About me
Bram Bogaerts is a Belgian photographer. He has a master degree in Social and Cultural Agogics. Bogaerts pursued his studies in fine art photography at the Academy of Fine Arts in Sint-Niklaas (SASK). He has cultivated a distinctive, dark, and cinematic style in his work, with traces of poetry.
It’s an intimate and contemplative celebration of quiet moments in nature, as one wanders and captivates the emotional and aesthetic connection with the surroundings..
Bogaerts’ photography delves into themes concerning nature and diversity, climate change, urbanization and social issues.
Making the ordinary extraordinary
“Sometimes it’s important to explore the world that’s right in front of you, but at other times, you need to travel and get away from your life in order to recognize it.” (Todd Hido)
Todd Hido perfectly articulates the dilemma I find myself in occasionally. Sometimes you need distance to recognize what’s right in front of you. Often, we are blind to interesting subjects in our immediate surroundings. How do you turn something mundane from your daily environment into an interesting photographic project? Many photographers complain: ‘If only I lived somewhere interesting where beautiful images could be captured.’ Or ‘I can’t create interesting work where I live, it’s so dull.’ It seems to me that it’s precisely a challenge to use these aspects to your advantage and figure out how to make that apparent banality photogenic and appealing. Therefore, I always take my camera with me on hiking trips.
My inner unrest manifests itself in my photography. A reflection in water thus becomes almost like an abstract painting. Abstracted from reality. Underexposing photos creates a bewildering effect, a contemplative image with an affection for darkness.
I am constantly searching for something that would not otherwise come to light. Sometimes dark and unsettling, sometimes mysterious, and then very poetic. The images are meant to evoke a certain atmosphere. It is inherent to photography to take a part of reality out of its context, by over- or underexposing the subject, distorting it, or recontextualizing it. Photography, for me, is a continuous construction or deconstruction of images and reality. I play with reality and the tension between dark and light, fear and happiness, danger and safety, loneliness and curiosity. Between serenity and grime.
My heroes are Todd Hido, Ray Metzker, Yamamoto Masao, Albarran Cabrera, Tom Callemin, Daisuke Yokota, and many others.
Older work
Series: Points of light (2014)
The dual square pictures in the series ’Points of light’ are forming a unity, in shapes or colors, yet totally different in terms of place or subject. What it’s exactly about, is not clear. Feelings of loneliness and emotional deprivation, fear for losing grip on reality or – on the contrary- a sense of delightfulness, hopefulness and curiosity? The series ‘Points of light’ plays with reality and tensions between anxiety and happiness.
Series: Point of no return (2015)
Unreturnable migrants cannot go back to their country of origin for reasons beyond their control. At the same time, they cannot obtain a residence permit in the country where they live. Without documents or status, they can be detained for a forced return that cannot be carried out.
A crazy world (2010- …)
Streetphotography with a twist.
Bram Bogaerts 