A series about how we learn to be seen by Belgian photographer and filmmaker Eva Verbeeck. Based in Amsterdam, Verbeeck’s work navigates the complexities of identity, belonging, gender, and the nuances of everyday life. “America’s Girls, On the Edge of a Dream” is informed by Verbeeck’s own upbringing. Having grown up in a small farm town in Belgium, Verbeeck’s idea of American came largely through images. Magazines, films, music videos—glamorous and distant.

“Years later, I began photographing girls across the United States, interested in the space between how we see ourselves and how we learn to be seen. Each girl is invited to bring something she cares about, allowing her to shape how she enters the portrait. Working with a large format camera slows the encounter down, creating space for conversation, stillness and collaboration. The photograph becomes less about capturing a fixed identity than about witnessing a moment of becoming: the uncertainty, imagination and agency of girlhood, and the quiet insistence of these young women on being seen and heard on their own terms.”

Eva Verbeeck submitted this project through the submissions section of our website. It’s free to join the Booooooom Community and share your work with us!