The Monography Series Award Nikon-Bozar recognizes the work of a Belgian photographer with a solo exhibition at the Palais des Beaux-Arts. From the 120 submissions, the jury selected the work of Titus Simoens (b. 1985 in Gand). Simoens’ series Mount Song was shot in 2013 in a kung-fu academy in the Chinese province of Henan. Over the course of 7 weeks, Simoens photographed the daily life of children in this secluded and disciplined community. The photographer blended into the background, becoming almost invisible, which gave him the opportunity to take incredible photographs.
After Ostende and Cuba, where you’re currently working, can you elaborate on your series about children in trade schools? Did you attend a similar school as a child?
I started the series in 2001. It’s about children living together in a closed environment, learning a trade for the future. I became interested in this subject randomly, after visiting the “Ibis” maritime training school in Ostende, Belgium. I never attended a school like that, but I think we can all identify some aspect of our childhoods with places like this.
You lived with these children full time. Do you feel the need to write the story—the passage of time, discipline, childhood, the absence of parents—of what you saw and felt?
I don’t need to write about my photographs. My work is not documentary. It’s very subjective, even though I’m very conscious of the situation. These children live together at a very young age to learn something that will influence them for the rest of their lives. I wonder if it’s a good way to grow up. What will they do once they graduate, when they have to find a way to fit into the outside world?
Read the full article on the French version of L’Oeil.
EXHIBITION
NIKON-BOZAR MONOGRAPHY SERIES AWARD #2
Mount Song – Titus Simoens
Through December 20th 2014
Palais des Beaux-Arts
Rue Ravenstein 23
1000 Brussels
Belgium
