Viviane Sassen | Viviane Sassen Photography Books
Viviane Sassen is a Dutch photographer whose distinctive visual language moves between fine art, fashion and contemporary photography. Born in Amsterdam in 1972, Sassen studied fashion design before pursuing photography at the Utrecht School of the Arts and Ateliers Arnhem. Her work is characterised by an imaginative use of colour, light, shadow, geometry and unexpected forms, creating images that often exist somewhere between reality and abstraction.
Sassen's photographic practice combines a highly developed sense of composition with a surreal and poetic approach to the everyday. Her images frequently transform bodies, landscapes and ordinary objects into enigmatic visual compositions, using cropping, shadows, saturated colour and unusual perspectives to challenge the way we perceive photographic space.
Her relationship with Africa has also played an important role in her practice. Projects such as Flamboya, Pikin Slee and Die Son Sien Alles explore landscapes, people, objects and everyday life through a deeply personal visual language. Her work moves freely between documentary observation, fashion photography and fine art, making photography itself a space for experimentation.
Among her most recognised photography books is Pikin Slee, a project photographed in a remote village on the Upper Suriname River. The book explores the beauty and sculptural qualities of everyday objects, combining informal photographs with Sassen's distinctive approach to light, form and composition. Largely photographed in black and white, Pikin Slee reflects her personal connection to the village and its surroundings.
Other major publications include Parasomnia, Flamboya, Umbra, Roxane II, Of Mud and Lotus, Heliotrope, Hot Mirror and Venus & Mercury. Parasomnia explores the ambiguous space between waking and sleeping, while Umbra investigates the shadow as a metaphor for anxiety, desire, memory, imagination and illusion.
Sassen's work has been exhibited internationally at institutions including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Photographers' Gallery and ICA in London, Nederlands Fotomuseum in Rotterdam, Fotografiska, the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago and the Venice Biennale. She has received major awards including the Dutch Prix de Rome, the ICP Infinity Award and the David Octavius Hill Medal.
At L'Imagerie, we select and offer photography books and collectible publications by Viviane Sassen for collectors, photographers, artists and anyone interested in contemporary photographic publishing. Our selection includes Pikin Slee, as well as publications featuring Sassen's wider photographic practice.
Explore our selection of Viviane Sassen photography books, discover Pikin Slee and explore the visual world of Viviane Sassen through her books and publications.