Go back to Stories of Home
stories of home - rosa
NL/EN
Welcome to Stories of Home.
The idea for this project first came to me during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Because of the strict lockdown measures, I spent most of my time at home—in the apartment I shared with my boyfriend at the time. What a strange period that was. One night, just before falling asleep, a creative spark hit me: a coffee table book about being at home. It felt like the perfect way to combine two of my biggest passions—photography and interviewing people. For a long time, it was just an idea—like a Mount Everest in my mind: big, intimidating, and impossible to tackle. I had no clue where to start.
Looking back, the past few years feel like a journey that brought me closer and closer to my own sense of home. I left my childhood house and moved into my own place in Amsterdam. I studied for a few months in Hong Kong, moved to The Hague, and spent some time working in Brussels. I fell in love, started a relationship, and now I’m engaged. Along the way, I had so many questions.
A house, a home, being alone, being together—what does it really mean to feel at home? And where do I feel at home? Is it a place, a physical space, a country? Is it about community, culture, religion? Is it about people, or is it about location? Or maybe it’s a combination of all those things? What do I want to carry forward from the home I grew up in—and what am I ready to leave behind, as I find my own way in creating a home of my own?
I can now say that I feel at home in the love I share with my fiancé, in the presence of my family and friends, and within myself. Bit by bit, the layers I once built to protect or shape myself are starting to fall away. Layers formed by the family I grew up in, by the expectations of others, and by my own beliefs about who I thought I had to be. I’m learning to stand on my own. To trust in who I am. To trust in what I’m capable of—and in what I’m not. And this feels incredibly freeing.
“Home is where the heart is.” This is a quote I’ve known for a long time and always loved. But its deeper meaning is only now sinking in, now that I’m engaged. I feel at home with him. And home is also wherever I am—after all, I carry my own heart with me, always.
Five years later, Stories of Home is no longer just an idea. I’ve started. I’ve begun to talk about it, write about it, photograph it. And I’ve found the first people to interview.
Slowly, this project is coming to life. I’m curious to see where it will take me, and I’m excited to keep following the journey.
Rosa
