Image stories #2: Eddy van Wessel

In Image stories, photographers discuss their work and artistic vision at Fotomuseum Hilversum.

On July 16, the guest was Eddy van Wessel.

With many years of experience in war zones, Van Wessel focuses not only on the front lines but, above all, on the people who must survive every day: soldiers, civilians in devastated cities, and refugees. His images reveal both the visible and invisible scars of war: the destruction, the fear, but also the resilience of the human spirit.

UKRAINE is more than a photo book: it is a visual and narrative monument that brings attention to the human cost of the largest war in Europe since the Second World War.

In 2023, he won both Sweden’s Årets Bild and the Dutch Zilveren Camera. This makes him the only four-time winner of the Zilveren Camera in the history of the award, which dates back to 1948. His work has been shown multiple times at Museum Hilversum. He has also been recognized by the Euro Press Awards and POY 2020 (Picture of the Year contest). Van Wessel publishes widely in international media and in the Netherlands primarily in the newspaper Trouw.