Michel Verhoef - Life’s Window

Verhoef does not seek grand gestures, but rather the subtle and unexpected. A glance, a gesture, an encounter that takes on meaning in a fraction of a second. His photographs show people as they are: uninhibited, vulnerable or self-conscious, and always authentic. They are stories without words, constructed from light, shadow and the silent tension of the moment.

Images are often presented in pairs, highlighting themes, emotions or visual similarities. Verhoef works in both black and white and colour, sometimes deliberately contrasting the two worlds. His style is layered, human and penetrating, with a love for the bokeh effect that detaches the subject from its surroundings.

Children fascinate him in particular, because they embody the transition between innocence and adulthood. Street photography allows him to capture these moments, but also to discover the poetry of everyday life. For Verhoef, photography is above all a form of personal expression: capturing stories that reveal themselves, just like that, in the middle of the street.