My name is Manja van Opdorp and I am 47 years old, born in 1976 in Ermelo. This is located in the province of Gelderland. This is a small city in the middle of the Netherlands. Not long after I was born I moved to Haarlem and that has always remained my home base. I experienced my first adventures as a child in the Leidsebuurt in Haarlem.

I've always been very creative. I wanted to dress up and play with my mother's make-up all the time. I made Barbie clothes with the sewing machine and later my own clothes. I already wore my own designs to primary school. My parents have always stimulated me to be creative in many ways. It was not surprising that I eventually went to the Fashion school the Kennermerpoort College in Haarlem for further education.

After graduation I decided to learn more about the different sides of fashion, such as make-up and fashion styling. I further studied as a make-up and theater make-up artist at the school for beauty, the Haarlem Academy. In this period creating is my greatest quality and still is. In addition to the skills for make-up, I also developed my own fashion styling and photography.

Because I got bullied a lot in the first years of primary school, I knew from a young age that I wanted to become a professional model. I wanted to prove how strong I am. And I started doing amateur and semi-professional photo shoots at the age of 17 in the late 1990s. My role model has always been Kate Moss, because she was a top model, even though she was not very tall. I'm not very tall, just like Kate Moss.

I have been invited to come to Milan in Italy. This is one of the largest fashion cities in the world. My start as a model in Milan opened many doors for me. I have worked for 4 full-time years as a professional model all over the world for countless magazines and fashion shows. I watched and learned from the best in the business. After this I started to realize that I found modeling rather empty and I didn't like it as much as before. Doing the same trick every time, it became a drag. I made the choice not to work as a model anymore.

I based that choice on the fact that despite earning a lot of money it did not make me happy. The most important thing I learned during this time was that it was the little things that made me happy. I took a journey into my inner self instead of just dealing with the outside. Then I even had a period in which I did not like to be photographed at all.

After this my passion shifted in the direction of photography, where I could put much more of my own being. My interest lies in the many different sides of photography. But most of all I focus on portrait photography mixed with fashion styling and make up. This allows me to add that extra something that makes for a slightly different portrait than usual. Mavano photography is my way of expressing my creativity. Photography, fashion styling and make up is a very big passion in my life. Besides working on location, I also have my own photo studio at home (with daylight options).

You are always welcome to check out my Mavano Photography website for examples of my style and creativity!

Kind Regards Manja