Photojournalism 1st place winner

My series “Losing our minds” was taken at the beginning of the corona crisis 2020: a bizarre, but extremely fascinating period. Man loses his mind because a stormy situation presents itself that is new and challenging for him. Fear tries to overpower him, he freezes, starts to reflect on the world and on the punishment that Mother Nature seems to send us. We have treated our Mother Earth too lightly, demanded too much of her in our egoism. Reflection is necessary.
I want this poetic-philosophical reflection to speak through my images in these corona times. In my series “Losing our minds” I consciously show only young people who are looking for themselves, for the meaning of life and the relationship between man and nature. It is sometimes difficult to draw the line between realism and surrealism, between reality and madness. Are those figures real or staged in my photos? Sometimes we as a layman have the same reaction: is this the real world in which we live or is this madness / surrealism? These are photos of ultra-Orthodox Jews who can enjoy their freedom in an unorthodox way in the storm (of their lives) and escape the lockdown.

Belgian photographer. Diploma from the Leuven CVO in 2015.
Studies in literature, Philosophy and Arts at the University of Louvain (Belgium) and the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg i.B. (Germany).
2015-2021: exhibitions in different galleries or special locations (solo or with other photographers, painters, poets, sculptors, singers, video artists, mixed media artists ...) in the US, UK, Germany, Greece, Crete, Malta, Hungary, Spain, Italy, Austria, France, The Netherlands and Belgium.
Photobooks published: "No time to Verloes" (2015), "Cuba libre" (2016), "Zeezuchten" (2020), "Buiten zinnen/Losing Our Minds"(2021)
Most important awards in 2020/2021:
Nominee @ LensCulture Visual Storytelling Awards
Selected as one of the best contemporary photographers worldwide by the American site All-About-Photo
Winner Life Framer Photo Contest 2020 ("Civilization") judged by Tate Modern's Curator of Intern. Art & Photography Emma Lewis)
Selected for the Life Framer Collection 2020
Travel Photographer of the Year 2020 - Beste Single Image ("People of the world")
Winner Siena Creative Photo Awards 2021 ("Open Theme")
Award Winner Malta International Photo Travel Award 2020/2021
2nd Place MonoVisions Awards 2021 ("Photojournalism"), London
Finalist FOCUS Photo L.A. 2021, Los Angeles
Winner Siena International Photography Awards 2021 (Fascinating faces and characters)
Winner 16th Annual Black &White Spider Awards 2021, Beverly Hills (California)