March 8, 2024
Project: Debaltsevo, Where Are You?
Debaltsevo, Where Are You? is selected for the Best Dutch Book Designs 2023 (student jury) amongst a lot of other beautiful books!
December 15, 2023
Project: Debaltsevo, Where Are You?
Debaltsevo, Where Are You is also chosen to be part of the top 10 most impressive and beautiful Photobooks of The Netherlands according to NRC! Click here to read the full article (In Dutch).
“A beautifully sensitive and personal account of a search for her roots.” (Rianne van Dijck)
December 8, 2023
Project: Debaltsevo, Where Are You?
Happy and honored that Debaltsevo, Where Are You is chosen to be part of the top 10 best Photobooks of The Netherlands according to Volkskrant! Click here to read the full article (In Dutch).
“What started in 2013 with personal questions to her demented grandmother has grown into a large project in which the photographer tries to get closer to Debaltsevo in circumferential movements. She has old photos of her grandmother, from the time when the city still belonged to the Soviet Union. She finds Ukrainian relatives who fled the city and, following the example of her grandmother, tell her about their old lives.” (Merel Bem)
June 20, 2023
Project: Debaltsevo, Where Are You?
Very happy to announce that my book Debaltsevo, Where Are You? is shortlisted for the Arles Book Awards 2023 (France) in the category Photo-Text Book Award!✨ Check this link for more info.
April 6, 2023
Project: Debaltsevo, Where Are You?
Save the date! On the 6th of April, the FOTODOK Book Talks will take place in TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht.
With photographer Vanessa Winship about her latest book “Snow”. Karine Zenja Versluis talks about her recently published book Debaltsevo, Where Are You? “In Freedom is Not Free”, Mashid Mohadjerin examines what freedom means. In this live talk show, photographer and photo book lovers Rob Hornstra & Giya Makondo-Wills interview the story makers – photographers, designers and publishers. They share special stories about a variety of subjects with the audience. Doors open at 19:30. The event starts at 20:00 and ends at 21:30. You can book your tickets via this link.
February 23, 2023
Project: Debaltsevo, Where Are You?
“Versluis has succeeded in creating an exciting testimony to her time, which, with its mixture of old family pictures, contemporary portraits, letters and texts, poignantly presents the importance of family and of history.”
Ulrich Rüter wrote a beautiful review about Debaltsevo, Where Are You for Leica Fotografie International. Click on this link to read it.
February 20, 2023
Project: Debaltsevo, Where Are You?
(In Dutch). Voor Villamedia, website over journalistiek, schreef ik een artikel over de “making of” van Debaltsevo, Where Are You? Via deze link kun je het lezen.
February 19, 2023
Project: Debaltsevo, Where Are You?
(In Dutch): Laura Stek maakte de prachtige radio-documentaire ‘ Naar het hart van de Donbas,’ over mijn project Debaltsevo, Where Are You? voor ‘Het Spoor terug’ van OVT’ (vpro). Daarnaast vertelt oud-voetballer Evgeniy Levchenko over persoonlijke ervaringen uit zijn jeugd en familie en zijn band met Oekraïne.
Om te luisteren, klink op deze link.
February 19, 2023
Project: Debaltsevo, Where Are You?
Debaltsevo, Where Are You? book and exhibition is launched! The upcoming weeks there are several exhibitions to see the story:
- Framer Framed, Amsterdam (Feb 19 - March 5, 2023) - FOTODOK, Utrecht (Feb 24 - May 14, 2023) - OBA Oosterdok (public library, Amsterdam (March 9 - April 29, 2023)
February 24, 2023
Project: Debaltsevo, Where Are You?
Debaltsevo, Where Are You? will be part of a group exhibition at FOTODOK, Utrecht from February 24 - April 30, 2023.
Шепоти та крики. Голоси українських фотографок
Fluister & schreeuw. Stemmen van Oekraïense fotografes
Whispers and Shouts. Voices of Ukrainian Women Photographers
Whispers and Shouts. Voices of Ukrainian Women Photographers gathers stories of war and displacement by artists of Ukrainian origin. For more info, click here.
