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Doors Art Fair 2011
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Lobelia wollastonii, 2005, silver gelatin print, mounted on aluminium and framed, 25 x 38cm
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Sebastian Schutyser
In the heart of Africa, on top of the equator, and more than 5,000 meters above sea level, lies an ice-capped massif with a mythical resonance: the Mountains of the Moon. The mind-tickling idea of such a wondrous thing as eternal snow in equatorial Africa, and the sheer inaccessibility of these mountain, have added an air of mystery to the mists and clouds that constantly veil it. The Rwenzori Mountains are well known for their extravagant plants. At higher elevations, certain species grow unusually large owing to powerful equatorial sunlight at daytime and the chills of snow at night. Combined with wild and jagged landscapes, this ‘botanical big game’ evokes a primaeval atmosphere. Sebastian Schutyser captures undented, pure nature exquisitely with infrared black and white film. The photographer eradicates the most colors instead puts heavy emphasis on both details and textures of the subject and tries to carry innate beauty of it. Furthermore pure white leaves and dark fog that lost native colors evoke a dream like atmosphere in each print thus create an ethereal universe, an unreal Paradise Lost. Just like the Moon, be seen but not reachable, Schutyser’s ‘Flowers of the Moon’ is too for real yet is hidden and fairly mythological. In addition, using retrospective black and white films as well as a documentary approach to flora of the Mountains of the Moon he points out a rough reality beneath the great Mother Nature: serious environmental issues such as advancing deforestation and global worming that threaten the earth are satirically suggested through breathtakingly beautiful images. Education 1997 Master degree Photography, Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Belgium 1991 Master degree Political Sciences, University of Ghent, Belgium Solo Exhibitions 2010 Flowers of the Moon, Gallery SUN Contemporary, Seoul 2009 CC Hasselt, Belgium 2008 Terra 2008, Bamako, Mali 2007 FotoMuseum, Antwerp, Belgium Gimhae Clayarch Museum, Korea 2005 Zuiderpershuis, Antwerp European Parliament, Brussels 2004 BOZAR, Brussels Fondazione Mudima, Milano, Italy 2003 Great Mosque of Djenné, Mali Rencontres de la photographie Africaine de Bamako, Mali Belfry of Bruges, Belgium Deutshes Architektur Museum, Frankfurt, Germany 2002 Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris, France 2000 Royal Africa Museum, Tervuren, Belgium Selected Group Exhibitions 2010 KIAF, COEX, Seoul 2009 Gante-Yuste, various locations in Extremadura, Spain 2008 Sonsbeek, CBK Arnhem, The Netherlands 2006 En français sous l’image, Espace EDF Electra, Paris, France 2005 FotoMuseum, Antwerp, Belgium 2004 Kurzdavordanach, Mediapark Köln, Germany 2003 Belgian Nomads, 51 Fine Art Photography, Antwerp, Belgium 2000 Noorderlicht Photo Festival, The Netherlands Musée de la Photographie, Charleroi, Belgium 1998 Musée de la Photographie, Charleroi, Belgium Awards 2007 Grant from the Flemish Government 2006 Grant from the Flemish Government 2004 Laureate “Golden Clover” Belgian Vocation Foundation 2001 Grant from the Flemish Photographic Documentary Foundation Support from the Aga Khan Trust for Culture 2000 Nominee ’13 éme Prix National Photographie Ouverte’ Laureate Prix des Amis de l’UNESCO 1998 Laureate ’12éme Prix National Photographie Ouverte’ 1996 Laureate Belgian Vocation Foundation Monographic Publications ‘Blauw’, 2002, ‘Documentaire Fotografie Opdrachten Vlaanderen’ ‘Les Mosquées En Terre Du Mali’, 2002, Maison Européenne de la Photographie ‘Lehmmoscheen in Mali’, 2003m Junius Verkag ‘Banco, Adobe Mosques of the Inner Niger Delta’, 2003, 5 Continents Editions ‘Flowers of the Moon, Afroalpine vegetation of the Rwenzori Mountains’, 2007, 5 Continents editions Collections Royal Africa Museum, Tervuren, Belgium The Aga Khan Trust for Culture, Geneva, Switzerland La Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris, France FotoMuseum, Antwerpen, Belgium Musée de la Photographie, Charleroi, Belgium Fundacion Yuste, Spain Gimhae Clayarch Museum, Korea SNU Boramae Medical Center, Korea |
