OVERVIEW GUEST EXHIBITIONS 2023
Cultural Centre Palethe – POI 01
Martin Parr | A summer with Martin Parr
WPC – World Photographic Cup 2023 | Team Belgium
Jeugdlaan 2
GPS 51.211239° NB 5.428118° OL
Every working day (except public holidays) from 9am to 12 noon and from 1pm to 4.30pm and during activities at the cultural centre
Except Friday, open from 9am to 12am only
Open every Saturday and Sunday from 2pm to 5pm
St Martin’s Church – POI 06
Carine Van Gerven | Tableaux Vivants
Kerkdijk 2-4
GPS 51.211111° NB 5.425730° OL
Every day from 10am to 5pm, except during church services
Walkway from Oude Markt to Lod Lavkistraat – POI 14
Oude Markt GPS 51.211750° NB 5.423692° OL
Lod Lavkistraat GPS OL 51.212350° NB 5.425730° OL
This open-air exhibition is permanently accessible
Service Centre Pelle-Melle – POI 20
Leon Alders | Kongolo
Photoclub Zonhoven-Centre | Project ‘Vlieg op de muur’
Dorpsstraat 58, 3900 Pelt
GPS 51.213668° NB 5.423033° OL
Open every day from 9am to 5 pm
Dorpsstraat – POI 23
Frank Doorhof | Photos with a humouristic undertone
Dorpsstraat 91, fencing in front of De vakschool, the former site TIO Campus Wico
GPS 51.210563° NB 5.422140° OL
This open-air exhibition is permanently accessible
De Vakshool – POI 25
They fight for us too | Contemporary Ukrainian war photography
Dorpsstraat 91, at the former site TIO Campus Wico
GPS 51.210563° NB 5.422140° OL
Open every day from 2pm to 5 pm (from July)
Nieuwe Markt – POI 26
Board members of Lens op de Mens npo
Nieuwe Markt, on the fencing of the former TIO site
GPS 51.209786° NB 5.423998° OL
This open-air exhibition is permanently accessible
Nieuwe Markt – POI 27
Nieuwe Markt
GPS 51.209786° NB 5.423998° OL
This open-air exhibition is permanently accessible
Ursulinenstraat – POI 29
Fencing in front of the former Ursulines convent
GPS 51.209632° NB 5.426287° OL
This open-air exhibition is permanently accessible
Finnish Running Track and garden behind former Ursuline convent – POI 30
Antti Karppinen (FI) | Artificial Intelligence
Vizualizator | selection Press Photo Serbia
via Vloeterstraat, access via the parking at the Sacred Heart Chapel
GPS 51.209813° NB 5.428673° OL
via Ursulinenstraat, access via the small gate of Wico Campus Overpelt
GPS 51.209632° NB 5.426287° OL
This open-air exhibition is permanently accessible
Oude Kerkhofmuur – POI 31
RPS Benelux Chapter Members 2023 Print Exhibition | Daily Life of Us
Kerkdijk, on the right next to Palethe
GPS 51.211126° NB 5.428237° OL
This open-air exhibition is permanently accessible
CC Palethe – POI 01
Jeugdlaan 2, 3900 Pelt
Martin Parr | A summer with Martin Parr
Martin Parr is one of the best-known documentary photographers of his generation. With over 100 books of his own published, and another 30 edited by Parr, his photographic legacy is already established.
Parr also acts as a curator and editor. He has curated two photography festivals, Arles in 2004 and Brighton Biennial in 2010. More recently Parr curated the Barbican exhibition, Strange and Familiar.
Parr has been a member of the Magnum agency since 1994 and was President from 2013 – 2017. In 2013 Parr was appointed the visiting professor of photography at the University of Ulster.
Parr’s work has been collected by many of the leading museums, from the Tate, the Pompidou and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Martin Parr established the Martin Parr Foundation in 2017.
In 2019 the National Portrait Gallery in London held a major exhibition of Parr’s work titled Only Human.
Photo: New Brighton, England, 1983-85 © Martin Parr / Magnum Photos
On 1 July at 2 pm, Toon Van Hoof will give a lecture with guided tour on the work of Martin Parr at CC Palethe
On 23 September at 3 pm, Martin Parr gives a lecture on his work in CC Palethe
WPC – Belgian selection for the World Photographic Cup 2023
In the entrance hall of CC Palethe, we show you the Belgian selection for the World Photographic Cup 2023. This international competition is also called the Olympics of photography. For the 2023 edition, 32 country teams from five continents entered.
Our festival president Carine Van Gerven is part of this selection for the fifth time with a picture in the Illustration/Digital Art category.
