I started photographing on holiday, fascinated by the ocean. From that moment on I want to capture the world around me by looking through a camera. In ’98 I went to the filmfestival in Cannes where I photographed people like Johnny Depp, Willem Dafou and Ray Fiennes.

My passion for the theatre made me photograph people from the theatre world in their own surroundings. Them choosing the location as long as it was of personal meaning. This resulted in a surpising intimate series of pictures and was exhibited in both Belgium and the Netherlands.
After this the C.C. de Warande assigned me to photograph musicians backstage in the cultural center. For a year and a half I was in dressingrooms, the artistcafé, on stage during soundchecks.This series offers a glimpse of the life behind the scenes.

From the age of 18 I always said I would go to Elvis when I would turn 30. So in the summer of 2004, I went to Nashville, Memphis and New Orleans. In search of all the different styles of music that are to be found in these cities. On the way I got to photograph country- and bluegrass musicians in Nashville, Graceland, recording studios and a gospel ceremony in Memphis, and some jazz, a secondline and the September 11th remembrance ceremony in New Orleans.

I always wanted to work with ‘theatre Stap’ one day. This is a theatre company that works with professional handicapped actors. They choose a play and other professional actors out of the Belgian acting scene and start working on a play. The results are always refreshing and surprising, and the level on which they work is very high. I got the chance to photograph them backstage during the tour of ‘Donkisjot’, an adaptation on the Don Quichote play. I followed them around for a few shows and in the end got to go to Morocco with them, where they were invited to play a festival. This is an experience that was so intense, since they need a lot of attention and care. Especially when traveling abroad.

I just finished working on a longterm project in Israel and Palestine, documenting the cultural life there. In areas like this, the necessity for art, music, theatre is even more essential then anywhere else. I want to show how people live and experience different kinds of culture on both sides of the seperation wall. To show how similar they actually are, even though the opportunities may not be equal at all.

Music and culture keep running through my work as a red thread. It’s a common language people all over the world can understand and which unites people. It’ a way of differentiating once culture and yet despite the different rituals, sounds and movements, it’s open to anybody and people can relate.

I just came back from Iran, where in November I’ve been working on documenting daily life there, with a special focus on the lives of women in the region. Going beyond the pictures we see in the news on plastic surgery, nuclear activity and the president. I hope to continue this project and go to different regions in the Middle East.