Bio & Contact EN

“Why would you lie down on a mown field when you are more comfortable in the tall grass of the roadside?”

In both my daily life and my working existence, I feel drawn to the unconventional and the unknown. I hold autonomy, freedom, and curiosity in high regard, and cherish the ability to marvel at anything and everything. You could say: if Mowgli and Pippi Longstocking had had a child, it would have been me. Thus, my life path and its series of choices have led to me living on wheels since 2021, to preferring to go off the beaten track, and regularly trying out new things.

Most of the inspiration for my personal projects stems from wonder at nature and the magic that can be found in the mundane. In my commercial work I enjoy working in places where the senses are tickled and am therefore specialized in food and interior photography, with a dose of brand visualization on the side.

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My fascination with photography began around the age of ten, when I captured everything I found beautiful with a yellow, plastic 35mm camera that I had diligently saved up for. Years and multiple cameras followed, and capturing my family and neighborhood gave way to portrait photography for the school yearbook. Around the time of my final exams, everything clicked and I began to pursue my dream, which led me to the Fotovakschool in Amsterdam. A few years after graduating (2009), I continued my education at the Royal Academy of Visual Arts in The Hague. While completing and obtaining my propaedeutic degree in 2015, my life took a drastically different turn, causing me to decide not to continue with art school. In the years that followed, I explored both the outside world and my inner world, and alongside occasional photographic and graphic assignments, I worked mainly in another field. In 2022, I gave hearing to my yearning for a different way of life and traded my apartment in Haarlem for a vintage van I like to call Villa Vagabond, from which I work and live to this day. That journey through the world and back to myself brought me back to where it all began: the deep-rooted love for everyday aesthetics and an irrepressible urge to capture everything that brings me in that state of wonder.

At this moment (June 2026), I am working on two brand visualizations: one for a forest house and one for a writers’ collective. For both projects, I am combining photography with web design into a visual whole to attract the right guests/clients. Additionally, I am designing the layout and cover for a doctoral thesis.

Although this may sound like quite the workload I always love to hear from you if you need a creative for your project, business or brand, and feel like we could be a fit. I’ll be more than happy to give you a timeframe in which I could be of service to you.

One of my personal dreams and goals is designing album covers for (emerging) artists. If you know an artist or are an artist yourself, I would love to get in touch to see if we can align our visions and if I can create something that seamlessly matches your sound.

Are you curious about what happens behind the scenes and do you want to stay up to date? Then I might have something nice for you: on my Patreon page, I share my creative processes and updates on my ongoing projects, alongside other texts and reflections.

Currently located in the area of Amsterdam (NL) but willing to drive your way (or fly if there’s oceans between us).

mail: renee[at]reneejansen.com
phone: +31 6 42 10 11 17
Instagram // Patreon // Pinterest
KVK 34318835