February 19, 2023
Project: Debaltsevo, Where Are You?
Finally, after more than ten years my project Debaltsevo, Where Are You? will see its light! On February 19, the book launch and opening of the exhibition will be at Framer Framed Amsterdam. Exhibition is from February 19 till March 5, 2023. For more info click here.
September, 2022
Project: Debaltsevo, Where Are You?
Good news! The amazing book publisher The Eriskay Connection will be publish my upcoming book Debaltsevo, Where Are You? that will see its light in February 2023.
September 5, 2022
Workshop: Stay Strong Photo Stories
A publication of the Stay Strong Photo Stories project is finished and for free to pick up at Framer Framed in Amsterdam!
A compilation of stories about, love, loneliness, connection made during the lockdown of 2020 and 2021 by different participants of 4 online workshop editions.
Stay Strong Photo Stories is a collaboration between Framer Framed, Picture Bridge Foundation and Karine Versluis.
June 2-9, 2022
Workshop: At Home In Molenwijk exhibition
The project Thuis in de Molenwijk will be exhibited @ FRAMER FRAMED in AMSTERDAM during the HERA conference about research about Refugee, Youth, Public Space & Artistic Practice by Universities in Newcastle, Bonn, Liege & University of Utrecht.
April 2022
Project: Work in Progress-> book, exhibition and more
Debaltsevo, Where Are You? tells a personal story about searching for your roots and the elusiveness of this search. The project asks questions about what it means to have roots in different places, both in the Netherlands and abroad. What does this say about someone? With Debaltsevo, Where Are You? I take my own migration history as a starting point and travel back to the eastern part of Ukraine .
To be expected beginning of 2023!
October 10, 2021
Workshop: At Home in Molenwijk finnisage
(In Dutch): Zondag 10 oktober om 15:00 is de afsluiting van Thuis in de Molenwijk, een foto- en verhalenproject door de ogen van Molenwijkse nieuwkomers.
In mei en juni dit jaar vonden de workshops van het project Thuis in de Molenwijk plaats in Werkplaats Molenwijk. Aan de hand van verschillende opdrachten gingen nieuwkomers uit de wijk op pad met de camera van hun smartphones om vast te leggen hoe ze hun weg vinden in de Molenwijk en daarbuiten, met als resultaat een unieke verzameling foto’s en verhalen die in de tentoonstelling te bezichtigen zijn.
Thuis in de Molenwijk is een samenwerking tussen onder andere de Universiteit Utrecht en Framer Framed, in samenwerking met Karine Versluis (Picture Bridge Foundation).
September 2021
Workshop: Portrait Photography
(In Dutch): In opdracht van het Joods Historisch Museum en in samenwerking met FOTODOK geef ik op 19 september 2021 een workshop portret fotografie met natuurlijk licht aan de hand van de tentoonstelling over Fred Stein en zijn generatiegenoten.
Voor meer informatie, zie deze link. UITVERKOCHT
Photo: Ron Jenner
July 2021
Exhibition: STOER: De Verhalen
On July 4th the exhibition STOER: De Verhalen (in English maybe best translated as 'tough' or 'cool' stories) opened at Museum De Voorde in Zoetermeer. For this commission I portrayed nine people from Zoetermeer region, who are STOER for different reasons. The museum is discussing the definition of STOER with this (and other) exhibitions during the project. Open until December 2021!
Spring 2021
Participatory projects: Picture Bridge Foundation
Together with Karijn Kakebeeke we run Picture Bridge Foundation (PBF). PBF uses (participatory) photography as a way to change perspectives and to gain new insights. Click on this link to see our website!
Credit photos: Kabo Lee (l), Moraya de Haan (r)
August 2020
Workshop: Stay Strong Photo Stories
The images made during the Stay Strong Photo Stories workshops are published on the website of Framer Framed. Click here and have a look! In collaboration with Framer Framed, I-psy art therapy open atelier program, ExpEx and Warm Welkom Amsterdam.