Wesley Verhoeve | Portrait Photographer & Filmmaker

I’m excited to announce that my new photo book, “NOTICE Journal, Volume One,” is now available for preorder! 🙌 Preorder link is in bio, currently €10 OFF for the EARLY BIRDS! Your support means the world in helping me bring this project to life. Spreading the word by sharing it would also be greatly appreciated! ❤️ Ships WORLDWIDE Nov 25th. This is my first book about Amsterdam, shot entirely on film with a 1964 half-frame camera over three spring seasons. The project reflects the nostalgia and hope that spring brings, and how making art can help us process life’s challenges and transitions. Photography became a form of meditation for me—like therapy, but with a camera. The half-frame format was perfect for this, allowing me to show two images side by side in a diptych, capturing how one moment connects to the next. It’s a visual representation of moving forward while looking back. The book is limited to 500 copies, including a Special Edition (only 50 copies) with a beautiful, wall-worthy print. WORLDWIDE SHIPPING. Grateful for my incredible collaborators, who helped make this book possible: • Design: @danrubin • Cover: @mxwllgeorge • Essay: @carolinecala • Recipe: @hettymckinnon • Word mark: @jessicahische • Illustrated map: @jeff_the_peff • Developing/scanning: @carmencitafilmlab • Printing: @robstolk.amsterdam ❤️ • Film: @kodak @kodakprofessional @kodakprofessional_europe @filmferrania Surprise last image which is not in the book but captures some of my emotions making it.

New film stock alert! My friend Simon needed new headshots. I had just received a secret roll of @harmanphoto ’s new experimental film, Azure Switch, before it was announced. Instead of making a normal review, we made this surrealist short film. Not an ad. Full behind the scenes story in my newsletter Process this Sunday. Written and Directed by @wesley Cinematography and Edit by @gene.freidenfelds at Tabula Rasa Productions Co-Starring the brilliant @simonfeilder and hilarious @jens.van.kamp Shot at @studio13amsterdam Developed and scanned by @carmencitafilmlab #harmanazure

New portfolio website coming very soon, working through some of my favorite portraits today, and tackling the photo journalism, travel and lifestyle portfolios early next week. It’s such a privilege to elicit all the beautiful memories associated with these portraits of very special people all over the world. This is just a random sample of ten that will end up on the new website. I’ll write more about building a new portfolio in my newsletter soon: www.ReadProcess.co

Isis van der Wel (@isisvanderwel ) is a DJ, producer, curator, and advisor. She has been personally connected to Ruigoord since 1975 and professionally since 2000. I owe Isis a great deal of gratitude for her caring and kind support in helping make my community documentary project about Ruigoord happen. I could not have done it without her help navigating this wonderful community, communicating with everyone, and creating a warm and welcoming environment of trust and creativity. Thank you, dear Isis. Ruigoord is an artist village on the western edge of Amsterdam, surrounded by the industrial port but never swallowed by it. Since the 1970s, a community of artists, makers, and free spirits has lived and worked here on its own terms, protecting a way of life that feels increasingly rare. Being welcomed and trusted to make these portraits was very special to me. Sitting with each person, I kept thinking about how much we need places like this, where imagination is treated as essential rather than optional. I photographed 68 members of the Ruigoord community. Limited edition zine coming soon. Ruigoord forever! Assist: @lyds.lens_ @hammondfoster

SELF REFLECTION — Every Monday I search my photo archive by typing in a word and seeing what comes back. This week’s word was “reflection,” and I decided to go a little meta and pick 19 mirror self-portraits. The second to last one is obv a @noahkalina homage, and the last one is the silliest self portrait I ever took. It’s fun to look back at these and remember where I was, geographically and otherwise. Brooklyn | Zandvoort | Amsterdam | Vancouver | Tokyo | Paris | Berlin Searched with @excire_germany #ad

