Portrait photography for Heineken Prizes 2020 - Bram Belloni - freelance editorial, portrait photographer and visual content

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.

read more > Heineken Prizes
with many thanks to > De Wolven
and of course > New Scientist Magazine, Netherlands