Category Commercial: Jürgen De Witte, Sven van Roy, Pascal Vandecasteele
Category Illustration / Digital Art: Wim Moortgat, Carine Van Gerven, Sven van Roy
Category Illustrative Portrait: Joeri Peeters, Pascal Vandecasteele, Wim Moortgat
Category Natural Portrait: Kristof Claeys, Raïs De Weirdt, Yann Deschepper
Category Nature / Landscape: Edwin Hodister, Hanneke van Camp, Luc Vervliet
Category Nature / Wildlife: Ann Coppens, Evelien Geerinckx, Robert Smits
Category Reportage/Photojournalism: Robert Biesemans, Kristof Claeys, Pieter Clicteur
Category Wedding: Bart Boodts, Raïs De Weirdt, Evelien Geerinckx
Opening hours CC Palethe
Every weekday from 9am to 4.30pm
Except Friday, open from 9am to 12pm only
Open every Saturday and Sunday from 2pm to 5pm
and during activities at the cultural centre
St Martin’s Church – POI 06
Kerkdijk 2-4, 3900 Pelt
Carine Van Gerven | Tableaux Vivants
Carine studied art and painting at PHIKO art college in Hasselt (now PXL-MAD). After her graduation she became an Art teacher in a secondary art school (Mater Dei in Overpelt).
As an artist she organised several projects and participated in a lot of exhibitions as the international photo festival l’Été des Portraits in Bourbon-Lancy (France), projects with the culture centre Palethe in Pelt: Een vrouw in het Hobos, Face2Face, K-linken, Klanken and kleuren,…
More and more photography became her language. From 2016-2018 she was Deputy Mayor of Culture and founded the international photo festival ‘Lens op de Mens’ in Overpelt. After three editions she’s still the coordinator and inspirator of this festival.
Connecting people through art and creative projects is one of her goals.
Carine evolved from ceremonial photography to orchestrated photography. As a photographer she uses her own photographic language by telling today’s stories in historical looking settings. It has become her way of communicating. Each composition holds an intimate and timeless history.
In recent years, she gained international fame with these Tableaux Vivants. Carine Van Gerven shows not only man as an individual, but also businesses, occasions, groups, ideas or relevant social themes.
She uncovers subtitle links with a lot of empathy and symbolism and uncovers a story behind each composition.
Some of her images have been exhibited in Galerie Paul Janssen in Saint-Tropez, France.
In 2022, she achieved the highly coveted title of QEP – Qualified European Photographer with the FEP – Federation of European Professional Photographers.
In 2023, she was selected by Team Belgium for the 5th time for the WPC – the World Photographic Cup.
As a guest photographer for Lens op de Mens 2023, she will show a selection from her rich oeuvre of Tableaux Vivants.
Opening hours St. Martin’s church
Every day from 10am to 5pm, except during church services.
Walkway from Oude Markt to Lod Lavkistraat – POI 14
Access via Oude Markt
The jury | Johan Brouwers, chairman (BEL)
I like to capture the image of people as they occur spontaneously. No deliberate or requested poses. Snapshots in which their glance, their attitude often tells a lot about what they think, including me.
Was also jury chairman of the 2017 and 2019 edition. QEP – Qualified European Photographer. Board member of beroepsfotografen.be. Chairman of the EP jury (European Photographer), a basic qualification for photographers, awarded by the FEP – Federation of European Professional Photographers. Chairman of the FEP European Professional Photographer of the Year Awards Competition from the 2019 edition.
The jury | Caroline Alida (BEL)
Caroline Alida was een van de van Lens op de Mens 2019. Haar werk was te bewonderen in het Maria-Ziekenhuis Noorderlicht.
Caroline Alida was one of the guest photographers of Lens op de Mens 2019. Her work was on display at the Maria Hospital Noordelicht.
All the projects of Caroline Alida (BEL) are developed around a theme and are the result of years of work. Her focus is on human interest photography of marginal people. Her pictures show the inner world of these vulnerable people. Her main projects have been published: Bori / Healers of the Soul (Niger) – exhibited at FOMU 2010 – and Hearing Songs in Pine Trees (Eastern Siberia). Her work is a mix of both analog and digital photography.
Recently she was selected by LensCulture to participate in an intensive Masterclass Visual StoryTelling.
In Pelt, Caroline is showing a selection of portraits from the series ‘BORI – Healers of the Soul’, and from the book of the same name. This is a series of portraits of traditional seers and healers.
Over a dozen years, Caroline Alida had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with these extraordinary people. She gained their trust to be able to make these portraits. For this, she traversed Niger from north to south.
The jury | Zjuul Devens (BEL)
Visual artist, photographer, cinematographer, Master of Visual Arts and Photography.
He was a lecturer in audiovisual communication and multimedia at the Plantijn Hogeschool of the Province of Antwerp, Department of Communication Management.
He exhibits both at home and abroad, individually and in groups. This is done with photographic work, video installations, slide projections, video, as well as sculpture and installations. He also works with and for other image artists, dancers, musicians, theatre makers.
As a professional photographer, he was a do-everything devil. Working for the diamond industry gave birth to his passion for macro photography. Now, he is mostly into the theme of impermanence. Dead half-dead insects he likes to give a ‘new life’.
As a volunteer for Child Help, he also photographs and films in Africa. There he discovered a love for documentary photography.
Photography and art are a part of his life for him.
The jury | Andy Hens (BEL/DEU)
“To disclose the nature of man through photographs, that is the highest art of photography.
