Dana Lixenberg (NL, 1964) works with a genuine interest in the people she photographs. She approaches them with analytical accuracy and a subtle sense of colour, tone and detail, and without judgment. In her work, both world stars and unknown citizens receive equal amounts of attention and respect.

For many years she was the in-house photographer of the influential hip-hop magazine VIBE. In that capacity, she photographed musical legends such as Tupac Shakur and Christopher Wallace, better known as The Notorious B.I.G.. Both rappers died in the mid-nineties in a feud that got out of hand, making them the tragic heroes of one of the darkest periods in hip-hop history. The portraits of the two musicians – exhibited in Het HEM – show a different image: that of two musical geniuses in the prime of their lives and creativity.

Guillaume: ‘What can I say, Dana is Dana. We collaborated with Dana years ago, making T-shirts with these images. It was a long process and we built a personal connection. She’s a very warm, passionate person; this is reflected in her photographs — in her series Imperial Courts, for instance, for which she took years following the residents of Watts neighbourhood in Los Angeles. That’s seriously a beautiful life’s work.’