In my nature,
unconsciously altering what previously existed.
I am Ilja.
​
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
​
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
​
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.