Usually people just look after a photo. People rarely look into it.”
MQEP – Master Qualified European Photographer. Belgian photographer who lives and works in Germany. Experienced jury member for the QEP and Master QEP qualifications of the Federation of European Professional Photographers. Photography teacher at the Handwerkskammer in Dortmund. Experienced cgi artist (cumputer-generated imagery).
https://www.europeanphotographers.eu/members/andy-j-j-hens/
The jury | Carla Kogelman (NLD)
I am a storyteller. Besides my fascination with backstage subjects in theatre, arts, culture and sports, I mainly focus my lens on ordinary people. As a documentary and portrait photographer, I am in search of who they are and their identity.
I find it valuable to be able to meet people, to get close so that a bond develops. Mutual trust produces intimate images. The portraits are an illustration of everyday life and depict emotion and how people are in life. I like long-term projects. I have always travelled a lot. I loved interacting and meeting other cultures not as a tourist but as an impresario. I find it valuable to focus on the human-environment relationship. A portrait in an environment. A documentary portrait.
These days, I am especially fascinated and inspired by the multicultural society around me. We can learn from each other, inspire and love each other. Often my themes play out on the borderland of culture and identity. The world is constantly changing and so are the people who live on it. For some time now, I have been working not only with images but also with text. Even more than an image, text gives meaning and direction to the theme and the individual.
I often participate in competitions. Since 2012, I have won: 2 x a first prize at the World Press Photo, 12 x a prize at the Silver Camera, 1 x the Happiness on the Move Award, 2 x the Alfred Fried Award and numerous other awards. I photograph, teach classes, lectures, workshops and master classes, supervise and coach students, participate in competition juries. And create work on commission and with the help of scholarships and grants. I mainly make free work.
The portraits I am showing in Pelt are all strong women living in Hasselt, namely : Sim, Hava & Heda, Petimat, Chris & Sheymaa.
www.carlakogelman.nl | www.debeeldunie.nl | www.schiltpublishing.com
The jury | Jim Lowe (GBR)
Jim, has been a professional photographer for many years. After graduating from Swansea College of Art, he was employed as an in-house photographer by the Ministry of Defence in London, then worked for six years in the photographic section of Portsmouth Polytechnic leaving as Head of the Department, finally joining the Westinghouse Brake and Signal engineering company, part of the Hawker Siddeley Engineering Corporation as Chief Photographer, which involved assignments in Hong Kong, Zimbabwe and America.
He started his own commercial/advertising photography business in partnership with his wife, Sue in 1985 and has specialised in architectural photography for the last 25 years. becoming a recognised expert in architectural photography. Photographers Institute Press, an English publishing company commissioned him to write a book; ‘Architectural Photography, Inside & Out’ which sold out worldwide in 3 years.
Jim is also well known for his large format analogue black and white landscapes for which he uses traditional film, hand printing them to exhibition quality. These have been acquired by collectors as far afield as Japan, India, South Africa, Canada and The Republic of Ireland as well as the UK. Jim has had exhibitions of his B&W landscapes and architectural photography throughout Europe, London, Moscow, Bath, Wiltshire and Cornwall. The majority of his images are now captured using digital technology.
From 2007-2018, as well as continuing with his other activities, Jim, was a senior lecturer at Falmouth University, Cornwall on The Marine and Natural History Photography Course and was made Head of the course in September 2012. During his time teaching at Falmouth University, he achieved a Master’s Degree in Education and Creative Academic Practice and became a Senior Fellow of the UK’s Higher Education Academy. He is also currently an online tutor in Architectural Photography for the UK based company Learning with Experts and has taught students worldwide.
He was President of the British Institute of Professional Photography (1999/2000) and a director for some years, a Vice-President of the Federation of European Photographers from 2000 to 2010 and has been judging for the FEP for 24 years and is currently the Chairman of the FEP Qualifications Jury and Chairman of the FEP’s Young Photographer Award. He has also acted as a judge for many European photographic organisations and competitions.
De jury | Carol Olerud (AUS/NLD)
Carol Olerud FRPS is an Australian born Dutch woman now living in The Netherlands. She is married to a Swede and has three grown children.
Photography has been her hobby since she was 12 when she got her first own camera. It has grown out of hand. She’s a member of many groups where people meet and talk about their photos.
Carol is a Fellow of the RPS (Royal Photographic Society) since 2021. Previously she had attained her Associate Distinction in 2018. She is the Organiser of the Benelux Chapter since 2020. Members and Friends of the Chapter come together to work towards gaining their distinctions and they hold workshops and other events.
Carol’s main focus is documentary/contemporary photography. She likes to take photos of people in any situation. Storytelling and street photography are main themes for her. The decisive moment – capturing something that happens in an instance. The camera always at the ready!
With the Royal Dutch Fotobond, Carol is the coordinator of the National Group Documentary Photography which meets at least four times per year with people from all over The Netherlands. They present their printed photos and discuss them with each other. They also make books together and have expositions when they can. The group also likes to go on photography trips once a year to any city in Europe.