Ruigoord is an artist village on the western edge of Amsterdam, surrounded by the industrial port but never swallowed by it. Since the 1970s, a community of artists, makers, and free spirits has lived and worked here on its own terms, protecting a way of life that feels increasingly rare. Being welcomed and trusted to make these portraits was very special to me. Sitting with each person inside the hand-painted former church at the heart of the village, I thought about how much we need places like this, where imagination is treated as essential rather than optional, and where people are free to live and create on their own terms.
 Here are 8 of the 68 community members I photographed:
 Tara Kleij (@sunfoodyoga ) is a dedicated yogini who organizes soulful retreats in India, Spain, and the Netherlands. She has been coming to Ruigoord since childhood, about fifty years ago. Inti Meijs is a mystery with a warm smile. Michael Kamp (@bewithmichael ) is a theatre maker with many passions. He has been involved with Ruigoord since the early 1990s and built his own studio there, @salonruigoord , in 2003. Viyan Bedawi (@viyanr0se ), a neuroscientist with over a decade of experience in navigating the psychedelic field. She is deeply involved in MDMA-assisted therapy research for PTSD and co-manages @salonruigoord . Myra Driessen works at the intersection of culture, music, and urban innovation. Jefta Hoed is an Amsterdam-based independent artist working with collage, de-collage, installations, and participatory projects. His work explores imagination, uncertainty, and the transformation of everyday materials Tycho Hellinga (@tychohellinga ) was born in Ruigoord and works as an independent program maker and organizer, collaborating with a variety of cultural and creative organizations. Noumi Hellinga moved to Ruigoord as a toddler and is passionate about designing and building community events. More soon, including a limited edition zine. Assist: @lyds.lens_ @hammondfoster

Ruigoord is an artist village on the western edge of Amsterdam, surrounded by the industrial port but never swallowed by it. Since the 1970s, a community of artists, makers, and free spirits has lived and worked here on its own terms, protecting a way of life that feels increasingly rare. Being welcomed and trusted to make these portraits was very special to me. Sitting with each person, I thought about how much we need places like this, where imagination is treated as essential rather than optional, and where people are free to live and create on their own terms.
 Here are 10 of the 68 community members I photographed:
 Hennie van der Vegt (@Vandervegt_painter ) is a painter who has worked from a studio in Ruigoord for nearly 40 years. He also keeps a horse, a goat, and chickens. Li van der Linden was born in Ruigoord and during the world-famous Landjuweel festivities he is one of the hot air balloon inflation specialists. Margrid van der Linden has been chronicling the going-ons of Ruigoord since 1974 in her extensive diaries. She was there for the start of the impactful Amsterdamse Ballon Gezelschap. More on Margrid soon. Anna Gray (@annagray.art ) is a visual artist and jewelry designer. A longtime friend of Ruigoord, she opened her studio there in January 2026.
 Jacques Povee is a music producer, promoter, and DJ known as DJ Chaakra. He settled in Ruigoord as an environmental activist to protect the village from the harbor’s construction. Eva Luna (@evalunadoula ) is a free spirit and world traveler. She works with horses, children, and pregnant women. Laurien SHE (@shesnowapple ) is a composer and musician who enjoys creating site-specific theatre with other artists. Maaike Butter (@la.atelier.voyage ) is a costume designer and performance artist who manages the Ruigoord costume attic, where she maintains, alters, creates, and collects costumes and accessories. Sorcha (@buiten_delijntjes ) has spent her entire life at Ruigoord. She is the programmer and curator of the children’s activities at Ruigoord. Ruben Lodeizen is a multidisciplinary creative. He has been connected to Ruigoord since childhood. Assist: @lyds.lens_ @hammondfoster

SPRINGTIME - The season finally turned, so that’s the word I searched my archives for: springtime. Ten photos came back from Berlin, Amsterdam, Brooklyn, Joigny, and Vancouver, shot years apart, connected only by the feeling of light getting longer and flowers coming back outside.

If you like cute animals, make sure to check the fifth and especially the last picture.
 Searched with @excire_en , which is how I find threads across twenty years of work in a few seconds instead of a few hours. #ad

So thrilled to be launching the newest Amsterdam edition of The Good Word at the legendary @athenaeumnieuwscentrum ! Curated with our dear friend @wesley , it features 13 amazing Dutch artists and writers filling the pages with wonder and soul. AMS friends please stop by 5:00-7:00pm, meet the artists, grab a copy or two and celebrate the insane talent on display.

