Born in 1974, David Nollet studied photography at the Academy of Fine Arts in Anderlecht, Belgium, and now regularly views the world through the lens of his Nikon camera.
He has already travelled to Iran and Poland on reporting assignments, but his home country is clearly also close to his heart.
Taking inspiration from Robert Frank, who published his renowned photobook The Americans in 1958, Nollet travelled across Belgium to capture the essence of the country and its people.
The exhibition In Belgium, which is touring seventeen Flemish cultural centres with the support of "Fotografiecircuit Vlaanderen", showcases work created over a period of seven years. The result is a road movie featuring a diverse range of black-and-white images. While not documentary in nature, the atmosphere they convey speaks volumes about the subject. Nollet wandered around Aubel, Zaventem, Adinkerke and Verviers, and apparently spent quite a lot of time in Brussels, too. Sometimes he stands literally on the sidelines, such as on a desolate road with a stately pub or at the Binche carnival, and at other times he takes a step closer and snaps some photos. We see many people's backs and many inquisitive glances.
However, Nollet's focus seems to lie primarily on what these people have organised or set up from scratch, such as a parade, a circus tent, a music rehearsal, a chip shop or a cat show. Once the initial hustle and bustle has died down, these things then look rather desolate. The photographs are not gloomy. After all, the sun is allowed to shine, the symmetry of an ugly building takes centre stage, chiaroscuro lends a touch of false drama, the exoticism of a Harley-Davidson is embraced and people are left to their own devices. Yet beauty never seems far removed from futility.