On a more local level Carol is the Chair of a photographers’ collective, Visie+ and her own photography group is called De Verbeelding, they meet every two weeks.
To see more of Carol’s photos please check her website: www.carololerud.com
She’s active on Instagram, Facebook and Flickr.
www.rps.org | https://rps.org/chapters/benelux/ | www.fotobond.nl
The outdoor exhibition in the path between Old Market and Lod Lavkistraat is permanently accessible
Please respect the peace and privacy of local residents.
Service Centre Pelle Melle – POI 20
Leon Alders | Kongolo
While one hallway in Pelle Melle shows you pictures where the world travelled to Limburg and where new Limburgers found a home, the other shows the opposite movement. In the 1950s and 1960s, many Flemings migrated to the Belgian colony of Congo. That integration not always went smoothly. After the assassination of Congolese president Lmumba, rebellions broke out. In 1962, 19 Flemish priests were murdered in Kongol
Leon Alders is no stranger to Pelt. As a photographer, he captures many local events and in the corona years he portrayed many Pelt inhabitants sitting, resting on a Pelter ‘benkske’.
Leon Alders, nephew of the Neerpelt Father Pellens who was murdered in Kongolo in 1962, travelled to the site of the massacre in 2022 and was even able to speak to witnesses. He was able to experience how even after so many years the fathers have not been forgotten and how people still look with great respect at their achievements on the spot. In Pelle Melle, you can see his photographic report of the haunting trip to Kongolo.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/aldersleon/albums
Photo Club Zonhoven-Centre | Project ‘Vlieg op de muur’
Fly on the Wall is a travelling exhibition by the photographers’ collective of Fotoclub Zonhoven Centrum vzw through Limburg, featuring photographic portraits of about 50 nationalities.
Fotoclub Zonhoven Centrum vzw, a collective of six photographers, for a short while wanted to be part of the social network of 50 (out of 175) nationalities living in Limburg. They did so with their cameras and their pen, capturing ordinary everyday family life just like a Fly on the Wall. The result is a striking photo exhibition that came about in cooperation with numerous organisations.
In Pelt we will show you a new selection from the many original shots.
More about the members of FZC and their project Fly on the Wall can be found at www.vliegopdemuur.be
Open every day 9am – 5pm
Dorpsstraat (fencing in front of De Vakschool, former site TIO – campus WICO) – POI 23
Frank Doorhof (NL)
Photographer and trainer Frank Doorhof teaches model photography workshops in his studio in Emmeloord, but also worldwide. Regularly at unique places such as castles, museums and urbex locations. He works with studio flashes, speedlights and LED. Frank is a sought-after speaker at trade fairs and events such as Photokina, PhotoshopWorld, Photodays, The Photography Show, Fotofair and Professional Imaging. Two of his courses are now online at the Photofacts.co.uk academy. You can buy his own courses on model and street and travel photography on his website.
He is also very active on social media. Every month, you can watch the “Digital Classroom” online for free; a live shoot with a theme and model.
Frank is the author of several bestselling books on model photography such as “Mastering the Model Shoot” (translated into Chinese and Dutch, among others), “Photographing with a Small Flash” and “Photographing in Every Situation”.
Frank is an ambassador for many brands, including Sony, Hensel, Calibrite, BenQ photographic Monitors, Click Props Backdrops (with its own signature background line), Rogue Expo Imaging, IQwire tether cables, K&F Black Diffusion filters and many more. He is the first European KelbyONE trainer.
On 24 June 2023 at 10am, Frank Doorhof will demonstrate how to use small reporter flashes in a live model shoot.
In the afternoon, photographers will have the chance to shoot some sets with models themselves under the guidance of Frank.
This open-air exhibition is permanently accessible
De vakschool (former site TIO – campus Wico at the Dorpsstraat) – POI 25
They fight for us too | Contemporary Ukrainian war photograhy
In this exhibition, we show you a selection of 78 of the 200 photographs from the world-class exhibition shown at Gallery G4 in Cheb, Czech Republic, this spring. It is a collaboration between the national professional associations of photographers of Ukraine and the Czech Republic, UAPP and APFCR. Curators are Jan Pohribný and Igor Malijevský in collaboration with UAPF’s senior project manager Olga Kovalova and Mstyslav Chernov as the general director.
“The all-out attack on Ukraine launched by Russia without justification on 24 February 2022 differs in one respect from similar tales of Russian imperialist aggression – it is taking place during the information revolution, and so we can confront the Kremlin’s lies quite literally in real time.
The wartime photographs of members of the Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers are a powerful testimony to the suffering of ordinary people and their brave struggle for freedom – their and ours. Before the war, many of the photographers in this exhibition had been focused on entirely different genres, but now they often find themselves on the front lines.
From among several thousand photographs by fifteen Ukrainian photographers, the UAPP have made a selection for us of 78 photos that paints a three-dimensional picture of the war’s development, especially its early stages, while also focusing on several important themes – life during war, the situation faced by refugees, the struggle for freedom, the consequences of the war, and, finally, hope – which is constantly present in even the most difficult moments.
