Artist Statement
At best, a photograph contains multiple layers of significance. It is ambiguous and somewhat confusing. Just like society itself.
Process Statement
On 'The Continuity of Man': The Mediterranean is more than history and geography. Although the Med appears to be a geographical unity, culturally, politically, socially and naturally spoken, the region is extremely diverse. Therefore my photographic representation is not limited to one single topic, but comprises a multitude of themes and approaches. It shows the Mediterranean region in all its diversity, in all its contrasts.
On 'Red Journey': Belgian photographer Nick Hannes spent a year travelling through the fifteen former Soviet republics in search of traces of the past and signs of social transition. Red Journey uncovers the various ways in which former Soviet countries are trying to redefine their national identity after the disintegration of the communist imperium. Hannes shows a region of contrasts by photographing extreme wealth amid heart-rending poverty, unrestrained urban renewal that makes deprived neighbourhoods all the more visible, new dictator’s gilt cult images in a decor of faded glory.
After graduating from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent (Belgium) in 1997, I worked ten years as a photojournalist, realizing reportages in the Balkans and the Middle East. In 2006 I decided to fully concentrate on long-term documentary projects. In 2009 I published my first book ‘Red Journey’, about transition in the former Soviet Union. In 2011 I made a book about traditions in Belgium. In 2010 I started working on ‘The Continuity of Man’, a longterm documentary project of the Mediterranean region. This book and exhibition will be launched in november 2014.
From 2008 onwards I teach documentary photography at the Academy in Ghent. I am represented by Cosmos (Paris) and Hollandse Hoogte (Amsterdam). I exhibited in FotoMuseum (Antwerp), Bozar Centre for Fine Arts (Brussels), Flanders Center (Osaka), Breda Photo (Breda). I published in Le Monde 2, Paris Match, PDN, Stern amongst others.
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