Heleen Van Maele

bio

Heleen Van Maele grew up surrounded by stacks of paper and printing presses in her family's printing business, developing a love for design and imagery almost by osmosis. After obtaining a Master of Fine Arts in Photography, she worked as a freelance photographer for various advertising agencies, but gradually found greater fulfilment in independent work and in mentoring young photographers. Her images hover between intuition and form, reflecting a sustained drive to explore the power of visual expression. Her first artistic presentation was at the Bruges FotoFestival. She was later selected to take part in ‘Unknown Masterpieces’ at Cultuurcentrum Scharpoord in Knokke-Heist. Today, she combines teaching with her own practice as a photographer, continuing to search for images that look beyond the surface.