I am a Brussels-based photographer working mainly on long-term projects with a social dimension. My projects include “Autism Stories”, which explores the lives of people with autism, and “Green Borders”, which focuses on how cities negotiate their relationship with nature and bring nature back into the urban environment.
I combine documentary photography, writing, video, and audio in order to uncover the stories behind the subject. I am interested in storytelling and how it can be used to facilitate both individual and social change.
Through stories, we try to make sense of what is going on, find meaning, or cope with problems. Sometimes this helps: through stories we find meaning and motivation. You can defeat the dragon. You can escape from the bewitched forest. You are more than your failures.
But there are also stories that reinforce fragility and weakness, and keep us captive. Stories about what we desperately need, what we fear, what would make us happy or unhappy. Stories that keep us stuck in fear and dependence.
Stories are a double-edged sword. They can be used to build or destroy, to strengthen or to weaken. I want to understand not only what makes great stories work, what makes them inspire and move to action, but also how to break the spell of toxic stories we tell ourselves.
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