Eva Verbeeck

As a young woman, I remember staring at glossy magazines. Growing up in rural Belgium I idolized the women in these magazines the way they looked, and how they held themselves. I pasted them on my wall and dreamed of living in the United States, far from the Northern Belgian countryside. I looked at these images everyday, the ideas of beauty staring back at generations of young women. A mirror for each of us, to reconsider ourselves constantly. Our bodies are changing, showing us a reminder of time’s inevitable progression. This metamorphosis, both inevitable and emotionally charged, becomes a shared experience for generations of young women. 

In 2018 I started photographing women in the United States between six and seventeen years old, a pivotal period suspended between girlhood and womanhood. Revisiting the idea of portraiture by delving into the echoes of past teenage inquisitiveness. This body of work intertwines the past with the present, and ultimately celebrates self-discovery. A loose strand of hair, a button open, an awkward gesture, the portraits show without illusion embrace uncertainty, imperfection, and contradiction. They look at once innocent, wise, hopeful, anxious, tender, and fierce. They might remind us of our fragility and offer a bit of hope. ( 2018 - Ongoing)