Artist Bio & CV - Monique van Laake Monique van Laake (1962, Newport Beach) Photographer | Visual Artist Lives and works in The Netherlands www.moniquevanlaake.nl | @mofotografie | [email protected] Profile Monique van Laake is an independant photographer and visual artist. Her work revolves around the human face as a place of complexity, desire and surrender. With a background in leadership and personal development, she brings an exceptional eye for nuance to her images. She pays attention to what is not immediately visible: a boundary in a glance, a silence beneath the skin, a desire that has not yet found language. Van Laake works with natural light and in the studio, following an intuitive, exploratory approach. In her portraits, she searches for the moment before the pose, the shift in energy, the click before the click. Her images are still or in motion, but always open. They invite you to slow down and leave room for interpretation, like a memory you can't place, but that still feels true. Education & Mentorship 2025 – Craig Fleming 2024 – Masterclass Daniel Archer 2023 – Masterclass Vincent Peters 2019 – Masterclass Albert Watson 2017 – Masterclass Rahi Rezvani 2010–2014 – Amsterdam Photo Academy Awards & Recognition (selection) 2025 – Finalist Dodho Color Awards 2025 – Commended Award, Siena Creative Photo Awards 2025 – Finalist, Dodho Fine Art Awards 2025 – Finalist, Dodho Portrait Awards 2024 – Category Winner Series, Julia Margaret Cameron Award 2024 – Category Winner Fine Art, Julia Margaret Cameron Award 2024 – Honourable Mention, Julia Margaret Cameron Award 2023 – Longlist, BBA One Shot 2022 – Shortlist, Siena Creative Awards 2017 – Finalist, Eizo Awards 2013 – Finalist, Vogue Photo Academy Exhibitions & projects (selection) 2025 - No One Knows His Face – duo-exhibition with Teun Anders, Amsterdam 2025 - Lumine: series of portraits in mixed media, collaboration with Teun Anders. The series (9 images) received a Commended Award at the prestigious Siena Creative Awards; two works were selected for an outdoor exhibition as part of a group exhibition in Sovicille (IT) 2022-2023 - Island Gallery, The Hague 2021 - Image Nation, Paris 2021 - Fondazione Luciana Matalon / Image Nation, Milan 2019 - Image Nation, Paris 2018-2019 - Painful Touch, Silence, Myth, The Wall – ArtMoeT projects, combinations of sculptures, photography and digital techniques 2019 - Group exhibitions in Paris, Lisbon, Koln, Amsterdam, Berlin, Gent Publications 2025 – Dodho Fine Art Book 2025 – Dodho Portraits 2024 – Fotonostrum Magazine – Special Edition 2020 – Digit, The Royal Photographic Society (issue #4) 2020 – Lens Magazine (issue #70) 2020 – PhotoFoodFoundation 2019 – Lens Magazine (issue #58) Collaborations Art MoeT – Creative duo with Teun Anders Van Laake has been working with artist Teun Anders since 2010. In their joint work, they combine photography, painting, sculpture and digital techniques. The result is a layered visual language in which recognition, alienation and intuition come together.