In photography it’s easy to focus on images of ‘pretty things’. For the photo project at the Post X site I tried to dig deeper. In this article I want to tell you about why I feel this is important in photography.
PRETTY THINGS
When you start out with photography it’s easy to focus on creating images of ‘pretty things’. While I’m definitely guilty of this, I think as a photographer you should look for a deeper meaning of the images you produce.
History has always fascinated me. I find that when there’s a long history behind a place, it captivates your interest longer. It makes it easy to go back to the same place and develop a body of work that tells a story.
The first project in line with this thinking is the series of images I made about the new Post X site. I’ve been working on this project since 2018 and I’m continuing to build on it. While the structures on the site are brand new, the site played an important role in Antwerp’s modern history.
What started out as a hunt for images of pretty things became a documentation of the development of the site while reflecting on what once was. I hope that in future these images will tell the story of the birth of a new era for this place. When images have a place in history, I feel it makes the rise of the modern structures something more than a visual representation of the architecture.
FUTURE WORK
This project is not done. While I am writing this, the construction is still under way for a large building. It will be the new home of the Antwerp police.
At the same time I am already busy for two years with a long term project about the outer circle of the Brialmont walls. Please consider signing in for my newsletter, if you want to be informed about this or other project I’m working on. You will get a newsletter just a few times a year with:
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