Tag: Belgium

Evolution of the Photobook Belge

“To date, hardly any research has been conducted into Belgian photobooks,” opens the exhibition Photobook Belge, now on show at FOMU and published as a book by FOMU in partnership with Hannibal. “Photobook Belge provides an overview of the evolution of the Belgian photobook from the mid-19th century to today.”

Including nearly 250 publications, Photobook Belge is divided into eight chapters, looking at areas such as Artists’ Books, Belgian national identity, and the relationship between text and images. Belgium’s brutal colonisation of the Congo, its subsequent relationship with the country, and its often problematic representation of it in images, is given a whole chapter. “Many of the photobooks published since the 50th anniversary of [Congo’s] independence in 2010 oscillate between a more or less overt nostalgia, Afro-pessimism and an aesthetic of ruins,” states the curator Tamara Berghmans. “Most are still the result of a white, male gaze.”

1 March 2019

Sanne de Wilde, Arko Datto and Leonard Pongo join NOOR

NOOR, the prestigious photo agency and foundation, has signed up three new nominees – Sanne de Wilde, Arko Datto and Leonard Pongo. Hailing from Belgium, India and Belgium/DR Congo respectively, all three are known for their cutting-edge work, rooted in documentary but pushing the aesthetic boundaries of image-making. 

4 October 2017

Daily Life Inside Molenbeek

Even before the Brussels attacks, the poor, nondescript, seemingly innocuous Brussels district of Molenbeek had become world famous as a hotbed for Islamic State-inspired terrorism. Local photographer Hadrien Duré set out to show the normal people that still call Molenbeek their home.

25 November 2016