Kate
Bellm
Then, Now & Always
Antakly Archive · Original Interview 2009
From Berlin backstage to Tramuntana sunsets — the analogue-hearted photographer who built a world entirely her own.
We first encountered Kate Bellm in 2009 — shooting backstage at Berlin fashion weeks, working at Vice, and booking Esquire jobs before she could legally drink in the US. She was already, unmistakably, the real thing. Now, with a decade-spanning book, a hotel carved out of Mallorcan stone, and bylines in nearly every magazine worth reading, the story is only getting richer.
Flipping Obsessed
Kate Bellm was "flipping obsessed" with photography from the first moment she picked up a camera. "It was an instant love affair," she says, reminiscing about taking analogue pictures of her friends in leprechaun and sumo wrestler outfits on her dad's Canon A-1 SLR. The kind of origin story that could only belong to someone who was always going to be a photographer.
"I was very lucky because my school had a darkroom. Not many people did photography, so I got to learn one-on-one from my teacher. It was pretty special." From there she was mentored by family friend David Montgomery — award-winning portrait photographer of statesmen and celebrities — who told her something she never forgot.
"From a young age he told me not to tell people I wanted to be a photographer, but that I was one, and that I was going to be booking jobs before I was eighteen." She just went with that confidence. And she was already working professionally by the time she left school.
"Don't tell people you want to be a photographer. Tell them you are one. And that you're going to be booking jobs before you're eighteen."
— David Montgomery, to Kate BellmWhat inspires your work and style, Kate?
I am so inspired by so many contemporary photographers both in fashion and documentary — from Mario Testino, Terry Richardson, Martin Parr, Helmut Newton, Guy Bourdin, Ryan McGinley, Roger Ballen, and some upcoming photographers like Johannes Kjartansson.
Favourite projects so far?
A biker week in South Carolina — and I love just shooting my friends. They're always my favourite pictures. The Esquire Harley Bike Week job was the best experience ever. "Way too much crazy shit went down, which is all documented… so the evidence is still there."
Favourite artists?
My all-time favourite artist is Jean-Michel Basquiat — I am obsessed and have every book, biography and movie about him. I also love Tracey Emin's neon pieces.
Favourite magazines then?
POP, Numéro, Vogue Paris, Egoïste — anything that is strong visually.
Plans for 2009?
I have another job lined up for L'Officiel and also something for Brazilian Vogue in LA which I am super excited about. And of course I still photograph bands and other stuff for Vice here in Berlin. Apart from that I plan to enjoy myself, not take anything too seriously, and enjoy my first summer in Berlin...
“I love just shooting my friends.” Flash, attitude, no retouching.
Hot pink, a zebra and platform heels: the high-flash fashion work of the late 2000s.
Pink on pink: shot from above on a floral carpet.
Debut Monograph
AMOR
Ten years of work in one volume
A culmination of her best work from the last decade — underwater mer-babes, hot hazy landscapes, and nudes printed on thick, luscious paper with a red fabric cover. AMOR is not a portfolio. It is a love letter to a decade of seeing.
“Underwater mer-babes”: the strand of her work that runs from AMOR onward, shot in open water. Courtesy Kate Bellm.
Tell us about AMOR.
"It's a culmination of my best work from the last 10 years… Underwater mer-babes, hot hazy landscapes and nudes printed on thick luscious paper with a red fabric cover."
What music do you play on set or in the studio?
"I like very chill music like Khruangbin." Find her full set playlist on Spotify below.
Tramuntana, Mallorca
La Familia Corazón — Keepers of the Island's Secrets
First-time hoteliers and long-time creators, Kate Bellm and Edgar Lopez own and run Hotel Corazón. Lovers, artists, and forever Tramuntana residents — Kate and Edgar are keepers of the island's secrets. Want to explore a hidden underwater cave? Ask Kate. Want to know the medicinal benefits of the cactus? Edgar is your man. You'll find them in the garden.
Hotel Corazón opened in 2023 in a restored finca on the mountain road between Deià and Sóller, with a farm that supplies its kitchen. Bellm hoped it would change the kind of visitor who comes to this part of the island, but she has been clear that it is not only for tourists: she wanted it to serve the people who already live in the valley.
“We’re going to have a farm on the property… a deli, come-and-go vibe.”
Kate Bellm, to Freunde von Freunden, before the openingThe point, as she put it, was that the neighbours she calls the “mountain people” could drop in for bread, a lemon or a cucumber instead of driving to the next village.
The hotel extends the same aesthetic that runs through Kate's photography — warm, feminine, organic, rooted in place. Sun-bleached walls, wild cactus, the scent of something flowering. Extended family. Always.
Third book with Mirage
La Selva
“Leave the city, head for the jungle.”
Two years of travel through Hawaii, Mexico, Thailand, Jamaica, Costa Rica, New Zealand, India and Cuba, edited into one dark, humid book. After the sea and island light of her earlier books, La Selva goes into the jungle. Her women go wild and elemental, salt and sand in their hair, moving between palms, bamboo huts and mosquito nets. Still lifes of shells and ripe fruit sit between them, in grainy black and white and orange-washed light that feels decades old.
Buy her books
A spread from La Selva: grainy black and white on one side, sun-washed colour on the other. Courtesy Kate Bellm / Mirage.
Lollipop, desert mural, red resin bangles: editorial colour turned all the way up. Courtesy Kate Bellm.
On Set Playlist
Kate's Studio Sounds
Kate keeps it chill on set — Khruangbin is the constant. Follow her Spotify playlist for the full sonic world behind the images.
Listen on Spotify