Photographer Sarah Eechaut, with interviews by Rose Kelleher

The campaigner: Chantal Hebette Chair of Transparency International, Belgium

It’s much easier to raise funds for cancer. Corruption seems a little bit abstract and theoretical. How do you represent it? You could show people passing money under the table, or have a picture of a man with a white collar. Many people think that this is a problem for developing countries, like in Africa (or perhaps for Greece), but not for us. When you want to call the police to report a corruption case, there is no specific number, you get connected to an operator saying “I will try to transfer you” and you’re lucky if there is someone on the other end of the line. It’s not at all userfriendly. People prefer to do nothing when they are afraid, when they have no confidence in the people in charge. There is a lot of soft corruption. The people may not be corrupt but they’re not shocked by evident conflicts of interests, and though the trend is decreasing, it’s still a type of sport in Belgium to not pay what you are supposed to pay.

The law enforcer: Johan Denolf, Director of the department for Economics and Financial Crime Division (DJF) of the Belgian Federal Police

In normal fraud, you have an author and a victim. A guy wants to marry a Filipino girl he finds on the internet. He is asked for 500 euro for a flight, but the Filipino girl is only 20 and her mother will need to come as well, so they need another 500 euro. He goes to the airport with flowers to wait for his future bride, who never turns up. That’s normal fraud, the local police would deal with that. If there were several similar cases, we would make the link, through collaboration with institutions like Interpol. But corruption is different. It’s fraud committed by two parties who both have an interest in keeping silent. The one who is bribing and the one who is accepting are both part of the scheme. The biggest challenge is to follow the money. And to actually get things not only seized, but also brought back to the Belgian government. Sometimes we’re too late and the money is already gone. It happens.

The lawyer: Francois Vincke, Member of the Brussels Bar and Chair of Anti Corruption Commission of the International Chamber of Commerce

Recently, after the wedding of a nephew, I went with my family to a restaurant. The bill comes and the lady says “I didn’t split the bill – I have only one VAT receipt.” And I said “I don’t need it” and she looked at me and said, “Why don’t you need it?” I know very well that there is not a trace of professional deductibility. Everywhere there is this “Everybody does it,” – so if everybody does it, and I’m not doing it, I will look stupid, or, “The laws are conceived in this way that it is assumed that everyone will deduct… and so on.” Corruption is everywhere. It is wrong to think that white collar crime is related to a religion or culture, industrial sector, or social origin. Corporate ethics and compliance. What does it really mean? It’s important not just to have lists of rules; but to create a cultural attitude of ethics. I am convinced that law is not only a list of small goals which say he’s right or she’s wrong… “ubi societas ibi ius”.

The journalist: David Leloup Freelance investigative reporter

I like to find the truth, to dig beneath the surface. I studied cognitive psychology at university, and worked for two years as a researcher. The job is basically the same. In investigative journalism, you also work by hypothesis, and you try to prove it wrong. Sometimes the lead is not provided, so you need to do a lot of preliminary research to see if your hypothesis has a chance. Each time I expose misconducts by someone, I call them and give them the opportunity to express their point of view and to challenge my perception. But sometimes questions are often just forwarded to the press department which give me a ready-made answer. I think people would care more if the Belgian press exposed more cases of corruption, but they don’t. I’m not an activist, I am just trying to improve democracy and democratic principles. But my work might encourage activists to build up that momentum.

(This article was first published in the white album)

Photographer Ulrike Biets

(This feature was first published in the white album)

Photographer Veerle Frissen

(This feature was first published in the white album)

Photographer Veerle Frissen

(This feature was first published in the white album)

Photographer Veerle Frissen

(This feature was first published in the white album)

Photographer Veerle Frissen

A family-owned business for over 100 years now, poulterers Diegenant is a husband-and-wife affair, with Mr Diegenant in charge of prepping the meat whilst Mrs Diegenant attends to the shop. The couple, both in their 60s, wear white for hygiene and because the colour is easily recognisable to their customers.

(This feature was first published in the white album)

Photographer Julie Calbert

(This feature was first published in the white album)

Photographer Sarah Eechaut

“When I am unable to start working, I tend to go for a walk (mostly in the nightime), I take a book and read, reorganise my studio or take up older works. The canvas remains blank for a while, but even then I give it a push. Even if it’s not completely good, I paint the entire canvas until it has a first layer of paint over which I can paint the day after. Then at least I have an image that I can criticise. Worrying about a blank canvas or painting is useless. It is not the moment one stands before a new canvas that I start thinking about what to paint; when I order the canvas I already know what to do with it. There are some canvasses that I have been working on for years now, I paint over them, or they are waiting for the ’moment of genius’ to get things right. ” Vadim Vosters (32) currently works on a painting for the Hermitage Museum in Amsterdam, a light installation for De Markten in Brussels and a performance video for an installation in Ukraine.

vadimvosters.be

(This feature was first published in the white album)

“(I don’t have a fear of the blank canvas). I don’t start from pure imagination, but work with existing or self-made photos as a source material. My work forms an ongoing story in which there isn’t a real starting point; every drawing more or less follows the previous ones. In a way you could say I am obsessed with the idea of finding good and appropriate images. I just keep on looking for images and think about how the story should develop. I am mostly completely frozen just after I have finished a drawing. Then I sit in front of it for hours and hours, staring and not touching, figuring out whether it’s a good drawing or not. I do think the hours between 3 and 5pm are the most difficult ones. I just want them to be over really quickly.”

Rinus Van de Velde, 28, is currently working on a new series of drawings set to be exhibited in the group show ’Der Reiz der belanglosen Geschichte’ at Galerie Zink in Berlin.

galeriezink.de

timvanlaeregallery.com

(first published in the white album)

Photographer Sarah Eechaut

“I don’t think I have a fear of the blank canvas but I do sometimes find it hard to start a new piece of work because when the canvas is blank it could become anything. A blank canvas is imbued with so much potential and there’s always the danger of failure, you have to have the confidence to move forward, work through any problems and remember if it all goes wrong, there’s always more canvas. If I’m blocked then I avoid the canvas or turn it round to face the wall while i work on something else until I’m ready to start painting. The challenge then is if it doesn’t go the way you want or it doesn’t look right do you stick with it and work though the problem or start again.”

