Matonge Memories

• Photographer
  David Degelin

Matonge, in Brussels, is known for its large community of people of African origin. I always wanted to make a series about the diverse beauty of the Matonge women. However, most women declined to be photographed, for various reasons, often linked to the belief that photos could seize the soul, ... which I respect. I then turned to AI to create realistic portraits, based on my detailed memory accounts of the women. The result is a series of portraits resembling the women I met. The series should be considered a faux-documentary, as a tribute to the beauty and diversity of the women of Matonge.

I'm a photographer with a focus on portrait, street, and fine-art photography, and photography is my way of dealing with the world, people, stories, places, experiences. Photography is a therapeutic activity for me in a way, a survival strategy. I use light and shadow to capture what I feel, rather than what I see, and what I feel always takes precedence over what I see in what I do. I'm intrigued by the beauty of solitude, of people and places and in my work, this theme plays a dominant role.