DESCRIPTION
In the series ‘Everlasting’ I try to give a visual insight into lifelong grief caused by the death of a child in Flanders.
I make vulnerable but dignified portraits of mothers and fathers who have lost a child with an object that reminds them of their child. All causes of death (stillborn, sickness, accident, suicide) and all ages are represented.
I chose this subject because I have some friends and acquaintances that lost their child. They keep telling me how difficult it is to mourn these days. In our amenable society where there is a solution to every problem and a specialist for every disorder, a lifelong grief has become a genuine taboo. After all, people don’t want to be continuously confronted with other peoples’ sorrow, because it reminds them over and over again of their own vulnerability.
So whoever mourns often leads two lives: one in which one acts under social pressure as if everything is normal and one ‘still life’ in which one’s heart screams out in pain…
Apart from the vulnerability, I surely want to show the dignity and the resilience of the bereaved parents. By addressing this subject, I hope to wipe out the taboo.
AUTHOR
EDUCATION:
- Academy of Fine Arts, Lier, Belgium, 2012-2017
- Masterclass led by John Lambrichts, the Netherlands, 2015-2016
- Various workshops in Belgium and abroad
AWARDS AND HONORS:
- 2e price ‘Fotonale Brugge’, Bruges, Belgium, 2014
- 4 Nominations Fine Art Photography Awards, USA, 2017
- Finalist ‘Graduation Project’, newspaper ‘De Morgen’ Belgium, 2017
- Selection for ‘Le Masterklass’, Paris, France, 2017-2018
SOLO EXPOSITIONS:
- GC ’t Blikveld, Bonheiden, Belgium, 2017
- ‘Fotografiecircuit Vlaanderen’, 18 locations, Belgium, 2017-2019
- B&B Capotorto, Permanent exposition, Petriano, Italië, 2016-now
CURATED GROUP EXPOSISIONS:
- ‘Portrait 2018’, CO, USA, 2018
- ‘The intimate portrait’, NC, USA, 2017
- Photoville 2017: ‘The Print Swap’, NY, USA, 2017
- ‘Graduation exposition’, Belgium, 2017
- ‘New Harvest 2’, the Netherlands, 2016
- ‘Photo View 2016’ Belgium, 2016
PUBLICATIONS:
- New Dutch Photography Talent 2018, GUP Magazine, the Netherlands, 2017 + cover
- Photo of the day, Don’t take pictures, USA, 2017
- ‘Life without smartphone’, newspaper ‘De Morgen’, online version, Belgium, 2017
- ‘Pure’, newspaper ‘De Morgen’, paper version, Belgium, 2017
- Catalogue ‘Fotografiecircuit 2016-2019’, Fotografiecircuit Vlaanderen, Belgium 2016
- Catalogue ‘PhotoView 2016’, Centrum voor Beeldexpressie, Belgium 2016
- Catalogue ‘Fotonale 2014’, Cultuurcentrum Brugge, Belgium,
