About
Von Cleef
The personal work of Belgian photographer Mike Van Cleven.
Born in Oostende in 1976, based near Antwerp. Photographer and director by trade, image-maker by instinct. Von Cleef is the name he gives to the work nobody commissioned.
Statement
“I don’t photograph what happened. I photograph the moment in between, frozen in time, and leave the story for you to write.”
Mike Van Cleven
By day
Mike Van Cleven
A full-time commercial photographer and director since 2006, shooting and directing for brands such as TAG Heuer and Harley-Davidson. His productions have taken him across the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia.
By choice
Von Cleef
Where the personal work lives. No brief, no client, no deadline: series built over years, released as small limited editions. Intimate portraiture and quiet realism, in a tradition shared with the great names of fashion and portrait photography.
The path
A schooled autodidact
A camera at home from the age of five. Photography classes from secondary school on, but no art academy: what he knows, he picked up on set and on the road. Learned from professionals, mastered through experience.
- c. 1981 First contact with a camera, at home in Belgium.
- 2006 Full-time photographer and director.
- 2016 On a production trip through the American West, motel life takes over. DEAR MOTEL begins, unplanned.
- 2021 DEAR MOTEL is published as a book, with two covers.
- 2022 SALT begins: the strength of a woman, held in a single frame.
- Now SALT continues, with new work from around the Mediterranean.
How the work is made
From negative to wall
01 · Capture
Film and digital
Mostly medium format, both analogue and digital. Some works are natively panoramic, shot on film.
02 · Print
Baryta, Diasec, framed
Printed on 325 g baryta fine-art paper, mounted on 3–4 mm Diasec to exhibition standard and framed by hand in black wood or walnut veneer.
03 · Edition
Small and final
Editions are small, mostly of nine plus two artist’s proofs. Every print is signed, numbered and issued with a certificate of authenticity.
Series
Three bodies of work
Shown & seen
Exhibitions, projects and talks
- 2026 Gentleman’s Fair, Belgium · SALT
- 2021 Von Cleef Pop-Up Gallery, Antwerp · May 2021
- 2021 DEAR MOTEL, the book · Two covers, small edition
- 2008–13 Speaker at events for Apple, Hasselblad and Profoto · among others
- 2008 Belgian Chefs · Commissioned project
Collecting
A work that speaks to you?
Collecting a Von Cleef edition starts with a conversation, not a shopping cart. Let us know which work caught your eye, and we’ll reply personally with sizes and availability. Companies can also choose to rent, with the option to buy at the end.