Bio

Willem Hansen (b. 1952) spent decades working as a commercial photographer. He created advertising images for brands such as KLM, Philips, Unilever and Coca-Cola. Alongside this commissioned work, he always kept photographing for himself, without a client and without a brief. He never showed that work to the public. Now he does, in his own gallery, Willem Hansen, in Bilthoven, the Netherlands. His personal work is intimate and contemplative. In his own words: "For the first time, I'm showing the personal work I made during my career but never exhibited. Most of it came about through associations. I see something, it reminds me of something else, and I follow that. I usually don't know beforehand where it will end."