ABOUT
ELIZABETH ALDERLIESTEN
Dordrecht (NL), 1972
Is a Dutch artist working primarily with analog photography. Her practice is rooted in slow, physical processes and explores tensions between instinct and control, identity and adaptation, concealment and revelation. She lives and works in Antwerp, Belgium.
ARTIST STATEMENT
I work with analog photography as a foundation. The slow and physical process allows me to focus, to observe more deeply, and to create a certain stillness in both the image and myself.
Throughout the entire process, whether during printing, photomontage, re-photographing, digital manipulation, or hand-editing my photographs using mixed media, I alter the image step by step. Through layering, covering, and reworking, the image shifts from mere documentation to transformation. By reworking the physical image, I initiate a metamorphosis, not only of the photograph itself but also of what it reveals.
In my work, I investigate tension: between instinct and control, adaptation and resistance, visibility and concealment. These themes are deeply tied to my own history. Growing up with a neurodivergent way of thinking and feeling, I often felt like I had to suppress my natural impulses in order to fit in. That suppression created friction, between who I am and who I was expected to be. This inner negotiation has given me a sharpened sensitivity to duality, transformation, and identity as something fluid.
I don’t approach my images as fixed statements. They are visual dialogues, shaped by memory, perception, and the body. Photography offers me structure. Alteration is my language.
CV
EDUCATION
2024 - 2026 KASKA dko, Antwerp (BE)
2022 - 2023 Nearest Truth Photobook Program, Neu Ulm (DE), Istanbul (TR), Athens (GR)
2022 Workshop 'Between The Hammer And The Anvil' with Dirk Braeckman and Brad Feuerhelm, Athens (GR)
2020 - 2022 Le Masterklass with Klavdij Sluban, Paris (FR)
2019 - 2020 Masterclass with Machiel Botman, Haarlem & Amsterdam (NL)
2014 - 2019 Photo Academy, Amsterdam (NL)
EXHIBITIONS
2025
The InBetween (Solo) ~ Cultuur Centrum Hasselt ~ Hasselt (BE)
Faces ~ Art-Icon ~ Arles (FR)
Photo Basel ~ IN-DEPENDANCE Gallery ~ Basel (CH)
2024
Corporeality ~ Art-Icon ~ Paris (FR)
Where Silence Meets Me (Duo) ~ IN-DEPENDANCE Gallery ~ Antwerp (BE)
[re]DISCOVERIES ~ Loods6 ~ Amsterdam (NL)
2023
Remember Who You Once Were (Solo) ~ Noort ~ Noordwijk (NL)
AIMPE ~ Inbe Art Space ~ Yoshinogawa-shi, Tokushima (JP)
2022
Printsale for Ukraine ~ Gallery Pexpo ~ Amsterdam (NL)
2021
Wander (Solo) ~ Kunstlijn Haarlem / Studio Evelijn Ferwerda ~ Haarlem (NL)
Gleu ~ Thomstudio ~ Amsterdam (NL)
2020
FRESH EYES Photo ~ Westergas ~ Amsterdam (NL)
Wander (Solo)~ Galerie KRUIS-WEG68 ~ Haarlem (NL) - cancelled -
2019
GUP New Photo Talent 2020 ~ Westergas ~ Amsterdam (NL)
Kunstlijn Haarlem (Duo) ~ Zochherlounge ~ Bloemendaal (NL)
See Me (Duo) ~ Zocher Lounge ~ Bloemendaal (NL)
Podium MH ~ Museum Hilversum ~ Hilversum (NL)
Expo.Fos ~ Loods 6 ~ Amsterdam (NL)
Ode aan het analoge ~ Kunstkapel ~ Amsterdam (NL)
2018
James Joyce Festival ~ Oosterkerk ~ Amsterdam (NL)
Pop-up Gallery ~ Bloemendaal (NL)
Open Atelier ~ Santpoort Zuid (NL)
2017
KKB Fiore ~ Castellvm Aqvae ~ Bloemendaal (NL)
KKB Fiore ~ Buitenplaats Leyduin ~ Vogelenzang (NL)
Zomerfestival ~ IJmuiden (NL)
Het Oog ~ Fotoacademie ~ Amsterdam (NL)
AWARDS
2021 Haute Photographie Talent
2020 FRESH EYES Photo Talent, Cover
2020 GUP New Photo Talent
PUBLICATION ~ PRESS
2025 Robin Titchener, Remember Who You Once Were, review
2024 Art-Icon ~ Corporeality ~ Catalog
2021 FRESH EYES stories
2020 FRESH EYES Photo Talent / Cover
2020 GUP New Photo Talent
TALKS / PRESENTATIONS
2019 Podium MH ~ Museum Hilversum ~ Hilversum (NL)
RESIDENCY
2024 ArteVentura (ES)
Chateau Du Fresne (FR)
ARTISTBOOK
2025
Not Shameless ~ 180 pages, 190mm x 128mm, 50 copies, Self-Published
2024
Remember Who You Once Were ~ Offset, 40 pages, 200 x 280 mm, 150 copies including a special edition of 10 numbered & signed copies each with a different Silver Gelatin Print by the author, Self-Published
2019
About Beauty ~ Inktjet printed, Hand bound, 58 pages, 297 x 268mm, 2 copies
2018
Aging ~ Inktjet printed, Hand bound, 48 pages, 297 x 217mm, 1 copy
2017
Wie ze is ~ Inktjet printed, Hand bound, 46 pages, 297 x 219mm, 1 copy