What to do you get with traditional portrait photography? A strong visual bond between the subject and the photographer’s camera. That’s why photographer Max Pinckers took another approach. Although fascinated by the balanced and unbiased relationship to create a desired outcome, Max took the concept a bit further. Read the rest of this entry »
25
Feb
2013
Feb
2013
Snap Shot
3
Dec
2012
Dec
2012
I Love Belgium interviews Athos Burez
From super models (check our last interview with Belgian hottie Cesar Casier) to photography, is only a small step. The I Love Belgium team met young photographer Athos Burez in the Ghent party scene a few years ago and even than there was something special about him. He has a master in fine arts and a master in photography. In his photography, he combines elements from both disciplines to give an imaginary twist to seemingly mundane daily life scenes. Read the rest of this entry »
28
Nov
2012
Nov
2012
Whiter Shade of Pale
Touched by the work of Diane Airbus and Rineke Dijkstra, young photography talent Sanne De Wilde decided that the power of perception needed to be explored. An exploration which resulted in some fascinating work such as the award winning “The Dwarf Empire” and the I Love Belgium favourite “Snow White”. Each of these outsider series portray something which may feel like pure fiction because of its harsh honesty. Read the rest of this entry »
26
Oct
2012
Oct
2012
Racing Pigeons
When we came across this pigeon series of Antwerp/Ghent based photographer Frederik Buyckx, we knew we had to share these pictures! Because there’s nothing more Belgian then a good old pigeon race. In the beginning of the 19th century Belgium was the first country to hold pigeon races. Sprouted from the age old pigeon-messenger tradition, they are still going strong today. Read the rest of this entry »
2
Oct
2012
Oct
2012
Cardboard Photography
How do you create highly stylized photographs with cinematographic qualities without spending loads of money on settings? Well, ask collective 354 Photographers created by Kevin Laloux and Maxime Delvaux. They’ve built theirs sets out of cardboard and off-the-rack miniature furniture. Read the rest of this entry »
13
Sep
2012
Sep
2012
Beyond the Picturesque
Ok, before we start the article we have to admit something! This time we “borrowed” the title from an excellent exhibition at S.M.A.K some years ago. Back then we also discovered photographer Geert Goiris beautiful stylized work. While going through his photographs we spontaneously fell in love with his Whiteout series! Read the rest of this entry »
31
Aug
2012
Aug
2012
I Love Belgium interviews 254forest
ILOVEBELGIUM
Our readers are used to reading interviews with one person, so this unique: this is the first group interview on I Love Belgium. We’re interviewing 254forest a creative studio based in Brussels covering the field of photography – film – music – production and post production.
Some examples of people they work with: V Magazine, Nicola Formichetti, Another Magazine, Dazed & Confused and to finish this list of namedropping: they are art director for rafsimons.com so we’re sure they will be doing projects for Dior, now that Raf is also designing the collection… Talented graphic studio Codefrisko just designed their brand new website, the perfect time to sit down with the team and have a creative talk. Read the rest of this entry »
28
Aug
2012
Aug
2012
Marchers
In a region of Belgium situated between two rivers (the Sambre and the Meuse), Brussels based photographer Thomas Vanden Driessche captured a tradition that has disappeared in other parts of the country. From May to the end of Autumn, each entity in the region gets its religious relics out in the surrounding countryside to honour the patron saint of the village. An act strangely preserved over the centuries and captured beautifully in the documentary/portrait like style of Thomas. Read the rest of this entry »
4
Jun
2012
Jun
2012
Bodybuilders’ World
Thanks to the interaction on I Love Belgium’s Twitter and Facebook page we discover daily great ILB topics. One of those is the photographic series titled “Bodybuilders’ World” of photographer Kurt Stallaert. This series suggests an imaginary world with a powerful twist (literally). At first glance, his images may look common: people in daily surroundings. But when you look closer you’ll notice the surreal twist! Read the rest of this entry »
25
May
2012
May
2012
Human Escape
Ghent-based photographer Stefanie Geerts caught our attention with her stunning Human Escape series. These painting-like pictures make use of old film rolls, hence the beautiful colour palettes and surprising distortion. They capture the beauty of commercial venues with doubtful scenery such as punk festivals, fairgrounds and medieval markets. Read the rest of this entry »