Ruigoord is an artist village on the western edge of Amsterdam, surrounded by the industrial port but never swallowed by it. Since the 1970s, a community of artists, makers, and free spirits has lived and worked here on its own terms, protecting a way of life that feels increasingly rare. Ruigoord is a big community, that consists of many smaller communities, including this lovely family of mother, father, and daughter: Gea, David, and Chandra. Being welcomed and trusted to make these portraits was very special to me. Sitting with each person inside the hand-painted former church at the heart of the village, I thought about how much we need places like this, where imagination is treated as essential rather than optional, and where people are free to live and create on their own terms.
 Here are 3 of the 68 community members I photographed: Gea Schoenmakers (@gea.schoenmakers ) is a goldsmith and jewelry designer. She has been connected to Ruigoord since 1988 and has had a studio there since 1990. Chandra Frank (@chandraestherstella ) grew up in Ruigoord and is a dancer, performance artist and birth worker. David Frank has been part of Ruigoord since the late 1970s. Although he does not consider himself a creative, he was a longtime caretaker and learned a great deal about himself through life in the village. Assisted by @lyds.lens_ and @hammondfoster

Ruigoord is an artist village on the western edge of Amsterdam, surrounded by the industrial port but never swallowed by it. Since the 1970s, a community of artists, makers, and free spirits has lived and worked here on its own terms, protecting a way of life that feels increasingly rare. Being welcomed and trusted to make these portraits was very special to me. Sitting with each person inside the hand-painted former church at the heart of the village, I thought about how much we need places like this, where imagination is treated as essential rather than optional, and where people are free to live and create on their own terms.
 Here are 8 of the 68 community members I photographed:
 Iris Freie is one of the few people in Ruigoord who is not primarily an artist. Within the village she is mainly involved in governance and organization.
 @ladyhedy.ornamento — Hedy van den Berg is a stained-glass artist with a studio in Ruigoord since 2014. Henk Witte Aap is a poet and painter and has a one-man puppet drum orchestra. He is also the editor of the NRC: the Nieuwe Ruigoordse Courant. Irene Blackstone is a training actor and observing participant, with a passion for acting and personal development. Silvia Radio Geluiden — Sylvia is the creator of Ruigoord Radio, broadcasting livestreams from events and shows in Ruigoord. Daan Aarnouste — Daan is a bartender and all-round helper around the church and village of Ruigoord. @mayalink — Maya Link is a singer, performer, theatre maker, DJ, and festival programmer. @jollymangos — Coen Gulcher is a musician and creative entrepreneur. More soon, including a limited edition zine. Assist: @lyds.lens_ @hammondfoster

Ruigoord is an artist village on the western edge of Amsterdam, surrounded by the industrial port but never swallowed by it. Since the 1970s, a community of artists, makers, and free spirits has lived and worked here on its own terms, protecting a way of life that feels increasingly rare. Being welcomed and trusted to make these portraits was very special to me. Sitting with each person inside the hand-painted former church at the heart of the village, I thought about how much we need places like this, where imagination is treated as essential rather than optional, and where people are free to live and create on their own terms.
 Here are 7 of the 68 community members I photographed: Nicky Oosterbaan is a trained goldsmith and stained glass artist. He first came to Ruigoord to help restore the church’s stained-glass windows, developing his own technique during the process. 
 @sanderivovandriel — Sander Ivo van Driel is the Art, Theatre & Performance Coordinator for St. Landjuweel. His work moves between theatre, ritual, music, and visual art. @inphiknightdj — Thomas Meijer is a philosopher, DJ, poet, and photographer. Since 2012 he has been active in Ruigoord as an artist with the collective At World’s End. @Lunarosa_moonrose_ — Luna is a multidisciplinary artist working across dance, performance, and visual art, while also creating cakes and catering experiences. David Buitenman is responsible for the maintenance of Ruigoord church, terrain, and the atelier’s. He does this in partnership with Dick Koopmans. @maartjevanderhoeven — Maartje is an entrepreneur, community builder and artist of life. She has been part of Ruigoord since 2013 @masjaottenheimplomp — Masja Ottenheim is a visual artist. Her colorful drawings combine unexpected perspectives and characters—from political figures to cultural icons—creating imaginative visual stories that invite reflection on social themes and peace. More soon, including a limited edition zine. Assist: @lyds.lens_ @hammondfoster