Mitchel van Essen is a visual anthropologist and CCA (Centre for Curating the Archives) research affiliate from the Netherlands, living in Lisbon. As a strong believer of fostering creativity through personal pursuits, he always tends to focus on the unknown and has used his camera to do so while traveling the world, working as both a camera-journalist and a photographer. He has worked alongside award-winning journalist and filmmaker Johann Abrahams, who is also the one that introduced him to the small village Genadendal (South Africa) for the first time back in 2013.
After graduating with a bachelor of Journalism degree at the University of Amsterdam, he completed his first collaborative research project: 'The Valley of Grace'. He first visited Genadendal in South Africa in 2013 during a six month internship and upon his return to the country in the following six years he resided in the village to further his research on the history of the missionary town and shot the series:`The Valley of Grace'.
The project has been exhibited at multiple venues in Amsterdam and is on display at the University of Pretoria (South-Africa) as a research project in collaboration with the Centre for Curating the Archives and Dr. Siona O'Connell (Towards Freedom II).
Next to his work as a documentary photographer and a freelance camera journalist (SABC-South Africa) he has shot and edited 'Ethiopia'. A short video that explores the poetic and lyrical nuances of Ethiopia in a visual diary, to commemorate and honour Ethiopia's most important literary figure: Laureat Tsegaye Gabre-Medhin. The short video has been showcased at the Rotterdam Film Festival.
Van Essen is currently living in Lisbon, where he is working as a freelance news photographer/correspondent while also working on a new documentary photo series.
For any inquiries or questions, please shoot an e-mail:
mitchelave@gmail.com