Author Guide · Reportage
Books Written by
In 1994 Teun Voeten, a Dutch war photographer trained as an anthropologist, climbed down into an abandoned railway tunnel beneath Manhattan's Riverside Park and stayed. For five months he lived, worked and slept among the people who had made homes there: Vietnam veterans, crack addicts, Cuban refugees, runaways and philosophical recluses. His book became a classic in the Netherlands. A few years later he was nearly killed by child soldiers in Sierra Leone, and wrote about that too. This guide covers his books in order, with which ones are in English, and where to start.
By Lisanne Swart · 4 books · Reportage · 1996–2020 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
Teun Voeten has published four books of reportage: Tunnelmensen (1996), in English Tunnel People; How de Body? (2000), about Sierra Leone; a study of Mexico's drug violence (2018); and Drugs (2020), about drug crime in Antwerp. He has also published several photo books, listed further down.
Where to Start with Teun Voeten
If you want the famous one
→ Tunnelmensen (1996).
If you want war
→ How de Body? (2000).
All 4 Teun Voeten Books, in Order
Tunnelmensen
Five months living among the homeless community in an old railway tunnel under Manhattan, until they were evicted in 1996. In 2010 an updated English version appeared as Tunnel People, in which he tracks down the former tunnel dwellers.
How de Body?
His journey into Sierra Leone's civil war in 1998, when he was hunted by child soldiers and went missing for weeks. Published in Dutch in 2000 and in English in 2002.
The Mexican Drug Violence
The academic version of his doctoral research on the drug war in Mexico, which he photographed from 2009 to 2012.
Drugs
No English edition · available in Dutch
Research commissioned by the city of Antwerp into drug-related crime and the Dutch syndicates behind it.
How Many Books Did Teun Voeten Write?
Four books of reportage between 1996 and 2020, besides several photo books.
- Reportage — Tunnel People, How de Body? and Drugs. Read the entries →
- Research — his study of Mexico's drug violence (2018). Read the entries →
- Photo books — listed further down. See the full list →
In What Order to Read Teun Voeten
His books are not a series. Tunnel People is the essential one, a classic of participant observation.
A reading path
1. Tunnel People (1996)
2. How de Body? (2000)
Everything Else Teun Voeten Wrote: The Full List
Beyond his reportage, photo books.
Open a form with the + to see every book in it.
Photo books
3
3 books · 1999–2012
- 1999A Ticket Towar photographs from Bosnia, Rwanda, Sudan, Sierra Leone and Afghanistan
- 2005New York New Yorkarchitectural photographs of Manhattan
- 2012Narco Estado: Drug Violence in Mexicophotographs from Mexico's drug war
Quick facts about Teun Voeten
- Born
- Boxtel, Netherlands
- Trained as
- Cultural anthropologist and philosopher
- Work
- War photographer for Vanity Fair, Newsweek, The New Yorker and National Geographic
- Doctorate
- Leiden University, on drug violence in Mexico
- In English
- Tunnel People; How de Body?
How Teun Voeten Works: Participant Observation
Voeten combines the anthropologist's method of participant observation with the photographer's eye: in the tunnel he lived as one of the community, recording their lives in words and pictures.
He resists romanticising or sensationalising his subjects, describing them as individuals with their own reasons.
Frequently asked questions about Teun Voeten's books
What is Tunnel People about?
Tunnel People describes the five months Teun Voeten spent living with homeless people in an abandoned railway tunnel under Manhattan in the 1990s.
Is Tunnel People available in English?
Yes. The Dutch original Tunnelmensen (1996) appeared in an updated English edition as Tunnel People in 2010.
Footnotes
Bibliography last verified 1 October 2026.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
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