About
Carla van de Puttelaar (1967, Zaandam, The Netherlands) graduated from the Gerrit Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam (1996). She was awarded the Esther Kroon Prize (1996) and the Prix de Rome Basic Prize (2002) and was nominated for Le Prix Découverte des Rencontres d’Arles (2006). Her photographic work has gained worldwide recognition, being exhibited in numerous museums and galleries around the world and appearing in many publications including nine monographs. Carla created The Rembrandt Series in collaboration with the Rembrandt House Museum (2016) and had a retrospective show at the Musée National d’Histoire et d’Art in Luxembourg (2020). She also received assignments from The New York Times Magazine and The New Yorker among others. In 2018 she was a jury member in the World Press Photo Contest. Carla holds a PhD in art history from Utrecht University (2017). In 2021 she published her seminal book Scottish Portraiture 1644-1714 based on her PhD. Carla van de Puttelaar is the creator of the world-renowned portrait project Artfully Dressed: Women in the Art World (www.womenintheartworld.com). Five portraits from this series have been acquired by the National Portrait Gallery in London, and several of them are on permanent display. In 2022 her work was part of the photography exhibition FLASH | BACK at the Mauritshuis in The Hague. In 2022 she started the project on female decision makers in the EU entitled: Prominent and Promising Women in the EU (www.womeninthe.eu). For this she photographed women such as Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission and Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament who opened the first exhibition on 8 March at the Dutch Embassy in Brussels. In 2023 she embarked on a new project: Facing the Law, for which she portrayed women in the legal profession. The first museum exhibition of this project will be held in Edinburgh in 2027. For a solo exhibition entitled Carla’s Light, Photos by Carla van de Puttelaar, that will be held at the Suermondt-Ludwig Museum in Aachen in 2027, Carla developed a new body of work inspired on the museum’s collection, with as main theme the life of the Virgin Mary.
Education
- 2013 – September 2017 Utrecht University: Ph.D.
- August 2011 The Amsterdam/Maastricht Summer University: Activities and Societies: A history of oil painting in the Low Countries and its consequences for the visual arts, 1350-1550s
- August 2009 The Amsterdam/Maastricht Summer University: Dutch Art of the Golden Age: Sources and Perspectives
- 2002 Work Period Rijksacademie (Prix de Rome)
- 1991-1996 Master of Fine Arts (MFA), Photography, Gerrit Rietveld Academy
Jury Memberships, Curatorships & Masterclasses
- 2025 Curator De Nederlandse Portretprijs, Zeist
- 2025-present Board Member, Museum Martena, Franeker
- 2023/25-present Chair and Journal Editor, Scottish Society for Art History
- 2023-present Committee of Recommendation, member, Het Portretschap
- 2023 Curator De Nederlandse Portretprijs, Zeist
- 2022 Curator Weekend of the Portrait, De Nederlandse Portretprijs
- 2021-present Committee of Recommendation, member, De Nederlandse Portretprijs
- 2020 Jury Member PORTRAITS – Hellerau Photography Award
- 2020 Curator Weekend of the Portrait, De Nederlandse Portretprijs
- 2020 Selection Committee Member De Nederlandse Portretprijs, Portrait Weekend
- 2019 Jury Member PORTRAITS – Hellerau Photography Award
- 2019 Jury Member De Nederlandse Portretprijs
- 2018 Selection Committee Member De Nederlandse Portretprijs, Portrait Weekend
- 2018 Jury Member World Press Photo Contest, People category
- 2017-2019 Seminars, De Fotoshool, Amsterdam
- 2017 Selection Committee Member De Nederlandse Portretprijs
- 2017 Guest Curator Naarden Fotofestival
- 2017 Masterclasses, Maria Austria Institute, Amsterdam
- 2016-2017 Masterclass Fotobond, Portrait department
- 2016 Jury Member Foto Nationaal 2016, Fotobond
- 2016 Jury Member Photo Book, Portraits 2016, Fotobond
- 2016 Masterclass, IEFC, Barcelona
- 2012 Curator KABK for Breda Photo
Awards & Grants
- 2026 Paul Mellon Centre, Mid Career Fellowship
- 2026 HNA Travel Grant
- 2024 Portrait of Britain, shortlist
- 2023 Berry Koedam Award, Nomination
- 2022 Artist of the Year 2022, semi-finalist
- 2019 Hariban Award, shortlist
- 2019 De Zilveren Camera, First Prize, Personen in the nieuws (enkel)
- 2018 Rabobank Dutch Photographic Portrait Prize, longlist
- 2018 Artist of the Year 2019, semi-finalist
- 2018 Taylor Wessing Prize, National Portrait Gallery, exhibition
- 2018 Portrait of Britain, shortlist
- 2017 Pubication Grant, Mondriaan Fund
- 2017 Artist of the Year 2018, semi-finalist
- 2016 Prix de la Photographie, Paris (Px3) 2016 Honorable Mention
- 2016 PDN Annual 2016, Winner
- 2016 Hellerau Photography Award, Nomination, Hellerau, Dresden, Germany
- 2015 De Greif, selected for publication and exhibition Katrin Weber, Galerie f5,6, Munich
- 2014 Bijdrage Bewezen Talent, Mondriaan Fund
- 2012 Prix de la Photographie, Paris (Px3) 2012 Bronze, People’s Choice
- 2010 Critical Mass 2010, Finalist
- 2010 The Julia M. Cameron Award, Finalist
- 2009 The 2009 International Photography Awards (IPA), Honorable Mention
- 2009 Prix de la Photographie, Paris (Px3) 2009 Honorable Mentions in 2 categories (Fine Art and Book)
- 2009 The New York Photo Awards 2009 nomination in the Fine Art single Image category
- 2008 The Black & White Spider Awards nomination in the Fine Art category
- 2008 Publication Grant, The Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture
- 2006 Le Prix Découverte des Rencontres d’Arles nomination
- 2003 Publication Grant, The Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture
- 2002 Prix de Rome finalist, Basic Prize winner
- 2001 Grant, The Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture
- 1999 Starter stipend, The Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture
- 1997 Starter stipend, The Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture
- 1996 Esther Kroon Award
- 1996 Lee Photo Category Award
Contact me for:
General information
Commissioning portraits
Commissioning applied artwork/photos for books, magazines and newspapers
Publications
Interviews, lectures, articles, jury memberships, teaching assignments
Organize an exhibition that includes Carla’s work
Regarding the project Artfully Dressed: Women in the Art World