An-Sofie Kesteleyn
Ghent, Belgium
An-Sofie Kesteleyn was born in Oudenaarde, Belgium, and took up photography when she was 18. In 2011 she gained a master’s degree in photography from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent (KASK). Immediately after that, An-Sofie moved to Amsterdam and started working as a freelance photographer for the Dutch daily De Volkskrant. Today she lives back in Belgium and also works for De Standaard (BE) and Vrij Nederland (NL). An-Sofie combines her assignments with personal, independent photo-essays, focusing mainly on people and the ways they live.
2015 - Kolga Tbilisi Award, 2015 - IPA, 2014 - Unicef Photo of the Year Award, 2014 - Lens Culture Portrait Awards, 2013 - Joop Swart Masterclass (World Press Photo), 2012 - Zilveren Camera Awards (NL), 2011 - Magnum Expression Award (USA), 2011 - Ian Perry Scholarship
- Editorial
- Environment
- Portrait
- Reporting
A lamb named Beauty
An-Sofie Kesteleyn
A lamb named Beauty shows the life of two twin sisters Kimberly and Gwendolyn. The series started in 2007, when the sisters were 10 years old.They live in a Flemish village, close to where I grew up. I tried to give a candid impression about how the twins take care of each other, and the many animals that are gathered around them. The twins seem to live in a domain all of their own, taking strength from their love from one another. I got to know the girls when they were ten years old and have continued to photograph them off and on ever since. As the twins grow up, carefree play makes way for increasing self-consciousness.
In December 2015, they turned nineteen.
My first rifle
An-Sofie Kesteleyn
Crickett rifles are designed for children between the ages of five and twelve. The .22-calibre guns are lightweight, made to smaller proportions, and come in a variety of colors.
During a road trip from Ohio all the way down to Texas, I went from range to range, from gun shop to gun shop, house to house, looking for children with a Crickett to photograph. I wanted to capture them in their own environment, with their own first rifles, and see what they were afraid of.