An important part of the selection consists of images taken in places that have seen some of the heaviest fighting and where the retreating Russian forces have committed crimes against the local inhabitants: Bucha, Irpin, and especially Mariupol.”
The opening of this world class exhibition took place on 25 June at De Vakschool. Flemish prime minister and minister of culture Jan Jambon had to cancel his attendance at the very last minute due to family circumstances.
Open every day from 2pm – 5pm (from 25 June)
Nieuwe Markt – fencing of the former TIO site – POI 26
Board member | Sonja Sleurs (BEL)
Sonja Sleurs (’57) from Pelt graduated in photography from the Stedelijke Kunstacademie in Mol. People and their passion for theatre and music are central to her images.
At the 2nd edition of Lens op de Mens in 2019, she also exhibited photos she took at CC Palethe where she has been the house photographer for several years.
Within the board of Lens op de Mens, Sonja is the treasurer.
Board member | Rudi Theunis (BE)
At a very young age, I was fascinated by photography. As an eight-year-old, I regularly took my parents’ pocket camera and photographed (without their knowledge) my surroundings. My mother was often surprised to find so many landscapes without people again among her newly developed slides. When I turned 12, I got an Olympus Trip 35 as a birthday present. That was my first 35mm (compact) camera, and also the beginning of a real love for photography.
After getting a bachelor’s degree in computer science, I decided to get my photography on track. By now, I was shooting in black and white and had my own darkroom. Yes, that was still in the analogue era. However, I felt the need to complete my knowledge of photography more deeply. Back then, the internet did not exist, and the alternatives were limited to reading books or magazines, or taking a course.
I decided to follow a course at the City Academy of Fine Arts in Hasselt. This training was super cool and gave me the basic knowledge for good compositions, studio lighting, and excellent technical knowledge of analogue photographic processes as well as a love for art photography.
Board member | Jos Verhoogen (BE)
Master Qualified European Photographer – MQEP
Specialities: Portrait, Reportage, Birth Photography
Jos Verhoogen started his career as a press photographer 40 years ago.
In the late nineties he started as a lecturer in photography and press photography at the Thomas More University (Mechelen) in the fields of Journalism and Communication. From 2000 he switched to studio photography, mainly portrait.
But from the very beginning he specialized in birth photography. In this domain he also obtained his QEP in 2012 and MQEP in 2018. He is a pioneer in that field. Photographs taken during a birth were not obvious at the time and are today, about 400 birth reportages later, still not.
He won the Bronze (2015) and Golden (2016) camera at the FEP Photographer of the Year Awards in the reportage category.
In recent years Jos was honoured for abstract and landscape photography (Black and White Spider Awards / International Color Awards 2018/2019). He was selected for IPA 2016 International Photo Awards, Family of Man competition Second place/Silver and the “Family of man” Documentary Photography Exhibition 10/2017 in Lishui China and got a Bronze Award, Monochrome category, FIAP at the China International Digital Photography Art Exhibition 11/2017.
Experienced judge online and print judging, QEP, MQEP in many countries and types of photo competitions.
More about Jos and his awards and judging experience on his website
https://www.verhoogen.be/bio-2
https://www.instagram.com/verhoogenbe/
This open-air exhibition is permanently accessible
Nieuwe Markt – POI 27
Helge Skodvin, Norway | humour photos
Helge Skodvin (°1967) is a photographer from Bergen, Norway. He’s trained as a carpenter but has since he laid down his hammer worked as a photographer for magazines, newspapers, and publishing houses. Skodvin works as a documentary photographer, with a strong visual voice and a personal approach.
Helge Skodvin is represented by Institute Artists. He has published several photo books.
His book 240 Landscapes was bought by The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York in May 2018. The same book was the best photobook in the world in 2015, according to the photographer and established photobook critic and guru Martin Parr.
This expo is curated by Linda Bournane Engelberth.
This open-air exhibition is permanently accessible
Ursulinenstraat – POI 29
On the fencing of the former Ursulines convent
Winners Lens op de Mens 2021
Griet Gillisjans | Gold professional photographers
I am Griet, mother of 3 adolescents, philosopher/moral consultant by training and photographer by profession.
I completed my photography studies in evening classes at the PCVO in Lokeren. For my graduation portfolio, I portrayed acro gymnasts in an architectural/urban setting. A subject that is still close to my heart.
I carry through life with a healthy dose of curiosity. Curiosity about the world, the people around me and the interaction between them.
I love keeping memories alive through beautiful images. They cherish loved ones, they make you dream away and bring a smile. They offer a foothold in the fleetingness of time. From big milestones to small everyday moments.
And all this in a loose and casual atmosphere, with plenty of input and room for creative ideas.
About the photographs on display:
Image 1 : Kaat, a former top sports acrogymnast and currently working at Cirque du Soleil. Image was taken at STAM in Ghent. Kaat forms an architectural figure with her body…
Image 2 : Hanne, my daughter and also an acrogymnast. Image was taken in Antwerp during one of our many practice sessions. A powerful pose in a sleek environment.
