Do you remember your first photograph? Describe that picture?

Gert Verbelen (GV): My older brother usually took the family and holiday pictures. I hated it when it was my turn to tell everybody ‘say cheese’. It was only during my graphic design studies that I truly started using a (digital) camera. As such, my first pictures were a function of an assignment to be accomplished. If I remember well, that was while walking on the Place du Jeu de Balle in the Brussels’ Marolles quarter, known for its folky and social character.

What motivated you to choose photography as your medium?

GV: During my studies at KASK I visited the ‘Belgicum’ exhibition at the FotoMuseum in Antwerp where I discovered Stephan Vanfleteren’s way of picturing the world around him. It triggered my study of photography as well. As a graphic designer I was used to making things from scratch from behind my computer, but suddenly I felt the need to get away from my screen. I became more interested in capturing experiences in the world around me by closely observing and by letting the moment guide me.

© Gert Verbelen from the series 'Naar de kern’

GV: The academy not only gave me a technical background, but also drove me to learn by experience. The study of other photographers introduced me to their view of the world and their way of revealing the impression it left on them.

I learned to see things from a different perspective, to observe and to capture the moment. I became fascinated by moments in common daily life. Somehow the free work assignments at KASK always had to do with man and his environment, be it very broad or rather limited in its scope.

In the beginning I made short projects with only a limited number of well-chosen images. Gradually this evolved into making more documentary work, which was more time consuming and much more intensive. The images themselves were getting less artificial, more simple and straightforward. Showing less became telling more.

What is your series ‘Naar de kern’ (To the core) all about?

GV: My master’s project arose from my fascination with the human being and his environment that had been applied in previous work. However, this time I decided to set out an objective framework and to go beyond the scope I took so far, which was always pretty close to home. The idea came to create a visual work on Europe. As of 2014, when an 18th country was added, the Eurozone sounded like a pretty interesting subject. I was not targeting big cities or photogenic areas, but instead wanted to visit just one village in the center of each country, stay there, explore the place and take pictures for exactly one week. By limiting the one-week-visit to one village rather than traversing a country, I sensed I could go deeper and have a more intense involvement with each community.

© Gert Verbelen from the series 'Naar de kern’

I used a rational basis to compute the location of that village by determining the center of the minimal enclosing circle I drew around each country. This limiting rigid structure provided borders around me and formed some sort of geographical cage, in which I could work with the greatest freedom. I usually ended up in semi-abandoned places, where younger people left towards the bigger cities searching for work, leaving empty streets and faded glory.

Eighteen times I was immersed in the living environment of common people. From early in the morning until late in the evening I wandered and looked around. I took pictures, led by my gut feeling. People stared at me and were suspicious. Gossip travels fast in such villages. Once, as I was spending some time in the neighborhood of a school, two police cars all of a sudden surrounded me and I almost got arrested on suspicion of pedophilia. Another time, as I probably came too close to private property, I got attacked and bitten by an angry dog. But usually I gained people’s confidence and they often invited me in for a talk and even to join their meal. I had long philosophical conversations with a shepherd, a farmer, an old peat cutter…

Most of the time, I was just using sign language or a very limited set of English words. I was surprised to discover the limited knowledge of the English language in those European villages. I gathered the images that struck me, that appealed to me, that told me a story and portrayed these different communities in their ordinary daily life. Each time I discovered several new things, people and cultures and got a photographic feel like a kind of anthropological quest for the identity of Europe.

© Gert Verbelen from the series 'Naar de kern’

GV: Discovering the true heart of Europe by photographically exploring these selected villages and their inhabitants. What fascinated me most were the daily trivial things that I was able to discover in this limited area and time frame. Often the local habitants weren’t even aware of these. I was eager to wander around, looking for things, people, situations that struck me. Photography became almost a kind of performance, as I was repeatedly walking in the same handful of streets. It had to happen on that spot. I had no other choice. This limitation in time and place strangely allowed me to act freely as a photographer.

What did you learn from a project like ‘Naar de kern’?

GV: It was quite a journey to visit those 18 countries in one year! It was often hard to find a place to sleep and it took some time to get people’s confidence. I was exhausted each time I came back from a country visit but each time I felt enriched by the new experience, the people I got to know much closer, their loneliness, their philosophy and their view on daily life. I often experienced the harsh effects of the economic crisis and the local effects of joining the Eurozone. I witnessed the doubt and fear for the future of the local people in the small villages, struggling with a disappointing economic growth and experiencing rising unemployment.

© Gert Verbelen from the series 'Naar de kern’

It also taught me that we are all the same. It fascinated me that wherever I was, I had the impression that it was all so familiar despite the different languages, cultures and habits. I experienced Europe as a big circle of small of often semi-abandoned villages with people often showing loneliness, even desperation. I saw the uniqueness as well as the commonality in the human characters and the village communities. It felt like a reflection of my own village every time. In the same way, I hope that my images can act as a mirror in which we can recognize ourselves as small villagers in the greater Europe.

Which part does documentary photography play in your body of work?

GV: Even though it is a very important part, I wouldn’t describe the book I’m working on as a true documentary. It is rather a collection of impressions in all those distinct, yet similar places. The fact that I had a fixed plan regarding place and time made at least the initial scope very 'documentary’. For me however, it certainly is a personal document that depicts my short stay in these villages, my brief encounters with some locals.

How do you handle the relationship between your commercial work and autonomous projects?

GV: Today, I’m focused on graphic design to earn my living. I’m just starting to build my career as an artist in parallel to a half-time steady job at a Belgian newspaper. I’m just at the beginning and still need to find my way, but I feel very lucky and honored by the interest that people have shown so far in my work and the feedback obtained. During the Breda Photo 2014 exhibition for instance.

© Gert Verbelen from the series 'Naar de kern’

GV: The starting point is almost always topographical. As soon as I’m there I feel what I need to illustrate for that spot. I’m always interested in the boundaries between countries, where do things start and where do they end.

Is there any contemporary artist or photographer, even if young and emerging, which influenced you in some way?

GV: Definitely William Eggleston. His images are always in my head. I’m very absorbed by his images that seem to have no coherent theme or story and I don’t feel the artificial hand of the photographer in his work. As a young photographer I admire as well as envy the freedom he enjoys and the simplicity he applies in his work. Eggleston is simply photographing whatever he encounters on his way and what makes him stand still in his own environment. He assembles all these images in a democratic way, assigning the same value to each image and its subject or object.

© Gert Verbelen from the series 'Naar de kern’

GV: The one I’m looking forward to buy is ‘Grays the mountain sends’ by Bryan Schutmaat, published by Silas Finch. It is currently sold out, but luckily a second edition is underway! It’s a set of images of some mining sites and mountain towns, portraying the people who have worked in them and the younger people looking for a way out. They picture both the landscape and the psyche of the people who live there, in a similar fashion as I experienced quite often during my journey in the Eurozone.

Can you sketch us the most recent project(s) you’re working on?

GV: For the moment I’m still focused on my series 'Naar de Kern’ which is planned to be published before summer and to be exhibited at the photo festival of Ghent 2015.

Tell us something about your upcoming shows abroad and/or in Belgium?

GV: I was honored to be part of the Breda Photo exhibition in 2014 and I’m very much looking forward to the exhibition at the Sint-Pietersabdij in Ghent (Belgium) - 80 Days of Summer - Stories of Identity - from 12/06/2015 until 30/08/2015.

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LINKS 
Gert Verbelen 
Belgium