Sophie de Brabander

About

Photography found me through cycling. I grew up in a family where the sport was a constant soundtrack — races on Sunday afternoons, our lives organised around classics and stage races. In 2015 I started taking photos to share with the community I was already part of. One thing led to another.

Today I split my work between covering cycling events — the professional peloton, amateur races, the grinding rhythm of a race day — and quieter reportage assignments where the story unfolds in unscripted moments. A mother waiting at the finish line. The silence in a support car before the radio crackles. The small gestures that official coverage tends to miss.

I’m drawn to the in-between moments — the ones that reveal more than the action itself.

My work is about patience and proximity. I don’t chase the obvious shot. I wait, I watch, and I try to understand the people in front of my lens before I ask the camera to do anything. That’s especially true in reportage, but it carries over into sport too — even a sprint finish is composed of small human moments, if you know where to look.

In 2024, one of those stories found its way into National Geographic Viajes — a quiet confirmation that patient, slow work still has a place in print.

I’m currently based in Belgium and available for assignments across Europe. Press work, brand collaborations, long-form documentary — if your story needs a careful eye, get in touch.