Image 3 : Team Hanne-Anna-Eva, form a pyramid characteristic of the discipline and so, together with the columns, reach the height. Image was taken at Cergy, France
Image 4 : Hanne at the Centre Pompidou of Malaga, SpainThe jagged lines of the boxes match nicely with the jagged lines of the gymnast’s body.
Image 5 : Kiara and Chloé, the twin sisters and former acrogymnasts. Here I played especially with the lines of the beautiful station of Liege Guillemins. The sisters even let their hair play along with the diagonals.
Suzanne Middelberg | Silver professional photographers
Susanne is a professional dancer, photographer and actress. She completed her dance training at the Hogeschool voor de Kunsten in Arnhem (now Artez).
She then studied photography at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague, where she graduated in 1998. Susanne specialises in portrait, theatre and dance photography.
Susanne has received more than 30 national and international awards for her photography, including the Canon Master, 1st Place International Photography Awards and several awards at Px3.
Susanne exhibited at Soho Photo Gallery, New York with her Wonder Womans series. She exhibited her portraits at the Fence in Boston. I 2021 her work was shown at the HeadOn Photo Festival at Bondi Beach in Sydney and at the Photo Festival in Pelt.
She also exhibited at Deelen Art in Rotterdam, Reflex Modern Art Gallery in Amsterdam, Smelijk and Stokking and gallery Hollandsche Maagd in Gouda and gallery Fontana Fortuna in Amsterdam.
About het series Daylight
In my portraits, I look for honesty. I am fascinated when I can see opposite sides of someone, such as vulnerable and powerful or stubborn and very open at the same time. I find this exciting because people are complex. I hope it makes the viewer look more intensely at the person portrayed, ask questions or be touched by something about themselves.
For me, making a portrait of a person means getting in touch with that person. It makes me happy to search together with someone for an honest image, a unique and intense portrait, which can only be created through our contact in that moment. I look for raw simplicity.
In the portraits I submitted, I only used daylight, because I thought it suited the artlessness I am looking for.
Raf Willems | Bronze professional photographers
Raf Willems is a Belgian photographer with 25 years of experience in advertising, portrait and lifestyle photography. In 2013 Raf bought his first drone and soon became a pioneer in low altitude aerial photography. The combination of his experience with composition and lighting, and the new technology that allowed him to put a camera in places where it was not possible before, resulted in a new way of looking at things, it literally opened new perspectives.
In 2017 Raf was listed in the top 20 of best aerial photographers worldwide. After having worked and lived in Belgium, South Africa and Brazil, Raf is currently based in the USA, since 2017. His aerial photos have been published in magazines like National Geographic, Esquire and Forbes. He has made aerial video work for CNN-Travel, ESPN, CBS, NBC, NFL, Viacom, Bauer Media….
Raf is a valued member of the Los Angeles Art Association and a Juror for the Emmy Awards at the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, Pacific Southwest Chapter.
About the photographs on display:
Chauntel in the Desert:
This image has been shot at a Dry Lake Bed in the Mojave Desert. When I saw this location, it reminded me of the cracks in the canvas of an old painting. I decided to bring a model to this location and show her small in the enormous desert landscape.
Cruising the Route 66:
Two people in a blue Ford Mustang Convertible on the historic Route 66. This image has been created using a drone camera, looking straight down. It captures the feeling of this iconic “mother road” from a unique angle. Shot in Amboy, California.
Neon Paddle:
A drone image of people in kayaks and on paddle boards, in the night, all decorated with neon lights for a party on the lake.
Palm Springs:
Top Down shot of the pool at the Rendez Vous Boutique Hotel in Palm Springs, California.
Selkie on Ice:
This image has been shot on a floating block of ice that broke off of a glacier in the Jökulsárlón-Glacier Lagoon in Iceland. The local model specialises in posing in extreme temperatures.
Jef De Puydt | Gold amateur photographers
Born in 1963, raised in a large family in Brabant, moved to the hometown of my wife, father of three tough kids.
Like probably almost all hardworking parents, I took photos of my children when they were little and playing water polo and volleyball. And of course I also took photos for the parents who did not have a camera along.
Now I almost only take snapshots at volleyball matches and I hope that in doing so, I give the players a sweet memory so that in twenty, thirty years when they accidentally stumble upon such a photo again, they will then think “where’s the time?”.
I know, the photos might be messy because of the benches, drinking cans, spectators, billboards, etc. And there is probably some noise on them because in a sports hall, light is scarce, and there is no choice of hard or soft light or window light or Rembrandt lighting, and the colours clash because sports halls don’t have nice white walls and ceilings, and there is a lot of blur because you are not allowed to flash and the shutter speed cannot be short enough because of the darkness.
But the emotions are real. And once in a while someone wants to be a model for the photography course homework. That’s all it should be.
Marc Apers | Silver amateur photographers
Passionate photographer, over the years my work has evolved from lived-in black-and-white portraits and sleek graphic architectural images to a more abstract, conceptual photography through which I express my emotions to the outside world. Nevertheless, people will always be central in my portfolio in one way or another.
