Bieke Depoorter

Bieke Depoorter (b. 1986) is a documentary photographer and member of Magnum Photos based in Belgium. The relationships Depoorter establishes with the subjects of her photographs lie at the foundation of her artistic practice. Accidental encounters are the starting point, and how these interactions naturally develop dictates the nature of Depoorter’s work. But several recent projects have been the result of Depoorter questioning the medium. In As it May Be, she gradually became more aware of her status as an outsider, both culturally and as a photographer. So, in 2017, she revisited Egypt with the first draft of the book, inviting people to write comments directly onto the photographs. In Sète#15, and also Dvalemodus, a short film she co-directed, she began to see her subjects as actors. Although she portrayed them in their true environments, she tried to project her own story onto the scenes, fictionalizing the realities of her subjects in a way that blurred the lines between their world and hers. In the project Agata, a project about a young women Depoorter met at a striptease bar in Paris in October 2017, she explores her interest in collaborative portraiture. It’s an example of Depoorter’s interest in finding people that can work with her in telling a story. These stories are always partially hers, and partially theirs. The project resulted in a book, Agata, published in 2021, which was shortlisted for Photo Book award at the Paris Photo - Aperture Foundation Awards and for Photo Text Book at the Rencontres d'Arles Books Awards in 2021. It is also among the 2021 MoMa's 10 favourite Photobooks. Portrait: Selfportrait