Hellen Van Meene

Are they still children, or are they young women? The girls Dutch photographer Hellen van Meene portrays do not themselves know. They are `growing up', in the middle of puberty, unable to cope with themselves and the world around them, with teenage pregnancy adding to the confusion in some cases. In her sensitively staged photographs whose controlled aesthetics seem only at first glance to obscure the actual theme, Hellen van Meene reflects on this difficult halfway house between uneasiness and awakening, loss of self and new self-awakening. ¦Her new book features recent portraits taken on trips across Europe, Japan, and the United States. ¦¦