14
May
2012
May
2012
Street Photography by Artur Eranosian
Back in 1996, the seven year old Artur Eranosian moved from an unstable Armenia to quite, rural Belgium. Yet his life only really changed seven years later when he was watching a documentary about legendary street photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson. The simplicity of walking around and taking pictures triggered Artur to carry his camera everywhere he went! Read the rest of this entry »
8
May
2012
May
2012
The Entrance Hall
Remember our “The Pub’s Floor” article? The photography of Jimmy Kets turned out to be one of April’s best read articles. So we assume that the I Love Belgium reader has a thing for artistic architectural detail photography. That’s why the I Love Belgium team gives you more of what you love! This time the focus is on mid-century entrance halls! Read the rest of this entry »
23
Apr
2012
Apr
2012
Stephan Balleux
Intriguing artist Stephan Balleux caught our eye with the exhibition ‘Sui Generis’. His dark and surreal work gets under your skin. Why? The paintings really seem to come alive. His combination of different media like photography and painting make you forget that what you see isn’t real. Read the rest of this entry »
12
Apr
2012
Apr
2012
Les Petits Filous
Here at the I Love Belgium office we still remember our late eighties bare-bottom-on-lamb-pelt baby picture! Fortunately things have changed since then. Today you can find several photography studios who focus on contemporary kids’ photography. And no, we’re not referring to he highly stylized baby pictures of Anne Geddes…. Instead we’ll be talking about Brussels based cheeky photography studio Les Petits Filous. Read the rest of this entry »
10
Apr
2012
Apr
2012
Raf Simons Redux
A few months ago we already talked about the rumour, but now the die has been cast: Raf Simons for Dior. And because of this great news, we want to revisit Raf’s earliest work. His first collection was all about English schoolboys and their uniforms. Characteristics were the very tight silhouette and the classical materials in dark colours. Back in 1995, the collection was presented with three large black/white pictures of two street-spotted boys and a video (watch it here). For the next 10 years of his career, we have a look at his book titled “Redux”. Read the rest of this entry »
26
Mar
2012
Mar
2012
Visual Brussels
As you may have noticed, the I Love Belgium team is based in Brussels. So when we stumbled on the blog Visual Brussels, we immediately related to the topic. It even got more interesting when we figured out that Visual Brussels is more then just a photography blog. Instead it’s an ongoing visual survey and process by artist Bernd Kleinheisterkamp. Read the rest of this entry »
20
Mar
2012
Mar
2012
Liesje Reyskens Photography
Her girls have something doll-like, her colours are far from muted and her picture compositions are sober yet delicately balanced! Yes, we’re talking about young photography talent Liesje Reyskens. A girl that has a natural feeling for colour, contrast, originality, sensuality and innocence. Read the rest of this entry »
17
Mar
2012
Mar
2012
Frederik Vercruysse
Frederik Vercruysse (1974 – check out a self-portrait he did for Architectural Digest Germany on the I Love Belgium facebook page) is a Belgian photographer based in Antwerp. He combines architecture, interior, still life and portrait photography. Creating images with spaces, furniture, people, plants, clothing and other objects in a fresh, graphical and realistic but sometimes also in a surreal way. Read the rest of this entry »
14
Mar
2012
Mar
2012
Food by Bart and Inge
Fact: Belgium has the highest ratio of Michelin stars per capita in the world! So we can conclude that Belgium is, by definition, a culinary country. But it doesn’t stop there, lately there’s a whole new foodie frenzy. Cooking shows are non-stop on our television screens and new cookbooks are daily published. That’s why the I Love Belgium team started wondering… We know the faces and dishes of the master chefs, but who are the people behind the bigger culinary picture? Read the rest of this entry »
2
Feb
2012
Feb
2012
LARP, Taking a Holiday From Everydayness
LARP? Yes, sometimes we need our friend Wiki to help us out! LARP is short for live action role-playing game, a form of role-playing where the participants physically act out their characters’ actions. Inspired by tabletop role-playing games, online fantasy gaming and genre fiction; the action spread internationally during the 1980′s. Don’t worry, we’re not going to talk about the game rules, instead we’re admiring the intimate portraits photographer Charlotte Lybeer took from the Belgian and Dutch LARP community. Read the rest of this entry »
