You seem to have had a pretty interesting childhood. What are some of your strongest memories of your time in Kenya?

I was still very young when I lived there. I was about two when we went there, and about five or six when we went back to the Netherlands. We lived in a small village near Lake Victoria, and there was a small hospital in the village, where my father worked, and we lived in a house next to the crippled home. The crippled home was where all the patients were, and a lot of the kids were my age, so I used to play with them.

I also went to school there. It was kindergarten, but we weren't really allowed to play—well, we were, but I remember these big tables and chairs, way too big for us, because they only had one size and children from five to 12 all had to use the same ones. The teacher, she spoke a little bit of English and so did I, and I spoke a little bit of Swahili, so that's how we communicated.

After you moved back to the Netherlands, did you travel to Africa much?

At first, not really, but I went back for the first time when I was about 15. I went with my parents and my brothers. I was very surprised that it was so different that what I expected it to be, but also so similar in other ways. For instance, the smells and the whole atmosphere. It was almost like coming home, but at the same time I was totally confused and it was also very different from my childhood memories. It was very intense.

When did you start taking photographs?

I think I started when I was in, what's it called?—high school, I guess. I started with friends of mine, we dressed up and put makeup on, and we made pictures of each other like the fashion pictures in the magazines. I still have those!

Did you always want to do photography?

No, not really. At first, when I was little I wanted to be a famous fashion designer. I was always very creative, I think; I did a lot of drawings, so it was quite clear to me that I would go to art school after high school. I thought I wanted to be a fashion designer, but after two years, I discovered I didn't really like it. I was doing the cutting and the sewing and everything, but the really technical process of making clothes, I was bored with it.

What was it about photography that you liked more than styling or modeling?
I generally liked that you were the one in charge, really, of the image. It's my decision, it's my eye. The photographer has the biggest influence on the picture.

You've done a couple of series of Africa, Cape Flats, which was shot in the slums of South Africa, and Flamboya, which is more staged. How did those come about?
Well, when I met my boyfriend about eight years ago, we discovered that we both lived in Africa when we were children. His father was also a doctor, and they lived in Tanzania for a long time. So when we discovered we had this mutual interest, we started traveling to Africa together. At first we went to South Africa, and I went to the townships a lot. It was very documentary.