I am Belinda Van Zanen — a street, documentary and fine art photographer based in Noosa Heads, Australia.

For over 10 years I’ve traveled the world, working for different clients, including tourism boards and capturing commercial narratives. Then, in 2024, I returned to photography as an art form, studying once again at Photography Studies College in Melbourne, revisiting the essence of why I pick up a camera and to focus on my art practice.

My lens is drawn to moments of quiet ritual, to human presence beyond the screen, and to what happens when we let the world breathe around us. I work in both film and digital, capturing the authentic, the raw, the visible and invisible folds of everyday life.

In October 2025, I launched Static - a 60 page photobook conceived in Japan, exploring themes of ritual, presence, and how we spend our lives consumed by screens. This work remains a foundation for my ongoing exploration of human connection.

I am now evolving my practice through Ocean as Muse, a project inspired by the ocean’s power, rhythm, and transformative potential. Here, the water becomes both muse and collaborator, guiding my photography as I explore presence, vulnerability, and emotional depth.

My mission is to offer an antidote to life consumed through phones and filters. To slow down, to see real human shapes, textures, forms, and to invite you into presence, to ask you to breathe with the sea.

If you’re a curator, collector, collaborator, or simply someone looking to pause and reflect, I invite you to join the journey. Subscribe to my substack newsletter, follow the blog for behind‑the‑scenes diaries, and see new work released from Ocean as Muse.

— Belinda

Based in Noosa Heads. Available for gallery exhibitions, print commissions and creative collaborations.