I am Ilja.

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Based in Ghent, Belgium.

Working in project & production of art & culture.

Discovering and exploring the world around me whenever I can.

 

Suggestive, impulsive, fragmented, frequently focused on people and social themes. A calculated coincidence and an unconditional commitment to the moment unites most of my work. My creative journey quickly evolved into a means of self-reflection & expression. Driven by curiosity, inspired by people and their environment. Photography allows me to get closer, to dissect the structures around me into comprehensive stories and perspectives. This view from a different angle pushes me to discover and reflect, draws me in and keeps me passionate.

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As for the outcome of my  personal projects,

I often combine different media such as a book or magazine with prints, text, collages, projections, negatives, dia, drawings, video,

 digitally analog, on walls, online or in the public space...

 

My subjects tend to be ongoing and continuously evolving,

some might result in an EXHIBITION, PUBLICATION or a BOOK.

 

EXHIBITIONS & COLLABORATIONS

 

2020 "IN SIDE OUT" @ Breedbeeld / Bosland Hechtel-Eksel, (group) exhibition 

     showing a series of images from the book ...then you came along...

2019 "ON THE ROAD" @ Photographic Exploration Project during Berlin Photo

     Week, Germany

2019 "ABSORPTION"@ PDP Media Coference, Serbia with a series from the book 

     "Where do we go from here?"

2019 "LENS OP DE MENS" collages from the book " Where do we go from here?" 

     curated by Breedbeeld, festival, exhibition in Neerpelt, Belgium

2019 "DWARS" Art Academy group exhibition of the book "Where do we go from 

     here" Ghent, Belgium

2019 "LANDSCAPE" group show, Fotonale Brugge, Belgium

2018 "TRAVELERS" group exhibition at the Blank Wall Gallery in Athens,

     Greece

2018 "DEI NUOVI CONFINI DELLA FOTOGRAFIA" (New boundaries of Photography) 

     group exhibition at Milano Photo Week, Italy

2018 "More is More" curated by Tom Van Der Borgt, group exhibition. The 

     exhibited series explores the nostalgic value of photographs, 

     at CC  Sint-Niklaas, Belgium

2018 “PLAY” group exhibition at the Fotonale Exhibition Brugge, Belgium

2017 “Land Van Fotografie” curated by Den Boulevard, group exhibition:

     Photos from the series "In My Nature" were exhibited. The series 

     examines the relationship between man and nature in the New Human age.

     Humans in interaction with nature. An indirect, unthoughtful,

     subjective relationship. Nature is always there, unnoticed. We always

     leave a trail, very noticeable. Unconsciously altering what previously

     existed. It is an attempt to put the observer in another perspective

     and to create a different sense of connectivity.

2016 "Echo's uit de wijk" curated guerilla street exposition in the streets 

     of Ghent

2015 Exhibition of the project "Métro-Boulot-Dodo" curated by Echo's Uit De 

     Wijk @ De Pastorij, Ghent

 

PUBLICATIONS & PRIZES

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2022 Echo’s Uit De Wijk magazine #4

2020 Shoot Magazine #80, printed publication of some photos from the book 

     "then you came along" thanks to Inside Breedbeeld.

2020 Breedbeeld website, photo from the book "...then you came along..." as 

     their logo on homepage 

2020 A5 Magazine print issue #36, Portfolio edition with collages from the

     book “Where do we go from here?”

2020 Selection for Altiba-9 magazine with a collage

2019 PDP Media Conference Serbia XI "Absorption", Second prize with

     a series from the book “Where do we go from here?"

2019 "Athens Photo Festival" shortlisted Athens, Greece

2019 Selection for the Kyiv international festival of photo books

2019 Photographic Exploration Project online publication

2017 "LET IT SNOW" Online publication @ RAW Street Photograpy

2017 SHOOT MAGAZINE #56 (printed publication)A series about “Street

     Life”

2017 EISA MAESTRO AWARDS 1st Belgian prize (European competition) Awarded         the first Belgian prize and shortlisted for the European part of the 

     “Eisa Maestro” competition with a series of 8 photos.

2017 "Nocturnal" exhibition select with honorable mention @ PH21 Gallery,  

     Budapest, Hungary

2016 WORLD STREET PHOTOGRAPHY BOOK #4 Shortlisted

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BOOKS & MAGAZINES

 

2020 “...THEN YOU CAME ALONG...” (book) how an accidental encounter can 

     shape the course of one’s life.

     https://nl.blurb.com/b/10083662-then-you-came-along

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2019 "WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?" (book) Reply to a letter unwritten.

     Thoughts on what was about to be. Before the end. In this book I go 

     deeper into the themes and questions that take my intereest in

     everyday life.

     https://nl.blurb.com/b/9445458-where-do-we-go-from-here

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2016 “BURNOUT” (magazine#3) A 50 day, 50 nights Diary, 50 days 

     of night, 50 nights of darkness, 50 nights of artificial light

         

2015 “BANALITé BELGE” (magazine#2) Is about those things that

     we Belgians experience as normal, mundane, part of the everyday life,

     and which I consider to be an interesting aspect of our culture and 

     identity... 

    

2015 “MéTRO-BOULOT-DODO” (magazine#1) A French expression referring

     to the loss of consciousness during the daily routine and tasks. Work, 

     commuting, sleeping, eating and the same thing all over again. I have

     always been fascinated by this phenomenon.