The Grey Album
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Volume 05 — Issue 02 Neighbourhood Life + Global Style Neighbourhood Smart move Life The writing on the wall Style The third man Music A shaded view Culture Stone cold + The photography special The grey album The editor’s letter 3 Publisher and editor-in-chief I never thought I’d say this, but doing this magazine has become rather boring. Nicholas Lewis The thing is, I’m not the guy who goes out and does the interviews or who takes the photographs. I’m not the one who designs each and every page nor am I even the Editorial assistant one who proof reads them. No, I’m the (boring) guy who sits behind his desk day-in Sarah Schug day-out, planning, story-boarding and commissioning each story, shoot and feature for others to carry-out. Fact is, I can’t remember the last time I left this office and Design interviewed someone face-to-face. facetofacedesign + pleaseletmedesign So you can image my joy when time came for our yearly photography special. Finally, I’d be able to get into the thick of it again. Interviews, studio visits, round Writers tables, portfolio views – the lot. Photography, you see, is my thing here at Word Felicia Atkinson HQ, and I got more than my money’s worth over the last few weeks. And what an Sabine Clappaert exciting last few weeks it has been, especially for Belgian photography. Rose Kelleher Nicholas Lewis There was the time we asked the heavy weights of Belgian photography to select Philippe Pourhashemi their pick of future home-grown talents. We had Dirk Braeckman selecting Max Sarah Schug Pinckers, Stephan Vanfleteren picking Thomas Sweertvaegher and Gilbert Sam Steverlynck Fastenaekens choosing Clément Montagne. And those are just some of the big Robbert van Jaarsveld names whose opinion we enlisted. Then there was the round-table we hosted at Contretype in Brussels, asking certain players of the local publishing game to Photographers/Illustrators discuss the evolution of the coffee table book, and the possibility of it becoming Ulrike Biets the new exhibition. We also paid tribute to the artisans without whom photography Sarah Eechaut wouldn’t be possible, photographed the cameras of three different types of pho- Veerle Frissen tographers, did a round-up of Belgian photo zines, zoomed in on four photography Pauline Miko series that particularly tickle our fancy at the moment as well as asked a portrait Melika Ngombe photographer to aim the lens at herself for once. And those are just the stand out Grégoire Pleynet features. Turn to page 67 for our statistics page and the entire special itself. Virassamy On top of that, and not to be forgotten, we have the grey album. Before anything, Intern you wouldn’t imagine how relieved and pleased I am for it to finally have gone to Anne Catharina Richard print. As many of you know, we had some problems bringing it out in February, as was planned, so decided to push it back a little. And that turned out to be one of the wisest decisions we’d taken in a while. For subscriptions (4 issues) Transfer ¤ 21 (Belgium), Content-wise, it’s a banger. We tracked down seven of the country’s most notorious ¤30 (Europe) or ¤ 45 (World) graffiti writers, spoke to four specialists catering to the grey economy, interviewed to account n° 363-0257432-34 Dior Homme creative director Kris Van Assche as well as profiled electronic music IBAN BE 68 3630 2574 3234 visionary Daniel Miller, founder of Mute records and The Grey Area. BIC BBRUBEBB stating your full name, email and postal addresses Not that boring after all… in the communication box. Visit us Nicholas Lewis thewordmagazine.be Like us facebook.com/TheWordMagazine Follow us @TheWordMgz Download us thewordmagazine.be/ipad The Word is published five times a year by JamPublishing, 107 Rue Général Henry Straat 1040 Brussels Belgium. Reproduction, in whole or in part, without prior permission is strictly prohibited. All information correct up to the time of going to press. The publish- ers cannot be held liable for any changes in On this cover this respect after this date. © Clément Montagne Self-portrait 4 The contents Neighbourhood 22 8 Reeling in the years The greyboard 24 9 Dirty pretty things Human geography 19 Life 26 Thank God it’s Friday 20 Graffiti writers 30 Halfway there 21 Truck drivers 34 Altered states Grey expectations Volume 05 — Issue 02 5 STyLe The phoTography SpeciaL 84 38 68 The hunter becomes the hunted A taste for paradox A photo-zine a day keeps the… 86 40 70 Is the photography book the new… The middleman The ones to watch 88 46 74 Photographers… and everyone… Drive-by shooting Bozar’s summer of photography 92 78 MuSic 58 Snapper’s delight A stamp of approval 82 culture Uphigh Collective 94 60 Man vs. machine Grey