Bio

I’m Alyssa van Heyst (1990), a photographer and visual storyteller based in Delft, the Netherlands, where I have my studio on the Rotterdamseweg. From there, I work on a wide range of assignments throughout the Netherlands and occasionally abroad.

My background lies in professional sports: for many years, I spent every day on the tennis court, focused on performance and improvement. The discipline, concentration, and dedication I developed during that time continue to shape the way I work as a photographer. After my sports career, I taught tennis and later worked as a primary school teacher. Both roles required patience, observation, and empathy. Qualities that are now essential to my photography.

Photography has always been my passion. I started taking photos at the age of fifteen and founded my own business when I was twenty. As a self-taught photographer, I’ve learned through experience, guided in my early years by mentors Henk Koster and Hans Willink, who helped me develop my own style and approach.

I work across portrait, corporate and documentary photography, with clients ranging from commercial organizations, sports federations to governmental institutions.

Alongside commissioned work, I dedicate much of my time to personal and independent projects. I’m currently developing a project about Java, Indonesia, the birthplace of my grandmother, and working on a continuation of my book Gesloten (“Closed”), in which I revisit thirty cities and rephotograph them exactly five years after my original pandemic series.

My work is defined by a calm, natural style and a strong eye for detail. As a visual storyteller, I aim to capture authenticity and quiet emotion. My background in sports and education allows me to combine discipline and focus with empathy and intuition. A balance that gives my photography its strength and serenity.

Artist Statement

What happens when you slow down and truly look?

For me, photography has always meant more than capturing an image. As a child, I learned early on to observe closely in order to feel safe. To notice in small details what was really happening. Photography is my attempt to hold on to the beautiful moments I wish to cherish. Whether it’s people, nature, or places, my urge to preserve comes from a deep need to capture the fleeting beauty in the everyday.

One encounter that expressed this feeling was with Emma, an 89-year-old woman I photographed in my studio in Delft. When I asked her what the secret was to living such a long life, she replied: “Love.” That answer touched me deeply. In my work, I search for that same connection for silence, presence, and attention to the moment.

Photography entered my life later, after an intense period in the world of tennis. Slowly, I realized I would not reach the absolute top and with that realization came the need for a new passion. Unexpectedly, I found it in photography. I bought my first camera without knowing exactly why. Only later did I understand that I was searching for something to process, to slow down, to feel.

The camera became a safe space for me, a way to view and explore the world. Through mentors like Henk Koster and workshops with Hans Willink, I discovered that photography is far more than recording an image. It is a way of seeing, of being fully present with what is, especially with what often goes unnoticed and capturing its essence.

My work is minimalist, raw, and natural. In portraits I seek unguarded moments, in landscapes a sense of space. What drives me is the desire to capture beauty that often slips by unnoticed. Perhaps because I once missed it, I now treasure it all the more.

The images I create are an invitation to slow down, to feel what we might otherwise overlook. They reveal the warmth hidden in small, quiet moments. This is what my photography is about: making a connection with the world around me by pausing and with loving attention, truly feeling.