture superficially, but truly empathize. They arise from an inner impulse, an intense personal resonance, a profound emotional interest.

Paper Cut-Outs

In addition to my photographic work, I also create delicate, carefully crafted, and highly detailed paper cut-outs. These works, like my photographs, express a narrative visual language. They tell stories, reveal emotions, and make inner worlds visible. In these paper-cut works, too, the human being is symbolically the focus. Their contours, their various forms and shapes, but also their absence, which often carries just as much significance as their presence. Particularly fascinating are the fleeting traces that people leave in the light like delicate shadows, reflections, and spaces that become visible and tangible in the paper cuts.

Embroidery

Furthermore, I frequently use borders to frame my images, thus lending them an additional, often narrative, dimension. These frames not only serve as an aesthetic conclusion, but also create a deliberate boundary between the image content and the surrounding space. They direct the eye, enhance the visual impact, and offer the viewer a conscious introduction to the depicted scene. The combination of image and border creates an interaction that further highlights the interplay of inside and outside, form and emptiness, and presence and absence. Thus, the borders contribute to deepening the emotional and visual levels of my works and intensifying the dialogue between the work and the viewer.

Born in the Netherlands and at home in Vienna.

I was born and raised in the Netherlands and live and work in Vienna, where I find inspiration amidst the silence and sounds of the city.

My works emerge slowly and with great mindfulness, from observation, intuition, and a deep inner desire to give form to the invisible. They are often silent processes in which looking, feeling, and waiting are just as important as the actual creation. Thus, my works develop layer by layer until they express what is difficult to capture in words.

I am not just a photographer. I am a seeker, a listener, a visual storyteller. Always on the trail of what becomes visible in people if you look closely.

If you are interested in one of my artworks or in collaborating with me, you can email me at helen@hela.photos