Hi, I’m milene

With my photography I focus on humanitarian issues and cultural anthropological interest. Besides that, I am interested in human migration, by choice or by force, to find luck or safety, as a way of life as a nomad or as a way to survive as a refugee.

I like to record what strikes me and often escapes the eye of others; the unknown in the known, the unusual in the usual and the normal in the abnormal. Far and near. What fascinates me is the strange in the normal, the perfect imperfections of our existence and our way of life. I love the stories I read in people’s eyes and the history that lies behind the wrinkles on their faces.

I am at my best while travelling, exploring the different cultures with a special interest in the local cuisines and beliefs. What I find most interesting is telling people’s stories, the good and the bad, the ugly and the beautiful, the sad and the happy. I travel from remote places and indigenous tribes to location where a humanitarian crisis unfolds. 

In 2019 I published a book about a local cultural phenomenon in The Hague: Bakkie Pleuâh – it’s a Dutch photobook about traditional coffee houses in my home town.