Verena Blok has a deep interest for personal histories and narrative storytelling. Intrigued by the way cultural and political factors influence one’s life; she uses her lens-based practice to shed light on inner life and everyday “reality” in intimate settings. The encounter with the subject is the core of and the fuel for her work. As a Dutch-Polish dual citizen raised in The Netherlands and The United States, Blok maintains a keen awareness of her positioning between East and West. By coming close to her subjects and embedding herself for stretches of time, she uses these locations as a studio, a backdrop to the narratives that both her and her subjects become part of.