I love listening. It is one of the only spaces where you can be still and moved at the same time. — Nayyirah Waheed — Saturday September 26th — —

“What art does — maybe what it does most completely — is tell us, make us feel that what we think we know, we don’t. There are whole worlds around us that we’ve never glimpsed.” Greil Marcus — Saturday September 26th — —

The idea is to die young as late as possible. — Ashley Montagu — Saturday September 26th — —

Inspirations — Frederik Vercruysse

Frederik Vercruysse is a very talented Antwerp-based photographer whose beautiful work we discovered some years ago. He describes his work as still life photography in the broadest sense of the word, always aiming to photograph the subject in its purest form, sometimes realistic, often minimalistic. Distinguishing features of his work are fresh, graphic images bathed in a soft light. Vercruysse has an eye for detail and a well-defined sense of aesthetics. He is an expert in creating compositions, regardless of whether he is photographing architecture, an interior or a still life. With Frederik being such an inspiration for us, we asked him about his inspirations in life.
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Please introduce yourself.
I’m Frederik Vercruysse, a photographer from Belgium, living in Antwerp. I like to describe my work as still life photography in the broadest sense of the word. With my photography I aim to catch the subject in its purest form, sometimes realistic, but often minimalistic, creating clean graphic images with a soft color palette. Approaching architecture, interior or still life photography from the same angle, my main interest lays in creating compositions.

I work for magazines like Wallpaper, Architectural Digest Germany, A Magazine, Document Journal, L’Officiel Homme, Dwell, Case Da Abitare and Elle Decoration. I have also worked for brands and companies like AirBnb, Uniqlo, Essentiel, Komono, Eastpak, Muller Van Severen, Vincent Van Duysen villa eugénie, Raf Simons, Samsonite and different museums and architects. I’m represented by Initials LA (Antwerp) and soon also by Bird Productions (Paris).

Who is the most inspiring person in history and why?

There are many inspirational people in history. So if I name someone, it does all other injustice, people who fight for a better world for example. To single out some people despite this fact:  I think the first man in space, Yuri Gagarin and the first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong are very inspiring people to me.
People who are so educated, confident and curious to take on the unknown. Those people inspire me.

Who is the most inspiring person in your life and why?
Other photographers and artists inspire me for sure. I’m particularly interested in those who create work of a totally different nature than my own. Encountering inspirational work like that triggers me and makes me want to do something similar, despite knowing that I’m working in a different lane. It evokes something of a healthy feeling of envy.
Yet, and it may sound cliché; my wife Lies inspires me most in life.

Who is the most inspiring photographer?
Wolfgang Tilmans, Viviane Sassen, Andreas Gursky.

And the picture that will always stay in your mind?

I’m tremendously inspired by the interiors of Danish painter Vilhelm Hammershoi. It are those images what I have in mind when I’m photographing myself.

Who is the most inspiring artist?
Raoul Dekeyser, Gerhard Richter, Vilhelm Hammershoi.

The thing you never go without?
Keys and my cellphone.

Your favorite city?
Los Angeles

Your favorite hideout?
I love nature, staying in a hideout somewhere in nature really gives me peace.
It would be very hard for me to choose between a deserted beach or some deserted place in the mountains, so both.

The website you often check?
I don’t really surf. I just use the pragmatic websites: some news, WeTransfer, Facebook and ViaMichelin to find directions to a place for a job.

The books on your coffee table?
At this moment it’s a book by garden- and landscape designer Piet Oudolf and ‘In And Out Of Fashion‘ by Viviane Sassen.

The books on your bedside table?
‘Things the grandchildren should know‘ written by Eels frontman Mr E (Mark Oliver Everett) and some Apartamento’s.

What is your dream?

It is my dream to move to a beautiful mountain hut or on the other hand a house right at the sea, pick up painting and slow my life down..
Realistically speaking, I know that the mountain hut is just a romantic ideal as it’s too lonely, so let’s just say my dream is to pick up painting and live a slower life..

What would you do if you could start all over again?
The same. Maybe study more languages, but I could still do that, although I’m lacking the time. It must be great to fluently switch from one language to another. Especially as I’m starting to work more on an international scale.
I also would have loved to study painting, as I still would have had the option to move into photography.

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Portrayed with the questions is a selection of Vercruysse’s recent work, among which is his work for Linda Farrow and his series ‘Tempo Polveroso‘ which was on display at Graanmarkt 13 in his hometown Antwerp earlier this year.

For more information and work by Frederik Vercruysse see here.