Matthew Crasner (30) is a Brussels-based artist currently working on a new series of paintings for an upcoming book.

(this feature was first published in the white album)

Photographer Sarah Eechaut

“(I don’t fear the blank canvas at all). I have learned to treat the canvas like a piece of paper. When you make a silly drawing on paper and it isn’t good at all you just throw it away or try to make something out of it. I work on different paintings at one time, it’s better to reflect and see how things work and get influenced by each other. If something doesn’t work out, I just paint it over or test something further on the image. In this way the relationship between you as a painter and the images is totally different when you would work on one canvas at a time.” Manor Grunewald is an artist currently working on a large oil painting for a group show at the Hermitage Museum in Amsterdam as well as on his upcoming solo show at Gallery fortlaan 17 and his new book coming out in February 2012.

Manor Grunwald

“I always wanted to be David Copperfield, but I turned out to be a painter”

Until 28th January 2012

Galerie Fortlaan 17, Ghent

(This feature was first published in the white album)

All images by Raya Rayax

Light. It sometimes points you in the right direction.

Light. It sometimes entertains you.

Light. It sometimes comes from outside.

Light. Sometimes you receive it.

Light. Sometimes you dance to it.

Light. It sometimes is captured on tape.

Light. It sometimes is imaginary.

Light. Sometimes you try to catch it.

Light. It sometimes is artificial.

Light. It sometimes is magic.

Light. It often can be found at the end of the tunnel.

Light. It sometimes becomes an addiction.

How old are you?

I’m 21.

What are you up to nowadays?

Tell us a little about your .be series? What’s the inspiration behind it? Where are most of the houses you shoot located? Do you know about the people that live inside those houses?

Is it an on-going series?

What does grey say to you? Why is it a colour that speaks to you?

Would you say coming from Mechelen influences your eye, and photographic work?

What are you working on at the moment? What’s your end of college project?

What more do you have in-store for the grey series?

If your photography were music, what genre would it be?

Which photographers would you say helped shape your work?

What’s next? After answering this email and after finishing up your last year at college..

What websites do you check every morning?

A last exhibition you checked out?

(This feature was first published in the blue album)

Photographer: Veerle Frissen

(This feature was first published in the blue album)

Photographer Sarah Eechaut

www.atelier4cinquieme.be

(This feature was first published in the blue album)

Photographer Sarah Eechaut

www.studiosimple.be

(This feature was first published in the blue album)

Photographer Veerle Frissen

(This feature was first published in the blue album)

“The studio was founded in 2007 and is located in the Koekelberg district of Brussels. I live in one of the city’s last dead end street – old worker houses, quiet surroundings, like a small village. My neighbours are people who work at Medecins sans frontières, a taxi driver, a lorry driver, a pianist…”

Photographer Sarah Eechaut.

(This feature was first published in the blue album)

Photographer Veerle Frissen.

DIRK VAN DAMME, 54

Bought his first aquarium at the tender age of 12 and today owns eight (two large aquariums in the living room, the largest of which is a whopping 1,600L, and six in the back room). Owns over 100 fish, all of them Cichlids from Rivers in Brazil and Argentina. Dirk finds it difficult to pick one fish over another: “You will always see, that when you favour one fish, something bad will happen to it.”

(This feature was first published in the blue album)

Photographer Sarah Eechaut

“We’ve been in this space since last summer only. It’s a temporary thing since we have to move out by the end of November at latest unfortunately. We all got really attached to the space, even though rain drips in buckets spread out across the studio and in winter it is freezing cold. But the space ‘feels’ so nice. When it’s sunny there’s a terrific atmosphere in there. It’s a five-minute walk from my house, so for me the location couldn’t be better. The entire space is about 500-600m², and my ‘corner’ in it would be around 75m². I also quite like the neighbourhood, Place Bethlehem for example, is wonderful to have dinner at on summer evenings, there’s also one of the best pizzeria’s in the whole of Brussels. The building used to be a furniture factory that went bankrupt. We found the office in the same state as the previous owners left it, everything still quite intact, catalogues and unpaid bills everywhere, personal things like children’s’ drawings, unopened mail,…Collages of the furniture they produced, together with images from magazines were hanging on the walls, self-made shelving (which we are using now) everywhere. We have a very flexible studio, everything depends on the projects we’re working on. Sometimes there are three tables, sometimes only one.”

www.maartendeceulaer.com

(This feature was first published in the blue album)

(first published in the blue album)

Watch the video here (Music Wild horses by The Rolling Stones. With thanks to Jurgen Barczuk).

Follow Damien on Twitter for wordplays and jokes.

The first instalment in our series comes courtesy of Soumaya Dancemachine, a DJ and party promoter who constantly criss-crosses the Belgo-German border in her ever-lasting quest to put on some the best parties around. She’s best known as the founder of High Needs Low, the next edition of which takes place on 9th July at K-Nal.

Listen to Soumaya’s Soundcloud here.

