Portrait nominee

“Through the Veil” explores the quiet dignity and resilience of women and people living behind fragile layers — fabric, dust, light, or social distance.
Each veil becomes both a protection and a revelation, filtering beauty through adversity.
In the soft transparency, I seek traces of grace, strength, and humanity that persist beyond what is seen.

The series was born between the Mahakumbh, a sacred gathering held only once every 144 years on the banks of the Ganges, and the contemplative silence of Benares, where faith becomes light and prayer takes the form of colour. Amidst the crowds and along the ghats, I was drawn to the silent poetry of gestures and fabrics — veils of saffron, white or red, breathing in the heat and dust.
Between devotion and stillness, the veil becomes a metaphor of existence: what hides, what protects, and what reveals.

A committed humanist, Carine Doutrelepont is a Belgian fine-art photographer, author, lawyer, and academician of the Royal Academy of Belgium. She bridges reason and emotion through a form of poetic realism where colour, light, and humanity intertwine. Her work reflects both intellectual rigor and deep empathy for the living world.

For over a decade, her images have celebrated the resilience and fragility of both nature and humanity — from volcanic landscapes to portraits honouring women, children, and minorities. She has travelled across continents, exploring light as a universal language and the bond uniting humankind and the Earth.

In 2024, her major solo exhibition “Brûlures” at La Boverie Museum of Contemporary Art (Liège) occupied over 800 m² and presented 120 photographs, alongside her book ÉPHÉMÈRE (La Martinière, Paris, 2024). Her work has been shown at the Musées de Mons, the Cube and Scope Art Fairs (New-York and Miami), Valverde Art Gallery (Paris and Brussels), International Art Bridge (Frankfurt), and at Degroof-Petercam and the Brussels Parliament.

As an autodidact, Carine has collaborated with several renowned photographers. Through her lens, she seeks to reveal the beauty and depth of landscapes and beings, and to celebrate diversity, empathy, and theshared essence of being human.