Eelco Wortman is a self-taught freelance documentary- and street photographer from The Netherlands. Influenced by traditional street- and film photography, he loves to work with (natural) light, colour, shape and contrast. Occasionally a landscape photograph, sometimes a bit of abstraction, his main subject and fascination will always be people in their natural habitat. Eelco gets intrigued by the human condition and daily situations, often overlooked by most of us. His candid photographs have a strong focus on storytelling and detail, mostly to be found in an urban environment.
From 2015 on, Eelco quickly taught himself how to compose his photographs using street photography as his canvas, resulting in his signature as it is today. Blending various styles, creating authentic and emotive narratives in one single frame, he commissioned for some of the world’s leading brands from early on.
Due to his passion for telling stories, Eelco also works on personal projects and series. As Wortman says himself: ‘It took me until 2021 to fully understand myself as an artist and to get comfortable creating longer series and projects’. From that year onwards, he began entering photography awards, resulting in prize-winning recognition within the Selection ofDutch Photography in 2022, 2023 and 2025.
Since 2022, Eelco has expanded his practice into photojournalism, combining commercial, documentary and journalistic work to further fuel his passion for visual storytelling. Following this transition, he has been commissioned regularly by the Dutch quality newspaper de Volkskrant. Since 2024, he has contributed a weekly photographic column to Volkskrant Magazine. Alongside his editorial work, Eelco teaches workshops and masterclasses and is a permanent tutor at Leica Akademie Netherlands.