The kinky collectors - Pornaloid

“What better medium to capture your girlfriend naked?” suggests Gilles Kasverdenko, co-founder of Tumblr instant hit Pornaloid. A tasteful, passionate and only but slightly kinky blog roll, Pornaloid is instant erotica: “A Pornaloid is a game. It’s sexy, never vulgar, or just that little bit,” continues Gilles who, together with designer and pleaseletmedesign founder Damien, started the page about a year ago. Scouring the web for these lost moments of intimacy, their collection blends found images, their own, as well as submissions they receive – the one and only rule they’ve imposed on themselves being that every picture must be an authentic instant. With plans to publish these gems in books that will feature a selection of snapshots by regular “pornaloiders”, such as Stuart Mitchell, April Lea Hutchinson, Kevin Kay, Collin J. Rae, Sascha Smut, Phil Garcia, Thibault Tourmente or Joël Blanter, as well as others by special guests.

pornaloid.com

The thrill-seeker - No Balls, No Glory: A Polaroid Story

“Jay Electronica called me once at 3am for some small talk and I ended up Polaroid shopping and clubbing with Theophilus London in Berlin,” recalls blogger/model/photographer/party promoter Elisabeth Ouni, the brains behind No Balls, No Glory: A Polaroid Story, a blog the Ostende/Oostende native started three years back. A diary that is just as much about the story as it is about the story behind the story, it is the intimate and honest way her trials and tribulations are recounted that draws you in. That, and the mind-boggling amount of instant classics she’s amassed. She’s photographed everyone from Pharrell, Erykah Badu and Gil Scott-Heron to Snoop Dogg and M.I.A., although these many successes haven’t tamed her resolve one bit. Her wish list still counts a number of targets (soul and R’n’B legends Grace Jones, Stevie Wonder, Beyonce, Diana Ross and Sade to name but a few) and she’s still working on getting that Jay-Z Polaroid. Something tells us it’ll only be a matter of time before Mr Carter’s saying cheese.

apolaroidstory.wordpress.com

Photographer Murielle Scherre

Maison la fille d’O
Holstraat 91
9000 Ghent
lafilledo.com

Photography Joke De Wilde

Photography Quentin De Wispelaere

When did you get into photography full-time?

A few months ago, when I enrolled in the photography section of La Cambre, I’m currently at the end of the first year.

What drew you to this medium?

I’ve always been into image manipulation, when I was a kid, I was creating small movies with my sister, then we became teenagers and we started shooting each other, and now …

What is your first ever memory about photography?

It was just after La Cambre’s entry exams, when I discovered the series made by the students who got through the selections. Before that moment, I had no idea about photography in a “fine art way” (how they like to call it). I realised that it’s all about having fun.

How would you define your style/practice?

I try to keep my work as personal as possible, I think photography and art are about freedom and I want to keep mine. In photo reports I want to capture intense emotions in a constructed scenery. By building unexpected textures for example, creatures made of different components or simply imaginary stories created by little games between the plans, I always give importance to the light as well. About studio shoots, I imagine a story that is often related to events that happened to myself and my friends, or simply about facts that I find interesting or that make me laugh. I always do a lot of research about what I’m shooting and I like to write only some parts of the development down – not everything – so I forget a few details that make me bounce on new things.

Who are your top 3 favourite photographers?

It’s been changing and it changes often but for the time being I would say Daniel Sannwald, Luke Gilford and Ryan McGinley.

Who/what is your Holy Grail? (A person, location, scene that you dream of capturing someday)

I don’t have any obsession, I just have a lot of ideas that I hope to realise. For example a shoot with volatile designs in a high speed wind tunnel, with the face of a girl changed by the wind, or a shoot about similarities between girls and cars faces; another one with a tall white LCD screen with liquid sprayed on it, or again another about flying hairdryers on which the gravity is not the same… I can’t say my preference goes for one of them.

What’s your fondest photography moment?

I think it was my first series “Photos de classe“, when I still was at the pilot school. I had a big team of motivated people and it was amazing to see them doing precisely what I was expecting, in a very happy and positive mood. My first fashion week coverage in Paris was also a really intense moment.

One that you would like to forget about?

When I had to shoot the CEO of a big fashion house and his muse for Another/Dazed, everyone was very late on schedule and the shoot took 5 minutes. I wanted them to pose in a beautiful way, not with arms on each other’s shoulders… It ended up in a small conflict and in the end the portrait was not good.

What are the habits you get into whilst shooting? Is there one word you constantly use, or one person you always need with you as a lucky charm?

I always work with a close friend as first assistant, he knows nothing about photography but he always gets what I mean. There’s a strong connection between us and we work really well together, he makes me save a lot of time and eases the pressure on each shoot.

What do you listen to in the studio?

Mixes done by great DJs like Lady Jane, Compuphonic, or to artists such as Jay Shepheard, Kollektiv Turmstrasse, Pantha du Prince, Gold Panda, Four Tet… Cheap techno music is also a good stimulant. More recently I started listening again to the tracklists of the catwalk shows I saw in Paris, even if it’s sometimes not my type of music, it puts me into focus just as I was on the shows and this works well.

Photography Joke De Wilde

Don’t miss out on their exhibition at Expart Gallery, which opens 9th June and will run until 2nd July.
Place de la Vieille Halle aux Blés 29 Oude Korenhuis
1000 Brussels

All the pictures in the exhibition are self-portraits of the photographer in various situations and deal with women’s image. The women depicted aren’t necessarily Veerle and can be seen as “any woman”. They may seem fragile and vulnerable, but are in fact very strong, and the different stereotypes they emanate are exaggerated in such a way that they almost become caricatures.

“It can be seen as a reaction against how women are represented in popular media, with ideas about ideal beauty and sexuality,” explains Veerle. The women in the pictures are subjects of the male gaze but tend to resist this gaze, turning it around by staring back. “I don’t really remember how I got my inspiration for the series,” she says. “It was very personal and partly how I felt back then – I started this series almost two years ago. I recently made some new ones because I really like doing it and because the subject keeps being fascinating.”

Veerle Frissen’s Théâtre des Femmes Perturbées will be on show until 1st May

ZebraStraat
Zebrastraat 32
9000 Gent
www.zebrastraat.be

Born in Nice, Benoit Grimalt spent 15 years in Paris shooting for various magazines before migrating to Brussels a year ago, where he’s now based. Now working on more personal projects, such as the book Do You Know Syd Barrett? – in which he documented everyday scenes and landscapes of Cambridge, where Pink Floyd’s founding member spent the rest of his life as a recluse – as well as moving images.

