This work entitled, "Sarah", is part of a series depicting eight young Moroccan and Turkish girls. These girls are all seen wearing headscarves, which in part emphasize the distinctive characteristics of their faces. There is an undeniable social context within this series, consistent throughout much of Van Balen’s works, which creates a unique relationship and contextual dialogue between the audience and the works themselves.

Céline Van Balen (b. 1965, Amsterdam, Netherlands) began her career as a photographer in 1991 when she was first exposed to the genre through a class at Gerrit Rietveld Academie. Since then, she has developed her distinct style and created a unique manner of portraying her figures through close-up images. These portraits depict individuals of all ages and of differing cultures that are compositionally displayed as singular entities, without the company of other figures or background elements. These people become the characters of her photographs, each telling their own story and expressing their personalities. These themes of individualism and the expression of people as they truly exist, imperfections and all, are underlying sources of inspiration for van Balen and have contributed to her oeuvre of captivating photographs. Her works have been featured in various exhibitions, including So Close So Far Away, Museum het Domein, Sittard, Netherlands (2008); Girls on the Verge- Portraits of Adolescence, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (2007); and In Sight: Contemporary Dutch Photography, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (2005).

Selected Public Collections:
Frans Hals Museum (Haarlem, Netherlands)
Museu d´Art Contemporani de Barcelona - MACBA (Barcelona, Spain)
ARTIUM Centro-Museo Vasco de Arte Contemporáneo (Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain)