Every month, Wilfrid Estève, teacher, photographer and producer, will present a photography school and will highlight a portfolio by one of their exceptional students.
The “75” : A renowned school of Arts and Images for Documentary Photography in Brussels.
Visiting the “Septantecinq” always makes me regret not having been a student there. The bright central building is in a park with spacious and inviting courtyards. The working spirit is felt every where. There are prints lying about, and despite the fact that the school is in French speaking Brussels, many languages can be heard in the hallways. We are in an environment of creation and exchange. Discussions with professors are frequent, as students are free to approach their professors throughout the development of their projects.
At the end of a long hallway, a black and white laboratory. The scent of developer is strong and students can be seen retouching their prints with brushes.
At the beginning a mere arts department of a University, the “75” moved to the neighboring Brussels commune of Woluwé-Saint-Lambert in 1969 where it became the Ecole Supérieure des Arts Plastiques offering workshops in ceramic, graphic arts, engraving painting, photography and printing. The name comes from the original street number.
The photography school quickly became known for the documentary direction it took under the guidance of Yves Auquier in the spirit of such photographers as , Dorothea Lange, Diane Arbus, Walker Evans, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa or Paul Strand. Yves Auquier trained the current professors : Jean-Marc Vantournhoudt, (French based Belgian), Vito Gisonda (Italian), Hugues de Wurstemberger (a Swiss photographer for the Agence Vu’), Savvas Lazaridis (Greek photographer) and Philippe Jauniaux (Belgian photographer).
With the International Erasmus exchange program, over 50% of the students are French. There is no entrance exam, but applicants must undergo an interview with the Professors.
Wilfrid Estève
Wilfried Estève is a photographer, journalist, professor and producer.
He has been running the FreeLens association since 2004 and received, in 2005, a special mention by the Nadar Prize for his work
“Photojournalisme, à la croisée des chemins”.
A member of the Observatoire du Photojournalisme du Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication, cofounder of the Agency Oeil Public, Estève also runs conferences on transmedia and photojournalism. Since 2006, he has been in charge of the Artistic and Editorial Direction of the Hans Lucas creation and production studio.
École supérieure des arts de l’image Le 75
Avenue J.F. Debecker 10
1200 Woluwé-Saint-Lambert (Bruxelles)
00 33 (0)2 761 01 25
