America’s Girls, On the Edge of a Dream is a striking new monograph by acclaimed Belgian photographer and filmmaker Eva Verbeeck. Shot entirely on analogue film across the United States, the book offers an intimate look into the lives of young American women navigating the complex landscape of identity, agency, and self-discovery. The book is a result of a major long-term project that was photographed over six years across 28 US states and follows more than 400 girls between the ages of 8 and 18 across Alabama, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia. The work examines contemporary girlhood in America through questions of identity, femininity, power, and the influence of media and cultural mythology.

Verbeeck’s work often focuses on adolescence and the complex ways individuals come to understand themselves within broader cultural and social frameworks. Blending documentary sensibilities with a painterly visual language, Verbeeck creates intimate portraits that resist simplification and invite deeper reflection around image culture, vulnerability, and self representation.