Daniel Miller 6 The contributors It’s a Word’s world Felicia Atkinson Pauline Miko Sabine Clappaert Alex Salinas Writer Photographer Writer Photographer AbouT AbouT AbouT AbouT This French-born and Studying photography at Cosmopolitan Sabine Clappaert Alex, though born and raised in Belgium-based multi-talent is Brussels’ La Cambre and having was raised in the hotter climates Antwerp, is now hopping back a contemporary artist, releases come to our attention through of South Africa and Australia. and forth between his Belgian music under the pseudonym her internship at The Word last She currently calls Belgium her hometown and The Big Smoke. “Je Suis Le Petit Chevalier” and year, Pauline quickly became home – for now. His raw and direct style is recently designed a T-shirt for a major pillar of the magazine. evident in his various personal Rue Blanche. But Felicia also She’s especially proud to have Task projects as well as in the work has an encylopaedic knowledge had her grandmother’s snowball For this issue Sabine explored he does for numerous clients on photography – not the only collection featured in our the concept of “consciousness”, from ID Magazine to Dazed & reason why we were delighted white album. diving into a strange world Confused. He’s also portrayed to work with her on our of altered states as coma and hot shots such as Dennis Hopper photography special. Task a condition called “locked-in or Hannelore Knuts. Strolling through Brussels’ syndrome” in which patients are Task streets to capture the strange aware of themselves but unable Task For her first contribution phenomenon of boot scrapers to express anything but brain After having brought his very to The Word, Felicia dived on film, aiming her lense at activity. own twist to the snow white myth deep into the world of Belgian upcoming Belgian bands, for our cinematic issue, we were photo zines, moderated the shooting zines as well as our grey QuoTe thrilled to get Alex to once again round table about the future inspirations… As manifold as “The question that will truly take care of our fashion pages. of the photography exhibition her assignments are – Pauline’s haunt me after researching this and profiled Antwerp-based personal style, empathic and article is “how conscious are we QuoTe photographer Jan Kampenaers intriguing, always shines during the process of dying?” “I love spending time in my for us. through. In my research I found an article new car, inhaling its specific showing brain scans of the smell, taking it for a drive QuoTe QuoTe brain’s activity during – and – which is why doing a fashion “Working on this issue made me “Taking endless walks around right after death – and the needle shoot on wheels seemed like think of a quote from someone the grey city, it struck me how was screaming up and down the the perfect idea.” else, Contretype’s Jean-Louis interesting a place Brussels really graph. Horrifying. Fascinating.” Godefroid: I see a photographer is: The new meets the old at as a poet: I want to defend his every corner of every street.” special sight over the world.” 8 The greyboard 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 01. Clockwise from top: Elina Brotherus’ book Artist and her Model, published by Brussels imprint Le Caillou Bleu. Brotherus has an exhibition running at Contretype until 10th June and is also taking part in Bozar’s Sense of Place exhibition, which runs from 14th June to 16th September. Black Mirrors, the catalogue for French artist Julien Langendorff’s exhibition at Agnes B New York, published by Brussels-based Shelter Press. Colin Gray’s book In Sickness and in Health, published by Steidl Mack. The book presents the last stage of Gray’s 29 year-long study called The Parents. Here, he documents his mother’s disability following a stroke. Harrowing and haunting, yet so powerful. / 02. Redbull’s newest drink, its Silver Edition. / 03. Left: Patti Smith’s Radio Ethiopia LP, recorded in 1976. Right: Leonard Cohen’s Live Songs LP. / 04. Purple Fashion’s pull-out Purple Books, cartes blanches given to certain creative forces in the field of contemporary art, photography and music. Luminaries have included everyone from Aurel Schmidt and Thurston Moore to Katja Rahlwes and Dash Snow. / 05. Grey Goose Vodka. / 06. Grey Gardens, Albery and David Maysles’ 1975 documentary depicting the lives of a mother and a daughter, both named Edit Beale, who lived in a dilapidated mansion in East Hampton, New York. The film makes for riveting viewing. / 07. Left: Je Suis Le Petit Chevalier is the musical project of Brussels-based artist Félicia Atkinson, who contributed massively to our photography special. This record, An Age of Wonder, was also released by Shelter Press, run by her partner Bartholomé Sanson.