"Photography is my life an my work an enless flow of creating new images"

Yoke Matze started her career in 1970 as a freelance photographer in her home town of Gouda in the Netherlands. Since then she has made her living as a photographer, lecturer, publisher and exhibition organiser.

In 1982, she settled in London and studied for a BA in Photography at the University of Westminster. She completed her MA in Design and Media Arts at the same university in 1998. Yoke is a qualified member of the British Institute of Professional Photography (BIPP) and in 1987 received a grant for her work 'burial rituals' from the Greater London Arts.

Yoke's clients come from the commercial sector, publishing and the art world, and her work has been published widely in magazines, reports and books.

In 2002, Matze opened her School of Photography 'YM Photography courses in London', where she runs courses and trains people to a professional level. Yoke builds a creative environment for her students that provides opportunities to explore the visual world and encourages personal development. Students world-wide are participating in the courses and workshops and undertake experimental work. Students include those with a passion for photography, as well as those aspiring to a professional level.

Yoke's book 'Tactile Light' was published in 2003 and launched at The Barbican Art Centre in London together with a major retrospective of her photographic work.

Her work has been widely exhibited in the UK and abroad including America, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and Russia. In 2006, the Dulwich Picture Gallery - London awarded her work a 3rd prize during the summer exhibition.

Yoke Matze's photographs are found in photographic collections, including the Museum of London, Theatre Museum London - UK. The Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, University Leiden, Prentenkabinet in Leiden , Municipal Museum The Hague and Museum Gouda in the the Netherlands and private collections.

"Photographers' London" published by the Museum of London.

Viewing images 'Tactile Light'

© Yoke Matze - History