• Photography Benoit Grimalt

When did you get into photography full-time?

Ten years ago. After I graduated from a photography school where we mainly studied studio photography. But now I prefer being outdoors, I prefer natural light.

What drew you to this medium?

I like family albums.

What is your first ever memory about photography?

The old pictures in family albums.

How would you define your style/practice?

Spontaneous and directed at the same time.

Who are your top 3 favourite photographers?

Irving Penn, Henrich Kuhn, and Bernard Plossu.

Who/what is your Holy Grail? (A person, location, scene that you dream of capturing someday)

Jean-Pierre Léaud.

What’s your fondest photography moment?

Shooting landscapes.

One that you would like to forget about?

A commission for a magazine with rockabillies

What are the habits you get into whilst shooting? Is there one word you constantly use, or one person you always need with you as a lucky charm?

“A little bit more on your right…a little bit more on your left…”

What do you listen to in the studio?

I have no studio but I used to listen to Tindersticks, the last two Talk Talk albums, Jim O’Rourke, Ned Collette, Hamilton Yarns.

Photography Lionel Samain

One thing leading to another, the Belgian-born, self-taught photographer quickly found himself doing portraiture, finally then taking up fashion photography in the shape of magazine editorials and advertising campaigns. His approach is clearly informed by his early obsession with cinema, although his overall aesthetic is shaped by his own personality – timid, somewhat tormented (“My wife always says I’m a tormented artist.”) and restrained. “I find it harder when I’m given complete free reign over a shoot’s artistic direction,” he says in between two long drags on his cigarette, “I work better when given some boundaries to work within.” Not one to be pigeonholed, Lionel’s photographs retain a certain mysticism to them, one which he clearly entertains through a continuous re- evaluation of his work. Indeed, despite having honed his singular technique of shooting against a backdrop of projected imagery – one which has defined his work ever since – he felt confident enough to set it aside for a while in order to avoid any categorisation. His clearly is an approach to photography that comes from the gut, an extension of his own self: cerebral, intense and painful.

Photography: Nicolas Kengen; Movie: Gaetan Saint-Remy; Styling : Aylen Torres; Set design: Magalie Denoue; Model: Dorian Jespers @ IMM Bruxelles; Hair and Make up: Louise De Buck; Photo Assistant: Jerôme Konte Deloste

Credits: Cédric Jacquemyn, Jantine van Peski, Black Balloon, H&M, Essentiel, Agnes B., Episode

Photography Ismaël Moumin

When did you get into photography full-time?

About two years ago. I was initially a news photographer. I’m now mainly into fashion and retouching.

What drew you to this medium?

It’s a bit of a cliché, but when I saw the movie Blow Up, it was just like: “That’s what I want to do!”

What is your first ever memory about photography?

When I saw Blow Up.

How would you define your style/practice?

I’m still too new to photography to claim a style of my own. How about asking me the same question in 10 years?

Who are your top 3 favourite photographers?

Gregory Crewdson, Philip-Lorca Dicorcia and Robert Frank.

Who/what is your Holy Grail? (A person, location, scene that you dream of capturing someday)

Woody Allen.

What’s your fondest photography moment?

My shoot for The Ones2Watch.

One that you would like to forget about?

Nothing so far!

What are the habits you get into whilst shooting? Is there one word you constantly use, or one person you always need with you as a lucky charm?

No shoot without Françoise Salinger.

What do you listen to in the studio?

Blonde Redhead, Nicki Minaj ft Eminem: Roman’s Revenge, Nicki Minaj, Kanye West, Jay-Z: Monster

Photography Memymom

Photography Merel ‘t Hart

Flanders Expo, 1 Maaltekouter 9051 Ghent – captured on 5th December around midnight

Flanders Expo, 1 Maaltekouter 9051 Ghent – captured on 5th December around midnight

Flanders Expo, 1 Maaltekouter 9051 Ghent – captured on 5th December around midnight

Flanders Expo, 1 Maaltekouter 9051 Ghent – captured on 5th December around midnight

Rue Belliardstraat, Brussels – captured on 27th November around 5am

Belliard tunnel, Brussels – captured on 27th November around 4.30am

Ikea Zaventem 19 Weiveldlaan 1930 Zaventem – captured on 24th November around 5am

Ikea Zaventem 19 Weiveldlaan 1930 Zaventem – captured on 24th November around 5am

Ikea Zaventem 19 Weiveldlaan 1930 Zaventem – captured on 24th November around 5am

Meir, 2000 Antwerp – captured on 21st November around 11pm

Kammenstraat/Nationalestraat, 2000 Antwerp – captured on 21st November around 12am

Pedestrian tunnel under the Scheldt, 2000 Antwerp – captured on 21st November around 1 am

The Royal Park’s playground, 1000 Brussels – captured on 20th November around 5.30pm

Photography Hans Vercauter

What used to be the former Executive Board house of the town’s mirror factory has been empty for more than half a century and is now referred to as “the haunted house of Sas Van Gent”.

Joost knop goes by the title of “The Ghosthunter”. He has always been receptive to paranormal forces but became a true believer 14 years ago. As he was taking pictures of the Sas Van Gent ruin, he experienced a strange feeling; the temperature suddenly dropped and something was throwing small rocks towards his camera. He realised shortly after that his negatives were covered with so-called orbs. His discovery was picked up by Dutch and Belgian television and changed his life. Joost now runs the popular website theghosthunter.nl and constantly thrawls the old continent on the lookout for new ghosts.

“It happens that they start talking through me and that’s when it gets very emotional for the family,” explains Eric Naevaert, one of Belgium’s most famous mediums. He claims to be able to communicate with the dead and is also capable of cleansing houses from bad karmas and ghosts. ericnaeyaert.be

Paul Dobberman was exposed to black magic from a very young age as his mother practiced witchcraft. “Life is short. You have to do the things you’re really good at. For me it’s ghost hunting,” says Paul, who has been doing this for the past 15 years. Together with his girlfriend Greetje, they have visited all the important ghost sites in Europe. Their discoveries can be found on spookjagers.nl

Is he ever afraid? “No. These pentagrams tattooed on both my arms will protect me if things ever get really bad.”

