Biography of Yvonne van der Mey

Yvonne van der Mey was born in Leiden, the youngest of a big family. Her father, a specialist in Dutch flora, “infected” her with an intense love of nature and animals, and made her not only look carefully at all that’s alive, but also taught her “to see”. As a young child she was fascinated with photography, again through her father, who taught her a lot.

Yvonne van der Mey - wildlife and nature photographer

While growing up, her interest in photography faded, but her active involvement in nature and animals never did. After a successful legal career, she picked up her old hobby and camera again.

In 1984 she found her special place in the woods, when she met Nico Bulder, a wildlife painter / illlustrator, whose life has also been dedicated to nature and animals. It’s hard for either of them to imagine finding a more compatible “other half”.

In 1988 a third nature lover was added to the family, when their son Kevin was born. They share their home with a large number of dogs, cats and other animals, a lot of them were rescued from being neglected animals.

As long as she can remember, she dreamed of going into the bush in South Africa, and later her family shared her dream. In November 2001 they realised this dream, and many things changed for them after their first trip to the Kruger National Park in South Africa. Hopelessly addicted to this part of the world and to photography, Yvonne learned how to work with digital equipment, and the quality of her photo’s increased fast. Nowadays they travel a few times a year to Southern and Eastern Africa, and each trip brings great new photo’s to the collection and new inspiration is gained.

In the Netherlands there are many subject that interest her. With a lot of passion and patience, she captures the moods of the forest and its creatures, like toadstools and birds. She loves to photograph an animal in its own habitat, showing the expression in its eyes. There are so many little things that are beautiful, if one can only "see" them.

Yvonne mainly works for Nico and a wildlife conservation organisation, exhibiting her photographs regularly, which are also published in Dutch and foreign magazines.

** News Release ** Leopard photo wins international CIC award

Watch the video of Yvonne van der Mey working with the elephants in Kenya
Look at Yvonne's photographs of Kenya

It seems that the next generation has also been infected with the same virus, because the public awarded Kevin the WWF Photo Award in December 2003, and he won the third prize from the jury, with a great photo of a young male lion, which he took in the Krugerpark. This photo was part of an exhibition at the Museon in The Hague in March 2004.

Nederlandse website | Links | Banners | SITEMAP | Wildlife Oil Paintings | Web design by Tours and Tales | © 2007 Yvonne van der Mey - all photographs are copyright protected and may not be reproduced in any form without my prior written permission. Among other things, my work is used in books and magazines and on calendars. Most of the photographs are for sale. If you feel that my photographs could enhance your publication, please don't hesitate to contact me.