by Yvette Depaepe

A few weeks ago, 1x was contacted by “Photography Office” asking for our collaboration in their quest to discover  ten 1x photographers born in Belgium: a short biography and two of their own favourite images with a description why.
Featured 1x Belgian photographers (in alphabetic order): Ben Goossens, Delphine Devos, Fernand Hick, Gilbert Claes, Harry Verschelden, Jef Van den Houte, Luc Vangindertael, Marc Apers, Piet Flour, Yvette Depaepe.

Photography Office is an online magazine created to bring inspiration and creativity from new emerging artists, but also from classic, famous, award winning or established talented photographers to be at your virtual fingertips.

Currently, you can discover the full version of this article on top of the site and beautifully presented.
Worth to have a look and discover more interesting articles and interviews.

1x is glad to present the images the 10 Belgian photographers submitted to Photography Office.

BEN GOOSSENS

“Through the frame”

Ben's biggest challenge is to blend detailed photography with advanced techniques to make his images surprising with a strong idea behind and in a powerful composition.

“I think, I'm a dreamer”

 
Ben is often considered as the Magritte / Dali in the photographic world.

DELPHINE DEVOS

“Reflection of Life”

"Reflection of life" is a picture that tells a story, our history: a disturbing story, terrifying or not .
Look in the mirror and accept what we are and what we will be. This picture is not only a reflection of death but also the reflection of life.
It is a symbolic and metaphorical image. It is a visual representation of fate tinged poetry.
It shows the imagination and poetic projection of the inevitable.

“Ad vitam…” 

This is not a simple picture that I share, it is an emotion.
That day, when my cat came back from his walk in the garden, I found this little bird at my back door. Before burying the poor little thing, I decided to take some pictures.
I create this image with much emotion and respect.

FERNAND HICK

“The adventurer”

I remember one day, I was making a bicycle trip with my wife and we come to a new bridge that I had already photographed. This time however we came from another way and I had the feeling "Here is something to make...". I had no camera, but I came back there later when the luminosity was the same and made the best capture of this bridge...”

“Parasols closed”

A personal vision of this already so strange Gehry building in Düsseldorf

GILBERT CLAES

“linear”

Reading between the Lines’ is a project by two Belgian architects, Gijs and Van Vaerenbergh, presenting a 10 meters high Transparent Church made of 100 layers and 2000 columns of steel. This is a detail inside the building of the small tower with one of the windows…I transformed the brown rusted color of the steel sheets into full black. The white lines are daylight …

“Alta Quadratum”

This is a detail of a black painted wall with white lines and a small mirror into the 'Bonnefanten museum', a museum of fine art in Maastricht, The Netherlands.The new building, one of the most prominent modern buildings of the city, was designed by the Italian architect Aldo Rossi.
I changed the white color of the window in transparent orange…

HARRY VERSCHELDEN

“The Offering”

“The Offering” is absolutely my favourite one; this was the first real abstract that was published on the 1x front page and gave me more satisfaction than all the others published before. It’s a reflective self portrait with a lot of symbolism: if you receive something, always give a little part to someone else….in that way, receiving will become a greater pleasure that it already was.

“Invictus”

My second favourite is “Invictus” inspired by the poem of William Ernest Henley. Full of drama and emotion but with the message of never giving up.

JEF VAN DEN HOUTE

“Patches of light”

I had great light on the building and combined it with a more abstract background.

"Calavatra lines at the blue hour"

Taken in the Liège Guillemins station (Calatrava architecture) at the 'blue hour'. It all was there, minimal processing needed.

LUC VANGINDERTAEL

“Swing Up”

This photo was made in the Museum of Modern Art (MUDAM) in Luxemburg.
The free standing staircase from the basement to the ground floor struck me by the elegance of the curve and the top workmanship of the concrete.

“In the chapel of nothingness”

This is a magical place. The chapel is a design by artist Thierry de Cordier in the garden of the psychiatric center St Norbert in Duffel (Belgium).
The chapel is an empty rectangular box, open to the elements. Enter in this space and you will feel stillness, reduction and denial till nothing is left: nothingness.

MARC APERS

“Support”

This man told me his entire life story before I had the ability to make a picture of him, something I will never forget.

“The performer”

This shot was taken after I had been teaching English to a bunch of kids.  At a certain moment one of them started dancing in front of me while the others were rather shy and staid in the background. I can guarantee you, it was incredible fun!

PIET FLOUR

“a summer's tale”

While shooting on the beach I saw interesting light and shadows on the beach cabins. I took some shots focussing on the combination of the young model in contrast with the graphical component of the cabins. As the light was rather challenging I used fill-in flash . For this shot a sudden wind came to help me in getting this special moment.

“as time goes on”

This image is all about grieve and loss, about remembering and caring for the beloved ones who passed away.

YVETTE DEPAEPE

“On the Road with the Thunder Gods”

I had the opportunity to take this first lightning shot on the road to Las Vegas.  Since than, I love to chase lightnings.

“Vanished to the infinite”

I never succeeded to take a better shot of this place. It always is different according to the light, the weather, the season. This one was taken in the winter at noon. Also a special meaning to me because it was my very first image published on 1x.