The essential tools of the ghost hunter’s equipment: a digital video camera, two voice recorders, two digital cameras, an EMF meter (used to measure electromagnetic fields), an infrared temperature meter and an infrared light.

Hans followed Paul on one of his gost hunting expeditions in an abandoned mansion near Sluis.

Long time Word contributor, Flore is one half of the Facetofacedesign team and the mastermind behind the witty displays of each edition’s Showstoppers. Glimpses of her trip to Moscow, back in November 2000, can be seen scattered throughout the current issue; below is the complete series.

Photography Flore Van Ryn

Alexandre Liachenko, aka Petloura

Local newspapers

Gorky Park

Gorky Park

A flea market, located along abandonned railway tracks

A solitary boot somewhere in the forest, on the way to Sergei Passat

The Sergei Passat Orthodox monastery

The view from inside a taxi

Kremlin

Caviar dinner

A nightclub

The subway

The subway

Photography Gosha Rubchinskiy

Photography Ulrike Biets

Valeria fell down the stairs

Uschi bumped into a pole as she was walking on the street

Sophie fell over while she was weeding her garden

Ben tripped over a dog in the midst of a drunken night

Sebastian cut himself accidentally

Laurence’s pinky toe was squashed between his bike and a wall

Marieke was badly bruised by a serum injection after going to the hospital for a gastrointestinal bleeding

A stranger after a street fight

A stranger after a street fight

Seppe tried to uncork a bottle of wine against a tree in the park

Below are some of the pictures you weren’t supposed to see.

Photography Sarah Eechaut Writer Yves Van Kerkhove

Clinton - Born in New Zealand. 23 years old. Professional road-racing cyclist. Rides for the PWS-Eijssen Team. His fondness for uneven cobblestones drove him to Flanders.

Martinez - Born in Lithuania. 24 years old. Moved to Belgium to become a professional cyclist. He broke his racing bike so switched to highland games.

Jantje - Born in Zele. 51 years old. Active in the meat trade and used to carrying cow carcasses on his back.

Achiel - Born in Sleidinge. 75 years old. Former driver who spends his retirement days on his farm.

Photography Ulrike Biets

Pigeon, 2nd August 2010, 1.30pm, A3, Brussels

Cat, 17th July 2010, 4pm, E42

Unidentified, 1st August 2010, 8pm, E40

Hedgehog, 25th July 2010, 2pm, E314 exit 23

Hedgehog, 6th July 2010, 7pm, R4

Hedgehog, 3rd July 2010, 1am, Leopoldsburg

Below are the pictures that weren’t featured in the magazine’s print version:

Photography Merel ‘t Hart

“There never has been and there never will be another record company like Rough Trade,” writes Neil Taylor in the synopsis of “Document and Eyewitness” – the latest book to recount the iconic British institution’s twists and turns, as narrated in the first person by its various protagonists. It sure isn’t the first and it certainly won’t be the last. Of all independent labels, its story – singular, fascinating, at times confusing – is one of the most documented throughout musical history. “It’s definitely one with a lot of human drama,” concedes founder Geoff Travis. “Lots of highs and lows…” Originated in 1978, the record shop cum label cum distributor set itself apart with an uncompromising devotion to putting good music out, crafty DIY skills, and a string of maverick tactics. No hierarchy within the company, equal pay for everyone, a 50/50 split of profits with signed artists. What could be deemed as kamikaze decisions actually paid off.

At the end of the day, it was about music, and Rough Trade Records sure delivered. From the early post-punk days with bands like Cabaret Voltaire, Young Marble Giants, The Fall, Pere Ubu, to the indie explosion led by The Smiths. With a tradition for underpinning raw talent, steered by Geoff and associate Jeannette Lee’s killer instincts, the label has managed to score a very eclectic mix of influential artists throughout the years. Credit issues and bad management led to the venture’s demise in 1991, but it rose from its ashes at the turn of the millennium with rock and roll saviours The Strokes, The Libertines or Belle And Sebastian amongst its stronger-than- ever roster. “Rough Trade released records that no other label would release. Looking back, even if they weren’t all successful, it’s just amazing to see the vision that Geoff and Jeanette had”, notes Ben Ayres, who handles press for the company. The secret to this success is that there is no formula. “We feel passionate about anyone that excites us really,” explains Geoff. Who is he feeling right now? “Well, signed artists are like children, so you can’t really say who your favourites are,” he jokes. He is, however, very excited about the Rough Trade Record family’s most recent additions, Dylan Le Blanc and Warpaint, whose new material was blasting out in his office as we came in.

The family hint is a crucial one. “It’s an exciting place to work, we’re really tight-knit and everyone is fanatical about music. It’s a home for our bands, not just a label,” enthuses Kelly Kiley, who’s been there for almost 15 years and deals with anything from artist liaison to product management, assisting Jeanette, promo, budget, “everything really”. The unorganised structure, casual vibe and chaotic premises have been defining characteristics of the imprint since day one and still prevail – whether in the Golbourne Road HQ or at Rough Trade East, the 1500 square meter store that opened three years ago. Emulating the original shop’s no-fuss atmosphere, it translates as more of a hangout where one can expect real advice and a genuine social experience. The label and the store now operate as two completely separate entities. The fact that they share the same name might be puzzling, but “that says a lot about Geoff and Jeannette,” explains Ben. “When Geoff decided he wanted to put out records more than stay in the shop, he just let them carry on with the name Rough Trade. In a way it was quite an un-commercially minded thing to do, not very business-like… Unusual… Again!”

Photography Yves Decamps

The series’ last image will also be making a brief cameo in our September edition, out this Friday. Distribution points and subscription info available from here.

