Daniel Van Reybrouck best describes Stephan Vanfleteren in his foreword to Belgicum, the magnificent book dedicated to the “flat country” : « To show what is beyond words. To look at what is no longer looked at. To capture what is hollow, or gutted, what no longer is, or fading. Stephan Vanfleteren is the photographer of what has passed, but not of what has disappeared. He shows not only History but the slow leaking away of days. As a photographer of the irretrievable, his work is evocative. Vain, but uplifting, hopeless, yet somehow heartwarming.»
Stephan Vanfleteren is a photographer, in the noble sense of the word. He has a sharp eye and is attracted by both the ordinariness and exoticism of Belgium – his native land – while remaining an endless traveler. Belgicum reassures us on photography’s propensity to not describe but rather to suggest a poetic, sensitive and human slant on things.
Stephan Vanfleteren was born in 1969 in Kortrijk in Belgium. He studied photography at the l’Ecole Supérieure Saint Luc in Brussels. He began his career by publishing his photographs in the De Morgen newspaper before working for other well known press publications. The photographer presents his powerful and radical work in black and white. His numerous artists and anonymous portraits shed light on details of everyday life in our country and as well as in conflict zones around the world. Stephan Vanfleteren was awarded the Henri Nannen prize, one of the most prestigious German photography prizes.
EXHIBITION
Belgicum
Until June 3rd 2012
Chais des Moulins
52-54 quai des Moulins 34200 Sète
France