With healthy ambition, I have also been taking part in professional photography competitions for several years, with increasing success. You can find an overview of my oeuvre and corresponding palmares on my website.
About the photographs on display:
My images come from in-depth human contact and a constant intense look at the dynamic environment. I decide which scenery I choose, how I experience it and which emotion is expressed in the particular image. Inevitably, I manipulate the complexity of the environment/emotion to a greater or lesser extent by sketching a strong geometric framework and maintaining a deliberate symmetry, among other things. Combining emotion and story in one image is my ultimate endeavour.
Janet Haines | Bronze amateur photographers
Janet Haines lives in the sunny south west of England having returned to the UK from several years living in Zierikzee, Netherlands. Whilst living in NL she visited Pelt and thoroughly enjoyed the street exhibition, vowing that she would enter the next one. In 2021 she did just that and all her entries were accepted; one portrait titled Beguiled, winning the bronze award in the amateur class.
Haines is a long time member of the Royal Photographic Society where she holds their Associate Distinction. She holds a Fellowship of the Irish Photographic Federation and has had several one person exhibitions and some significant International successes over the past 10 years.
About the photographs on display:
Synaesthesia is when you hear music, but you see shapes. Or you hear a word or a name and instantly see a colour. Synaesthesia is a fancy name for when you experience one of your senses through another. In its most extreme this may be an affliction for some, but for me it is a pleasure and a privilege. It is the very essence of how I create my photography.
Whenever I hear music an image instantly starts in my head as if I am watching a video. I see colour, shapes and scenes, often depicting me but not necessarily looking like me. This is the source of my creativity. From here I then set about recreating that image by constructing a montage of elements, textures and recreating the representative ‘me’ working closely with my models. Many of these fantasy works of photographic art will have many photos and parts of photos woven together using Photoshop. Every element I have shot, often specifically for this final composition.
The titles are the song or piece of music that started the process. You may not see the same as me when considering the piece – each of us can tell our own story, what you see is my vision from inside my head.
Pieter Clicteur | Creativity award
Pieter Clicteur was born on 7 November 1978 in Ostend. He worked in IT for 10 years before making a career switch to professional photographer. He mainly owes this career turnaround to his 14-month trip around the world through Asia and Oceania. During this adventurous trip, he started using a semi-professional reflex camera and got more and more into the photography bug. Back in Belgium, he took a three-year course to become a photographer.
In 2009, he started working as a photographer in a secondary capacity. Pieter immediately reached ambitious goals: he was the private photographer of former Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy on several occasions and frequently did freelance event photography for Toerisme Oostende. From a broad interest, he explored diverse branches of photography: from social reportage and event photography over portrait, studio, product and publicity photography to nature photography.
Today, Pieter works full-time as a photographer for companies and individuals. He currently focuses on social reportage and conceptual photography.
In 2015, he published the book heArt with 61 portraits of famous Flemish people, portrayed underwater to promote organ donation.
Several awards and exhibitions at home and abroad followed, with the icing on the cake of obtaining his QEP (Qualified European Photographer) label in 2019.
In 2021, together with Geert Germonpré, Pieter is founding the production house Pigeon Eggs through which they offer both film and photography. The journey along photographic landscapes does not stand still. Various projects and goals remain on the agenda.
About the photographs on display:
I love making composite-images. The only boundary is your own imagination. Last year I won the award for “most creative photo” with one of those images so I made a collection of 5 images to show at the festival this year. It is an honor to be part of this!
Lukas Indekeu | Most promising young photographer -30 years 2021
Secondary diploma in adult education, CVO Volt Haasrode.
He is currently a student at the Luca School of Arts in Brussels, 2nd Bachelor of Fine Arts Photography.
About his series of exhibited photographs titled M-X-P:
The name of the series of images is an abbreviation of multi-exposed-pictures.
Over the last 2 years, I have become very interested in experimenting with multiple exposures.
The images are analogue shots in 35mm, medium format and large format. Working on film always leaves a surprise effect until the final product is created.
Raïs De Weirdt | Best Corona photo
Raïs studied photography in Amsterdam and got a master’s degree in Advertising and Digital Creation in Brussels. After exchanges in New York and Shanghai, winning the silver award in the Brussels Emhackinaton and being a winning team for the One Club competition for agency Mother in London, one of the best ad agencies in the world, she decided to pursue what she really loved: straight after graduating she started her own business full-time.
After that things quickly escalated into many prestigious international photo shoots for big brands all over the world and got published in magazines such as Brigitte, one of the biggest fashion magazines of Germany, Naver, MSN, The Intercontinental news, Behind The Shutter Magazine to name a few, became a speaker for Fearless Photographers, Fotokot and Canon got accredited as Canon Young Talent. Next to that, she won numerous competitions, ending her 6th place for fashion and 5th for wedding for the best European Photographers of 2020, represented Belgium in the World Photographic Cup four times in a row and got named one of the top 10 best wedding photographers in the world by One Eyeland to name a few.
Today she has her own studio in Nazareth, Belgium and focuses on her biggest passion: photography and everything around it including educating, writing and speaking.