Photography Alex Salinas Styling Pholoso Selebogo

Jeff: Scarf H&M, Jacket Hugo By Hugo Boss, T-shirt Fred Perry, Belt Damir Doma, Trousers Juun J, Shoes Model’s Own

Dorien: Salmon orange jacket Dries Van Noten, Denim Jacket Kokon To Zai, Silver top Maria Francesca Pepe,  Leather pants El Delgado Buil, Shirt (wrapped around leg) Anntian, Sneakers Model’s Own

Niels: Denim shirt Levi’s, Dress Gareth Pugh, Trousers Pam, Mask Giuseppe Virgone

Tess: Necklace Uncommon Matters, Leather jacket Jeremy Scott, Blouse Gemma Degara,  Cape blouse Martin Lamothe, Skirt Charles Anastase, Leggings American Apparel, Shoes Model’s Own

Stephanie: Biarritz Hat Stephen Jones, Tights Gareth Pugh, Trousers Superfine,  Sweater Slow And Steady Wins The Race, Blue Cape Bruno Pieters, Shoes Model’s Own

Peter: Top Complex Geometry, Vest Damir Doma, Scarf Damir Doma,  Top shorts Band Of Outsiders, Bottom shorts Band Of Outsiders, Shoes Models’ Own

Koen: Hat J Smith Esq, Top Damir Doma, Trousers Patrick Erwell

Photographer: Alex Salinas

Photographer’s assistants: Koen Verminnen and Jeff Jacobs

Stylist: Pholoso Selebogo @Touch by Dominique Models

Stylist’s assistant: Michael Smit

Make-up: Sigrid Volders with Chanel and Bumble & Bumble

With special thanks to:

Ra Antwerp ra13.be

Hunting and Collecting huntingandcollecting.com for lending their collections.

Photography Guy Van Laere

Additional research Hettie Judah

“For over one billion people in the developing world, glasses are a distant dream. Access to eyecare is almost non-existent in sub-Saharan Africa, and highly restricted in other parts of the developing world. It is beyond the reach of hundreds of millions of the world’s growing urban poor. A lack of proper eyesight has direct effects for those affected by it; a reduction in productivity at work, a closing-off of new opportunities, a reduction in quality of life, a possible deterioration in general health and possibly preventable blindness. The greatest barrier to effective treatment is a lack of trained optometrists – many developing nations have as few as one optometrist for every million people. A lack of dedicated facilities and equipment also limits access to eyecare. Compounding this issue, the cost of traditional eyewear is prohibitive for the many people surviving on less than a dollar per day. Global Vision 2020 aims to tackle the vast issue of vision correction globally through the dissemination of self-adjustable eyeglasses through the use of existing aid/development organization distribution networks throughout the developing world.”

© Gv2020.org

“It all depends on how you define important, of course. But to my mind the most important invention is telecommunications technology: the telegraph, the telephone, and now things like the Internet. Until about 150 years ago, it was impossible to communicate with someone in real time unless they were in the same room. Today, in the developed world at least, we think nothing of talking with people on the other side of the world. During the course of a normal working day, many people spend more time dealing with people remotely than they do face-to-face. The ubiquity of telecommunications technology has become deeply embedded in our culture. Of course, life has sped up as a result. But we watch TV and use telephones, fax machines and, increasingly, the Internet, almost unthinkingly. If the mark of an advanced technology is that it is indistinguishable from magic, then the mark of an important one is that it becomes invisible — that we fail to notice when we are using it. That makes the significance of telecommunications technology very easy to overlook, and underestimate.”

© Tom Standage, Science Correspondent of The Economist First published on edge.org

“In my view, questions of “importance” cannot be answered without first specifying “criteria of importance,” of “important with respect to what.” Thus, I would give the following answer to your question: ”One criterion for “most important” is that which has most profoundly altered patterns of human mating. Changes in mating can affect the subsequent evolutionary course of the entire species, with cascading consequences for virtually every aspect of human life. Although many inventions have altered human mating over the past 2,000 years, television must rank among the most important. Television has changed status and prestige criteria, created instant celebrities, hastened the downfall of leaders, increased the importance of physical appearance, and accelerated the intensity of intrasexual mate competition — all of which have acutely transformed the nature of sexuality and mating and perhaps forever altered the evolutionary course of our species.”

© David Buss, Professor of Psychology at The University of Texas at Austin. First published on edge.org

As nearly as we can tell from archaeological evidence, the wheel was invented somewhere in present-day Iraq or Iran around 3500 BC. That in itself is surprising, because it’s so late in human history. The other odd thing about the wheel is that it stayed within Europe and Asia as long as it did. Wheels were hardly seen in the American hemisphere until they were brought into regular use by European settlers in the 17th century. There’s evidence that 11th-century Mexicans had the concept, but no evidence of its general use. Of course, we’ve lived since birth with a hundred thousand different forms of the wheel. It’s hard for us to imagine what a difficult concept it represents. But look at it, if you can, from the standpoint of someone who’s never seen one. You understand movement in a straight line, and you understand the idea of turning things around. But can you make a connection between the two? Can you conceive of making a vehicle go forward by turning something around? We’ve all played the children’s game of patting our head and rubbing our stomach at the same time. It’s very hard to do, because it’s hard to conceptualize these two very different kinds of motion at the same time. Most of the important ancient inventions seem to have been made over and over — at different times and in different places. Not so the wheel. It seems to have originated in one place and diffused to other peoples and other cultures from there. It was very likely the product of an isolated act of human ingenuity.

