By Jonathan Shih
“I’m excited about what I see, it’s about pleasure, it’s about the sheer joy of looking."
Homeland, the latest book by Belgian photographer Harry Gruyaert, retraces half a century of images devoted to Belgium. This new book brings together his pioneering work in color, as well as three portfolios of black-and-white images taken in the 1970s.
Gruyaert’s beloved Belgian homeland always has a way of beckoning him back. Decades in the making, Homeland is a compilation in which beauty meets the banal, immersing the viewer in the vibrancy and physicality of his birthplace, from carnivals and parades to beaches and nightclubs.
Writer Brice Matthieussent insists that “Harry Gruyaert surely took his best photographs in his native Flanders, [...] conveying a remarkable sense of place.” On his own gravitation towards Belgium, Gruyaert imagines it’s a deep cultural affinity “that comes from maybe centuries ago.”
No comments:
Post a Comment