1985–1988
Royal Academy of Art, The Hague

2004
Member of the GKf photographers association (Dutch Photographers)

Alex ten Napel lives and works in Amsterdam. He studied at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague and is renowned for his Alzheimer and Waterportraits series. In 2001, he showed his Alzheimer’s portraits on the walls of the nursing home Wittenberg in Amsterdam, and at the same time the photobook Je leven vergeten (Your Life Forgotten) was published.

In 2002, he exhibited 44 portraits of children in the windows of primary school Elout in Amsterdam. Three years later, he exhibited his Waterportraits at the Epson Photo Festival in the canals of the fortified town of Naarden-Vesting, the Netherlands, and at Paris Photo, Paris. The Waterportraits were nominated for the Photographic Portrait Prize 2006 at the National Portrait Gallery, London, and for the Prix Photographique BMW – Paris Photo 2006, Paris.

Since 1996, his autonomous work has been presented in numerous group and solo exhibitions at galleries and festivals such as Pobeda Gallery in Moscow, Cook Fine Art in New York, Galería Omar Alonso in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, Foto Art Festival in Bielsko-Biała, Poland, and Miami Photo 2008. His portraits have been widely published in newspapers and magazines, including Volkskrant Magazine, Le Monde Magazine, ZOOM, and Photo & Video.

In 2009, his Waterportraits were acquired by the Caldic Collection. In 2012, he exhibited his last portrait series Twelve and started the series Hens and Roosters in 2014.

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2022
Museum de Fundatie, Zomer Expo — Zwolle, The Netherlands

2019
Museum de Fundatie, Zomer Expo — Zwolle, The Netherlands

2017
Fotogalerie Utrecht, Waterportraits #1 — Utrecht, The Netherlands
Museum de Fundatie, Zomer Expo — Zwolle, The Netherlands
Rotterdam Contemporary Art Fair, Fotogalerie Utrecht, Hens & Roosters — Rotterdam, The Netherlands

2016
Museum Hilversum, PS Camera — Hilversum, The Netherlands
033Fotostad Fotofestival, Alzheimer Portraits — Amersfoort, The Netherlands
Fotogalerie Utrecht, Hens & Roosters — Utrecht, The Netherlands
Galerie Pfundt, Waterportraits — Berlin, Germany
KunstRAI Art Fair, Fotogalerie Utrecht, Hens & Roosters — Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Realisme Art Fair, Fotogalerie Utrecht, Hens & Roosters — Amsterdam, The Netherlands

2015
Christie’s YiP Art Charity Photo Auction Exhibition, Hens & Roosters — Amsterdam, The Netherlands
KunstRAI Art Fair, Fotogalerie Utrecht, Hens & Roosters — Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Rotterdam Contemporary Art Fair, Eduard Planting, Hens & Roosters — Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Realisme Art Fair, Fotogalerie Utrecht, Waterportraits — Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Realisme Art Fair, Eduard Planting, Hens & Roosters — Amsterdam, The Netherlands

2013
De Verkadefabriek, Waterportraits — Den Bosch, The Netherlands

2012
Amsterdams Centrum voor Fotografie, Twelve — Amsterdam, The Netherlands
UMC St. Radboud, Twelve — Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Galerie Eduard Planting, Twelve — Amsterdam, The Netherlands

2011
Amsterdams Centrum voor Fotografie, Marijke — Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Crawford Art Gallery, All My Lovin’, Waterportraits — Cork, Ireland
Wave Gallery, Waterportraits — Brescia, Italy

2010
PAN Art Fair Amsterdam, Eduard Planting, Waterportraits — Amsterdam, The Netherlands
KyivFotoCom International Festival of Photography, Waterportraits — Kyiv, Ukraine
Trier Fototage, Waterportraits — Trier, Germany
Art Antique Art Fair, Eduard Planting, Waterportraits — Utrecht, The Netherlands
International Festival of Photography, Waterportraits — Łódź, Poland
Fondation pour l’Art Contemporain, Waterportraits — Toulouse, France
Realisme Art Fair, Eduard Planting, Waterportraits — Amsterdam, The Netherlands

2008
Miami Photo, Ton Peek Photography, Waterportraits — Miami, USA
CBK Zuidoost, Waterportraits — Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Melkweg Gallery, Summer in the City — Amsterdam, The Netherlands

2007
Galería Omar Alonso, Rojo — Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
International Foto Art Festival, Waterportraits — Bielsko-Biała, Poland
Cook Fine Art, Waterportraits — New York, USA
FOAM, Verborgen Schatten — Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Amsterdams Centrum voor Fotografie, De Mama’s en de Papa’s — Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Photographic Portrait Prize 2006 — Aberystwyth, United Kingdom
Pobeda Gallery, Waterportraits — Moscow, Russia
CBK Zuidoost, Faces of Amsterdam Zuidoost — Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Ton Peek Photography, Waterportraits — Utrecht, The Netherlands
Sunderland Museum, Photographic Portrait Prize 2006 — Sunderland, United Kingdom

2006
Paris Photo, Ton Peek Photography, Waterportraits #1 — Paris, France
National Portrait Gallery, Photographic Portrait Prize 2006 — London, United Kingdom

2005
Paris Photo, Ton Peek Photography, Waterportraits #1 — Paris, France
Epson Photo Festival Naarden, Waterportraits — Naarden-Vesting, The Netherlands
FOAM / VK Magazine — Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Primary School Elout, Me and My Family — Amsterdam, The Netherlands

2002
City Hall, 50 Ontmoetingen — The Hague, The Netherlands
Panama, Last Supper — Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Las Palmas, 50 Ontmoetingen — Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Mozes and Aäron Church, 50 Ontmoetingen — Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Portretwinkel, Museum Directors — Haarlem, The Netherlands
Vondelpark, FOAM at the Vondelpark — Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Primary School Elout, Kinderen van Elout — Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Amsterdam Museum, Alzheimer Portraits — Amsterdam, The Netherlands

2001
Nursing Home Wittenberg, Je Leven Vergeten — Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Centro Cultural de Belém, Dutch Photography — Lisbon, Portugal

2000
Loods 5, PANL Nominations 2002 — Amsterdam, The Netherlands

1999
Alzheimer Nederland, Faces of Alzheimer — Bunnik, The Netherlands
Zeeweg Hospital, Faces of Alzheimer — IJmuiden, The Netherlands
Gallery 2½ × 4½, Faces of Alzheimer — Amsterdam, The Netherlands

1994
Kunstzaal Achter den Dom, Hoog Catharijne — Utrecht, The Netherlands

1991
Gallery 2½ × 4½, Laugharne Portraits — Amsterdam, The Netherlands

1990
Haagse Kunstkring, Bronovo Art Prize — The Hague, The Netherlands

1989
De Moor, Primary School Laugharne — Amsterdam, The Netherlands

1988
De Moor, Brown’s Hotel Laugharne — Amsterdam, The Netherlands
De Moor, Portraits — Amsterdam, The Netherlands