© John H Lienhard, University of Houston, voice and author of the Engines of our Ingenuity

A Russian historian, Znachko-Iavorskii, tells a surprising story about concrete and cement. Too many historians of concrete have studied only written documents. That’s not where the story is. The concrete itself survives from Roman times right down through the ages. Znachko-Iavorskii has looked at old concrete all over the world and found that it’s remarkably variable. But chiefly he’s found so much very good cement and concrete that’s been passed over and forgotten. He finds highly water-resistant plasters from the 4th century BC. He finds that egg whites, Cheshire cheese, and sour camel cream were all used in the Middle Ages to make cements water-resistant. He finds a great deal of medieval, and even Roman, concrete that would easily pass today’s standards. He tells us something historians of technology have learned the hard way, and only during the last 50 years. The scribes of kings and emperors didn’t write down the means used by craftsmen out behind the castle. Documentation of ancient technology is very minimal. The word technology itself is a modern concept. It literally means the study or lore of technique. Engineering textbooks — that written lore — are really very new. Consequently, an art that is as base, and yet as fundamentally important, as mixing concrete was learned and forgotten a hundred times.

© John H Lienhard, University of Houston, voice and author of the Engines of our Ingenuity

Around 1000 BC that the Mayan civilisation began to chew and smoke the leaves of the tobacco plant, as well as mix the leaves together with herbs and plants and administer the mixture to the wounds of the sick. Columbus was probably the first European to see tobacco leaves although he did not smoke them himself. A fellow explorer, Rodrigo de Jerez, shortly after, landed in Cuba and observed some of the inhabitants smoking the tobacco leaves. On his return to Spain, laden with heaps of tobacco, Jerez startled his fellow countrymen by smoking in front of them. Never in their lives had they seen a man with smoke coming out of his mouth and nose. People thought that he was possessed by the devil and members of the Spanish Inquisition imprisoned him for several years. During his imprisonment, smoking actually became quite popular in Spain. Pipe smoking and snuff became popular in London during the 17th Century but it wasn’t until the mid 1800′s that the cigarette as we know it was manufactured. At the start of the WWII, American president Roosevelt made tobacco a protected crop. There were shortages of tobacco in America and England, as packets and packets of cigarettes were sent to the troops fighting in the war. During both World Wars smoking cigarettes became immensely popular. After the war the soldiers went back home and introduced cigarettes to their families, thereby strengthening the trend.

© helpwithsmoking.org

Photography Melika Ngombe.

The serie’s first image will also be making a short appearance in our May edition, out this Friday. Subscription info available from here.

First off, the shots we ran with in our Morning After edition…

Day one...

Day 3...

Day 12...

Day 20...

Then two behind-the-scenes ones:

What Sarah – who shot the series – had to say: “Excited Mimi followed me every morning when I climbed into the attic to photograph the rotting breakfast. After I took the last picture, someone was only too happy to gobble up the decayed food.”

Before we do though, here’s the final installement in Maren’s Christmas Kitsch series. She’s diligently been feeding us with some seasonal wit on a weekly basis, although schedules being what they are, we weren’t able to upload them as regularly as we wanted. So here goes, the whole batch all at once. Some were taken in Brussels, others in Barcelona (just hope we aren’t about to piss some locals off there too).

Merry Xmas Wordsters, and thank you Maren for the series…

PS: No lengthy parting speeches to give, except to say a big thank you for all your invaluable help in the office Veerle. From nailing photographs to the wall to photographing our office mascott from every possible angle, it was lovely having you around for these last two months. You’re still not getting her though ;-)

And here, for those of you who missed them the first time, are all of Veerle’s series done exclusively for these e-pages:

• The first one
• The second one
• The birthday one
• The third one

“So we hit Tokyo Station to try out our very first Shinkansen (Japan’s answer to France’s TGV), we buy tickets at the counter with a nerdy grin on our faces. Next in line’s an overweight old-school yakuza with a gold chain, potbelly and dark shades. We make our way through to the platform with our heavy suitcases (Arnaud’s already regretting the shit-load of books he bought yesterday) followed by our new bodyguard.”

“An interesting fact about trains in Japan is that they’re never late. Well, 99% are on time, the remaining are late by about two minutes…two minutes. I love it! And when they’re on strike they actually come to work, but wear a black armband to show their contempt. SNCB/SNCF people take out your notepads. Now.”

“So we step in, hostesses clad in pink bow and smile as we make our way to our seats.We sit down, and I realise they’ve fully mastered the concept of ‘leg space’. Recline your seat all the way, they all do, because you know what? it all comes down to the leg space. A steward enters the carriage, bows to excuse himself and doesn’t even check our tickets. He then leaves, not without bowing one last time and retrieving in a discreet yet well executed moonwalk.”

“Slick, stylish and sexy, that’s how you travel in Japan. I feel like royalty. You don’t even feel the train leave the station; it’s smooth and incredibly quiet. It takes an hour and a half at 400 mph for this wingless Concorde to leave the Tokyo cityscape. The small towns and rice fields rush in front of our eyes in a psychedelic blur, I start to doze off hypnotized by the uneven snore of our bodyguard across the aisle… a safe meter away.”

“Arnaud’s mad for books, essentially photography books: well, believe it or not there’s a whole neighbourhood dedicated to his passion in Tokyo: Jimbocho. Although the name’s sounds exotic, this is a place for people who take their hobby seriously. Streets of tightly packed bookstores that spill their content onto the pavement.

All the shops are on the same side of the street, constantly bathed in shadow. You see, the sun’s harmful rays could alter the beauty of their books (told you they took it seriously). You’ll find shelves packed with books along walls into alleys and ‘cul-de-sacs’, it’s like a living entity of paper veins and arteries pumping ink and spreading for miles on end.

I suspect the owners have interconnecting galleries or tunnels from the Second World War as each shop gives exactly the same price for the same book… No competition here then? Meanwhile, Arnaud’s running up and down the street like a 4-year old on a sugar high, trying to decipher the symbols on his little piece of paper with the ultimate bookstore’s address on it. I tag along, smoking cigarettes, desperately looking for the rare and endangered street ashtray.