About the photographs on display:
This is a photo series about the true life of Ukraine.
It is not about the capital where all the bombings happened, neither is this the story of the craze at the Polish borders we all saw in the media.
It is neither of that.
This is the story of what doesn’t get told in the news. Of what doesn’t get shown, of what doesn’t get seen.
It is the story of the people who stay behind in Ukraine. About the men who cannot leave their country, because they are not allowed to leave because they are waiting to be called to war.
But they are not called to war just yet. The irony of it all is that many of them asked to go to war. As it is not their turn just yet, they cannot fight and they cannot leave.
They fall into a limbo. Having to flee the Eastern part of Ukraine and having to live in the Western part.
Their wives and children have only two options: either they leave the country all alone with their children, or they they take the risk of staying, together with their husband, right there in Ukraine,
together in Ukrainian Limbo.
This open-air exhibition is permanently accessible
Finnish running track and garden of the former Ursuline convent – POI 30
Accessible via the car park in the Vloeterstraat next to the Sacred Heart Chapel
And via the gate of Wico Campus Overpelt in Ursulinenstraat
Confrontations
In this exhibition, we confront Press Photo Serbia’s images with photographs made using AI – Artificial Intelligence by Finn Antti Karppinen. We let the images communicate with each other.
Check out the images at this exhibition and form your opinion on the unstoppable advance of AI – Artificial Intelligence in contemporary imaging.
In any case, we will debate it at an international panel discussion on Monday 18 September (date to be confirmed).
More on the website’s programme page.
Antti Karppinen (FI) | AI – Artificial Intelligence
I am a photographer & visual artist because I want to create something special, something people can relate and feel. Telling stories visually is my strength. In the digital era, the most impressive stories will be told in pictures.
Well, this is me. Digital artist, photographer, retoucher and educator from Finland. Internationally awarded commercial photographer. Father and a husband.
My mission is to build the visual experiences, which tells the story of you, your product, service or company, in a globally understandable way. I belong to a new generation of image artisans, to whom all things are possible. I create complex visual concepts and images with unlimited imagination. Imagine Anything.
I operate through an international network of professional resources. For me, every picture is a unique project.
Available to work worldwide.
Phenomenon of the year 2013 (awarded by my hometown Kuopio)
Be sure to check out our other awesome crazy talents at Alias Creative.
Vizualizator, Belgrade, Serbia | Press Photo Serbia
VIZUALIZATOR is an international photography festival in Belgrade Serbia that focuses on professional photography with an emphasis on documentary photography. The festival is a multidisciplinary event that brings together institutions and individuals from different fields of culture, education, media, and art.
This year, at Pelt, Vizualizator is represented by a selection of photographs from the Press Photo Serbia competition, which presents an annual overview of the best works in Serbian media. This exhibition promotes visual storytelling and media literacy, and showcases high standards of ethics and professionalism in photojournalism.
The festival also includes exhibitions showcasing works by world-renowned photographers and local exhibitors, panel discussions on important topics in the field of photography, as well as workshops, portfolio reviews, and masterclasses. Festival aims to provide education and professional standards in the field of photography.
Vizualizator explores photography as a social phenomenon, a powerful media tool, and an artistic expression, with a focus on curatorial practice, the theory of photography, and the role of photography in journalism.
http://vizualizator.rs/en/visualizer-2020-3/
These open-air exhibitions are permanently accessible
Oude kerkhofmuur (old cemetary wall), Kerkdijk on the right next to Palethe – POI 31
RPS Benelux Chapter 2023 Print Exhibition | Daily Life of Us
The Royal Photographic Society had it’s inaugural meeting in 1853 and is one of the world’s oldest photographic societies.
The RPS is a worldwide community of thousands of people who love photography and who believe in its importance as an artistic, scientific and expressive medium. Our Regional hubs, international Chapters and specialists Groups are all led by volunteers, working with the staff team.
Our Vision:
We envision a world where everyone is inspired, empowered and educated in the art and of the science of photography.
Our Mission:
We will bring inspiration, creativity and connection, through photography to people of all ages and backgrounds.
Our strategy cherishes existing and much-loved features of RPS membership, such as Distinctions (which enjoy worldwide respect); Exhibitions (including the International Photography Exhibition, now in its 163rd edition); the award-winning RPS Journal; RPS Awards; and our far-reaching Education programmes.
For membership please email: membership@rps.org. See also www.rps.org.
As part of the collaboration between LodM and the Benelux Chapter of the Royal Photographic Society, we are exhibiting in Pelt 23 works by 12 of their members from Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Denmark, France and Italy. The theme of the exhibition is ‘Daily Life of Us’.
Participating photographers are: Annemarie Jung, Armando Jongejan FRPS, Carol Olerud FRPS, Felicity Handford, Gabriele Dellanave, Gerry Phillipson ARPS, Jan Ros ARPS, Katherine Maguire ARPS, Kim Bybjerg LRPS, Magda Korthals, Sue Goldberg LRPS, Ton van der Laan LRPS.
https://rps.org/chapters/benelux/about/
This open-air exhibition is permanently accessible
