26 Sept 2026
#69 - From Belgium to 28 American States: Eva Verbeeck on the dream behind America's Girls
What happens when a girl from a small Belgian village chases her American dream, and then spends six years listening to the dreams of American girls? My guest today is Belgian photographer and filmmaker Eva Verbeeck. She had visited more than 45 countries before she turned 25, lived in the US for many years and now works from Amsterdam. Her portraits have appeared in Le Monde, National Geographic, The Washington Post, Der Spiegel and The Telegraph.
We recorded this conversation at CC De Factorij in Zaventem, days before her exhibition America's Girls opened there. Eva photographed close to 400 girls and young women aged 6 to 18 in 28 states, always with a large format camera and never more than two negatives per girl. We talk about the claustrophobic feeling of growing up in a small town, why a war photographer's advice made her turn to a story of her own, why she chose not to publish the girls' personal stories next to their portraits, and why she cried at the printing press in Italy. She also shares how she deals with the loneliness of photography, why she chooses film over photography (or the other way around), and why she stays hopeful about the medium in times of AI.
What you'll learn in this episode
How a teenage dream in Tessenderlo, fed by magazine collages and pop culture, grew into a six-year project in the United States
Why the advice "tell a story that is of yours" made Eva step away from heavy photojournalistic assignments and turn to her own fascination
How she worked with a large format camera: self-selected participants, no Polaroids, and a strict rule of two negatives per girl
Why she chose to keep the girls' written and spoken stories private, and how that choice created a safe space for them to speak openly
What photography can do that film cannot, and why she still chooses to be hopeful about the medium in a time of AI
Free webinar
Want to know what the photographers who keep growing actually do differently? In a free webinar, I walk you through the five patterns I see again and again, in this podcast, in masterclasses and in my one-on-one mentoring, and how you can apply them in your own way. Sign up for free here: donkerekamer.com/five (http://donkerekamer.com/webinar)
Live show: De Donkere Kamer on stage in Amsterdam
On October 16, De Donkere Kamer goes on stage at Pakhuis de Zwijger in Amsterdam. We'll talk with Nadav Kander, who just opened his new show at Foam, Magnum photographer Bieke Depoorter and portrait photographer Robin de Puy, who has been photographing the US for many years. Wilfried de Jong stops by to talk about his Polaroid book, and as always, three promising photographers pitch their projects to the audience (in English too). Get your tickets here. (https://shop.weeztix.com/c566b633-af03-461f-8eb7-6c1655b83d61/tickets)
Partner of this episode
Cameranu As a photographer you need more than creativity. You also need the right tools, whether that's a new lens or a camera you can rely on during a client shoot. The specialists at Cameranu think along with you and give you honest advice. As a listener of De Donkere Kamer, you get 10% off your next purchase with code DDK10 at cameranu.be (https://www.cameranu.be/nl).
Links and resources
Free webinar (5 patterns of photographers who keep growing): donkerekamer.com/five (http://donkerekamer.com/webinar)
Live show, October 16, Pakhuis de Zwijger Amsterdam: donkerekamer.com/shows (http://donkerekamer.com/shows)
Mentoring, masterclasses and workshops: donkerekamer.com (http://donkerekamer.com)
Cameranu: cameranu.be (https://www.cameranu.be/nl) (code DDK10)
Eva Verbeeck: evaverbeeck.com (https://evaverbeeck.com)
Book: America's Girls, On the Edge of a Dream (GOST Books): gostbooks.com (https://gostbooks.com/en-us/products/america-s-girls-on-the-edge-of-a-dream)
Exhibition at CC De Factorij, Zaventem (https://www.ccdefactorij.be/)