Didn’t I tell you? You’re not allowed to smoke on the streets of Japan, except in designated areas and you’ll need at least a pigeon’s magnetic-field-recognition-system to find them. No bins either, how in Buddha’s name do they keep their streets so clean? These guys are the Swiss of Asia…”

Arnaud was behind the camera, Adrien was taking note.

“Shibuya, Tokyo, Saturday night. We hit the coolest place in Tokyo; Shibuya is THE meeting point for the Tokyoite fashionistas who come here to show off their style before heading back to their 7m2 flat on the outskirts of the city.
By 11.30pm the entire place starts emptying up, as they all want to catch the last train home. But we’ve just checked in a capsule hotel up the street and by god we’re not going to end up in the sarcophagus this early in the evening. We start talking to two guys dressed up as your local crack dealer in central L.A. and ask them where to party. The answer is instant and simultaneous: ‘GAS PANIC!’

We walk up this door where a massive sumo-bouncer eyes us up from head to toe, (pfff gaijin) and reluctantly lets us in . And then it hits us, like a platinum knuckle-duster: ‘Welcome to the Temple of Bling’. Afros, tattoos, gold chains and silver teeth, you name it! It’s like walking in a club filled with Lil Kims and Lil’ Jons. These guys all look the part with their über expensive caps and sneakers, although the gangsta attitude has somehow been lost along the way. The closest thing they actually have to being ‘gangsta’ is their tattoos (a big no-no in Japan as it’s mainly a sign of belonging to the Yakuzas). These guys are stuck in the eighties with the carefree hip-hop of Grand Master Flash & the Furious Five, just the way I like it.

It has nothing to do with the attitude it’s all about the fashion, and believe me these guys spend a ‘helluva lot’ when it comes to dressing up. One sneaker shop we went to, was like Fort Knox with attitude, each pair was encased in a mini-vault that Maddoff’s victims would die for, and when you look at the price you get the point. They don’t have the cool American Oldsmobile but that doesn’t stop them from pimping their Honda with hydraulic pumps and TV screens (up to ten just around the driver’s seat!), neon lights in their wheels, or the Cheech & Chong chain steering wheel. Nothing’s too expensive to look the part in Tokyo and that’s just the tip of the iceberg…”

“Let’s get one thing straight. Iran is not a terrorist nation. It must be one of the easiest countries to travel in. Okay, certainly since the last elections, getting visas can take months, and even then you don’t really know if they will come through. But once you get in, it’s an amazing destination.

There are only three things that need some time to get used to. Number one: the omnipresence of Khomeini’s pictures and the Iran-Iraq War martyrs’ images. They are literally everywhere, even in the smallest mountain village or the four square meter grocery shop. Number two: the scarf. Woman travelers are required by law to cover their hair and to wear loose-fitting clothes to disguise their figures. The first days in Iran you tend to get upset with this dress code, but you get used to it and finally, you love it and even forget to take off the scarf when showering. Number three: traffic is crazy. Even to Italian or Asian standards, the chaos is shocking. Iran holds the world record for the highest per-capita number of road deaths, with a horrifying 28.000 people killed and another 270.000 injured each year.

But as with the scarf, eventually you get used to it. Taxis are extremely cheap compared to a ticket for a roller coaster, and they are just as much a great experience. Most of them have a sound system more expensive than the car itself and the taxi driver likes to impress you with his forbidden pop music collection. They will play I’ll take you to the candy shop I’ll let you lick the lollipop Go ahead girl, don’t you stop, whoaa, just for you, not understanding a word of English.

How nice is that? In general, people are exceptionally friendly, hospitable and curious. You will get numerous invitations for tea and you will need to pose with dozens of your newly made local friends. In Persepolis, Iran’s most famous ancient site, the presence of foreigners easily prevails on the magnitude of the stones. It’s very hard for Iranians to go abroad, and if they speak some English, they want to know all about life in Europe. This way of mental traveling might sound charming, but in reality, it’s their only way out. They are convicted to visit their own country. Just imagine going twice a year to Bruges or the Citadel of Namur. Still, most Iranians don’t seem to care and keep on heading to the dirty beaches on the Caspian coast every weekend. It is very interesting to witness women in chador bathing like whales washed ashore.

It should be no surprise people desperately want change. First, they tried to achieve this in the elections earlier this year. And since that didn’t work out, people left their houses and started to demonstrate. And since these street protests were put down with ferocity, activists are slowly giving up and the streets are returning to silence. Shouting has become whispering. The only remains are the green Musavi ribbons in people’s pockets. This is where fear comes in; every fellow student or colleague can be connected to the regime, thus openly criticizing the system can cost you your job or your freedom. Or worse.

The contrast between the regime’s image and the people’s warmth is what makes Iran this fascinating. Like its landscapes: on one side overwhelmingly beautiful mountains, on the other an enormous military domain. During our trip, the army launched another provocative missile. The government revealed a new uranium enrichment plant. Developments that were making UN sanctions almost inevitable, until Iran suddenly agreed to an IAEA (the UN nuclear watchdog) inspection. What’s next? To be continued…

Published, edited and created out of Ghent (Belgium), TICKL, which bills itself as an ‘erotic cabinet’, was launched by photographer Carmen de Vos in 2007 to appease and nurture her obvious love of the instant photographic mode.

Content-wise, the story is simple: tasty teases, erotic explicitness and raunchy ravings. Add to that a little spanking here and there and you’ll be hooked in no time, trust me.

Aesthetically, the magazine stands out too. Designed by agency Afreux, the thick paper stock, the Dymo titles, the interior’s slanted grid as well as the light fluorescent highlights reveals a subdued appreciation for simplicity. As my mother used to say, “presentation is half the battle won” and this battle has clearlybeen won.

The fourth issue's content page

The magazine’s photographic features are cinematic in their nature – suggestive rather than revealing yet always immaculate in their conception:

One feature of the magazine we’ve taken a special shine to is the ads, seemingly art directed and shot by TICKL’s creative folk themselves. Check this one out, for Belgian beer Vedette, seen on the back cover of the latest issue: