Born in Antwerp in 1974. Based in Ranst, Belgium.
I graduated at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (KASK) in Ghent in 1997. For the next eight years I worked as a photojournalist.
In 2006 I quit doing press assignments, in order to fully concentrate on my own documentary projects. Most of my personal work has a strong political and social component.
In 2006 I left for a year-long trip by bus and train through the former Soviet Union, which resulted in my first book. Red Journey (Lannoo Publishers, 2009) deals with the transitional phase in post-communist society. Red Journey laid the foundation of my photographic approach, in which irony, ambiguity and visual metaphors play prominent roles.
In 2010 I started ‘Mediterranean. The Continuity of Man’, an epic project that involved twenty trips to 21 Mediterranean countries over four years of time. Published in 2014 by Hannibal Publishers (Belgium), this series juxtaposes parallel realities and paradoxes of the Mediterranean region, focusing on various contemporary issues such as mass-tourism, urbanization, migration, conflict and crises of various kinds. ‘Mediterranean. The Continuity of Man’ was launched at the Museum of Photography (FoMu) in Antwerp in 2014, before traveling to several international photography festivals and museums.
My third book ‘Garden of Delight’ (Hannibal / Editions André Frère, 2018) showcases Dubai as the ultimate playground of globalization and capitalism, and raises questions about authenticity and sustainability. This series was awarded the Magnum photography Award in 2017 and the Zeiss Photography Award in 2018.
During the outbreak of the Corona-virus in the spring of 2020 I started to photograph my family in lockdown. The visual diary ‘An Unexpected Lesson on Joy’ was my first self-published book.
I did two commissioned books: ‘Tradities’ (Davidsfonds, 2011) and ‘Limburg Ongefilterd’ (Openbaar Kunstbezit Vlaanderen, 2018). I published portfolios in Stern, Paris Match, El Pais Semenal, Vanity Fair, Mare, European Photography, Géo, L’Obs, Vrij Nederland, de Volkskrant, De Standaard, De Morgen, Humo, Knack, Snoecks.
I exhibited at Thessaloniki Biennial for Contemporary Art, Museum of Photography FoMu (Antwerp), Bozar Centre for Fine Arts (Brussels), Flanders Center (Osaka, Japan), Breda Photo (Breda, NL), Visa pour l’Image (Perpignan), Kaunas Photo (Lithuania), Foto Festiwal Lodz (Poland), PhotoMed (Beirut), Head On (Sydney), Athens Photo Festival, Centro Andaluz de la Fotografia (Almeria), CajaGranada, Foto Istanbul, Organ Vida (Zagreb), Fundacion Tres Culturas (Sevilla), Medphoto (Rethymno, Crete), Triennial of Photography Hamburg, De Garage (Mechelen, B), ImageSingulières/Le Réservoir (Sète, France), Encontros da Imagem (Braga, Portugal), Festival della Fotografia Etica (Lodi, Italy), Lianzhou Foto (China) among others.
I was a finalist at Organ Vida Festival Zagreb (2017), Grand Prix Fotofestiwal Lodz (2016), EI Award at Encontros da Imagem in Braga, Portugal (2015), Leica Oskar Barnack Awards (2014), Lens Culture Exposure Award (2013).
Since 2008 I teach documentary photography at KASK/The School of Arts in Ghent (B).
I am represented by Panos Pictures (London) and Black Eye Gallery (Sydney).