Born in Pretoria in the 1980s, Minette Cilliers developed an early passion for visual storytelling while studying Information Design at the University of Pretoria. After graduating, Cilliers completed a postgraduate programme in Stellenbosch to further refine her craft. She then spent a decade in the magazine industry as a graphic designer and photographer, where she discovered a deep love for environmental portraiture and its ability to reveal, often unspoken stories of her subjects.
In 2014, Cilliers married a farmer and moved to a remote Free State farm. There, her focus shifted to documenting everyday rural life — the people she encounters, the nearby small towns, and the quiet resilience of these isolated landscapes, which often feel like a liminal space.
Inspired by her family, personal events, the vast horizons, and the endless skies, Cilliers’ work began to explore emotion, natural beauty, and the interplay of space, light, and fleeting moments — dreamscapes — that define this chapter.