ZOTEYE (b. 1977, Ghent, Belgium) is a visual artist, activist and educator whose work explores themes of identity, human connection, male toxicity and a world without borders. With experience in both corporate and freelance roles, they transitioned to a full-time artistic practice in 2014, releasing seven collections that blend (analog) photography, film, and digital art to capture raw emotion and to question every aspect of the world we created.

ZOTEYE spent the first 20 years of their life in Flanders before moving to Brussels, where they studied cinematography and photography at NARAFI. Brussels remained a defining backdrop until 2024. During this time, they frequently traveled to the U.S., documenting life in the Deep South—Tennessee, Louisiana, Alabama, and Texas—while also founding an editorial project focused on positive narratives across Amsterdam, Brussels, and Paris.

Between 2014 and 2024, ZOTEYE underwent a profound metamorphosis, confronting societal roles that had confined them. For much of their early life, they performed the role of a ‘man,’ a construct they never truly fit into. This realization—deeply unsettling yet liberating—led to their transition from he to they/them, rejecting masculinity as an imposed identity. During this period, they used photography as a means of self-exploration, seeking to understand their evolving sense of self. Their first major collection, SIMULATION8, emerged from this process—a deeply personal body of work capturing the tension, uncertainty, and ultimate freedom found in embracing their true identity.

A lifelong wanderer, ZOTEYE has always felt restless within fixed locations. Their ongoing collection, Borderless Gaze, stems from their conviction that borders—whether political, societal, or personal—should not exist. Through thousands of images shot in streets, public spaces, trains, and airports, they document a world seen through an untethered lens. This collection, still evolving, has found a home in nearly 200 collectors’ wallets, with over 5,000 editions of 200+ pieces minted exclusively on DRiP.HAUS.

Recently, ZOTEYE relocated to Berlin with their partner, a move that immediately exposed the psychological weight that cities and countries can impose. In Belgium, they had struggled to take root, to grow, to evolve. Their inability to thrive there mirrored the Pink Lady Slipper, an orchid that only flourishes under rare and precise conditions. This realization led to the creation of a new collection, curated in the backdrop of Berlin, looking back at years of work made while struggling to find belonging in a place that never felt like home.