Portrait photography for Heineken Prizes 2020

publications

Early 2022 I was commissioned to do the photography of the laureates of the Heineken Prizes 2020. A bi-annual prize for exceptional scientific research and (dutch) art by Stichting Alfred Heineken Fondsen. Due to the covid-19 travel restrictions the official portraits of the 2020 winners were postponed and I was glad to work on them now.

Portrait of Karl Deisseroth,Professor of Bioengineering and of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences at Stanford University, California. Photography by Bram Belloni for Heineken Prizes.
Karl Deisseroth, Professor of Bioengineering and of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences at Stanford University, awarded with the Dr A.H. Heineken Prize for Medicine 2020.
Palo Alto, CA United States, January 2022 – photo: Bram Belloni for Heineken Prizes
Portrait of Corinne Le Quéré, Royal Society Research Professor of Climate Change Science at the University of East Anglia (Norwich, England). Photography by Bram Belloni for Heineken Prizes.
Corinne Le Quéré, Royal Society Research Professor of Climate Change Science at the University of East Anglia, awarded with the Dr A.H. Heineken Prize for Environmental Sciences 2020.
Norwich, United Kingdom, April 2022 – photo: Bram Belloni for Heineken Prizes

Europe and North America were just opening up for international travel. So New Scientist Magazine formed a media team, did some insane production and scheduling, and off we went. This all in the lead of agency De Wolven, who did PR and strategy.

Portrait Robert Zatorre, Professor of Neuroscience at McGill University in Canada and researcher at The Neuro (Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital). Photography by Bram Belloni for Heineken Prizes.
Robert Zatorre, Professor of Neuroscience at McGill University and researcher at The Neuro, awarded with the C.L. de Carvalho-Heineken Prize for Cognitive Science 2020.
Montreal, Canada, January 2022 – photo: Bram Belloni for Heineken Prizes

The team consisted of editor Fenna, videographer Robin and me for still-photography and it was a wild adventure. Passing borders of countries and states, each with it’s own regulations, all while dodging the virus.

Portrait of Bruce Stillman, President of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) in the state of New York. Photography by Bram Belloni for Heineken Prizes.
Bruce Stillman, President of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL), awarded with the Dr H.P. Heineken Prize for Biochemistry and Biophysics 2020.
Cold Spring Harbour, NY USA, January 2022 – photo: Bram Belloni for Heineken Prizes

And not only for regulations. The last part went from a minus 28 degree celsius Montreal to plus 25 degrees California, ending in a true east coast snow blizzard in NYC. This, including crossing timezones, makes your brain felt like scrambled eggs. What a ride.

xxx ♥ – Hang Youth

projects

Since the 2020 Corona pandemic I started documenting random encounters in the city of Amsterdam. The city I live in and the city I love.

In November 2021 the pandemic hits hard. The much anticipated concert of Dutch band Hang Youth was scheduled the day a stringent Covid lockdown became in force – noticed only two days in advance.

The venue Paradiso pushed the sold-out show to afternoon, just an hour before lockdown. Fans took their chance, unknown when the next opportunity to go out would arise.

Hang Youth billed the afternoon as The Last Show on Earth.

Hang Youth Concert, The Last Show on Earth in Paradiso - documentary photography by Bram Belloni
Concert billed as The Last Show on Earth by Dutch band Hang Youth in Paradiso. The concert has been pushed to the afternoon to meet the COVID-19 lockdown, announced two days before. Stage diving the pit in a sold-out Paradiso.
Amsterdam, November 2021 – Photo: Bram Belloni
Hang Youth Concert, The Last Show on Earth in Paradiso - documentary photography by Bram Belloni
Audience at The Last Show on Earth by Dutch band Hang Youth in Paradiso.
Amsterdam, November 2021 – Photo: Bram Belloni
Hang Youth Concert, The Last Show on Earth in Paradiso - documentary photography by Bram Belloni
Singer Abel van Gijlswijk at The Last Show on Earth by Dutch band Hang Youth in Paradiso.
Amsterdam, November 2021 – Photo: Bram Belloni
Hang Youth Concert, The Last Show on Earth in Paradiso - documentary photography by Bram Belloni
Audience at The Last Show on Earth by Dutch band Hang Youth in Paradiso.
Amsterdam, November 2021 – Photo: Bram Belloni
Hang Youth Concert, The Last Show on Earth in Paradiso - documentary photography by Bram Belloni
Audience on stage at The Last Show on Earth by Dutch band Hang Youth in Paradiso.
Amsterdam, November 2021 – Photo: Bram Belloni
Hang Youth Concert, The Last Show on Earth in Paradiso - documentary photography by Bram Belloni
Audience at The Last Show on Earth by Dutch band Hang Youth in Paradiso.
Amsterdam, November 2021 – Photo: Bram Belloni
Hang Youth Concert, The Last Show on Earth in Paradiso - documentary photography by Bram Belloni
Frontrow audience at The Last Show on Earth by Dutch band Hang Youth in Paradiso.
Amsterdam, November 2021 – Photo: Bram Belloni

The concert was a blast.

About the series

In the series xxx ♥ – Amsterdam encounters I document the city through random encounters on the streets and in places, with fellow Amsterdammers.