Jessica Hilltout is a Belgian-English artist/photographer based in Brussels. She spent her childhood outside of Europe until she was 18 years old. In 2000 she earned a Bachelor of Fine Art in Photography in England. In 2002 she traveled overland through Central Asia and Africa photographing the seemingly unimportant, the apparently hidden - finding beauty in both. This led to her project 'Faces and Places'.

In 2007 she spent six months in Madagascar exploring the word ‘Imperfection’. There, she was touched by the elemental energy of a society that does so much with so little. A place where everything we throw away is revered and remade in an endless cycle of creation. Her camera captured the fragile beauty of hidden corners revealing the dignity of the ordinary, the poetry of the everyday. It revealed more forcefully than a
thousand words that imperfections are not only intrinsic to our humanity but to the concept of beauty itself. A hymn to human ingenuity in a land where machines are not yet king, where life
still has soul.

Amen- Grassroots Football, her most ambitious work to date, remains true to finding beauty and joy where others may only see sadness and deprivation. Nowhere are these qualities better expressed than in Africa’s abiding love affair with the game of football. Western fanaticism for watching the sport cannot come close to matching Africa’s all-consuming passion for playing the game.  And they do so, come what may. Here you will find ingenuity, doggedness, kindness and sheer joy. Her book is not just about football, or indeed about football in Africa. It is a book that tries to capture the beauty and strength of the human spirit.  It pays homage to Africa. It is a tribute to the forgotten, to the majority. Amen was exhibited in 2010 at the Botanique in Brussels, in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Rio de Janeiro, alongside the publication of a book of the same name. It gained media acclaim in, among others, the New York Times and National Geographic.

In 2011 Jessica met her companion, had three boys, thus, diving deep into the depths of motherhood. The free spirited nature of childhood combined with the unruly day to day care. Surviving the routine. Embrassing chaos. Finding the balance. Somewhere between power and powerlessness. Jessica has been photographing her family for the last ten years. Work in progress.

Jessica’s latest projects, completed respectively in 2017 and 2023 include Beyond Pain and A Tapestry of Shared Journeys. Two projects exploring dignity in moments of suffering. She has always been moved by the life force that manifests even in the most difficult situations. Her approach involves nurturing connection, experiencing these moments and capturing images, thus providing an intimate perspective on resilience in the face of adversity. “Even in the blackest black there are shades of light”.