Tomas van Houtryve


Tomas van Houtryve is a Belgian documentary photographer and a member of VII Photo Agency.

Life and career

Van Houtryve attended a university in Nepal and after he graduated from college in 1999, he settled in Kandahar, where he met and photographed inmates and their relatives. Initially, he wanted to be a philosopher but decided to become a photographer. In 2003 he quit working for Associated Press and concentrated on the Maoist rebellion in Nepal.
He has been a member of Panos Pictures.
He has had his work published in Time, The New York Times, Newsweek, Le Figaro, Le Monde, The Independent, GEO, Smithsonian, Stern, Foreign Policy and National Geographic and The Indianapolis Star.
In 2012 he published Behind the Curtains of 21st Century Communism which included his photographs of seven communist nations of the 21st century.
After seven years photographing life in the remaining communist nations, Van Houtryve's interest turned to the US military's use of surveillance drones. Thanks to a Getty Editorial Grant of $10,000, he has been able to use his own drone in the US to explore the implications of surveillance techniques used by the US both outside and within its borders.

Publications