Jaw Aka Faizal Nahman and his daughter Nonom 2010 © Simon Norfolk. Courtesy Mc Bride Fine Art
Photo Museum Antwerp Waalsekaai 47 2000 Antwerpen Belgique
Capture the past. That was the assignment photographers Bruno Vandermeulen and Danny Veys were given at the archaeological site of Sagalassos in Turkey. How does a photographer approach the past? When photographing the ancient city, Vandermeulen and Veys decided not just to record the archaeological finds, but to question the very objectivity of the lens itself.
This was the starting point for Imaging History. How does one look at something that is no longer there? Do we have enough imagination, or does it vary according to the vision of the photographer? Along with Vandermeulen and Veys, five internationally renowned photographers - Shimon Attie (USA, 1957), Raphaël Dallaporta (FR, 1980) Sally Mann (USA, 1951), Bart Michiels (BE, °1964) and Simon Norfolk (NGA, 1963) - present a series of images and approach their work from these very questions.
As a counterpoint, FoMu presents a selection of photographs from the collection in which photography was used to capture and inventory the past. This presentation is made in the context of the objectives photography has been pursuing since its inception. The works on display will include photographs by Charles Nègre, Francis Frith, Felice Beato, Carleton E. Watkins, William Henry Jackson et Auguste Salzmann.