Born in Belgium in 1941, Harry

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1 GALLERY FIFTY ONE HARRY GRUYAERT: A Master of Colours, interview by Boré Kedober in The Brussels Times Magazine, p , in December 2017 A MASTER OF COLOURS Interview with Belgian Photographer HARRY GRUYAERT By Boré Kedober Born in Belgium in 1941, Harry Gruyaert is, first and foremost, a maker of colour pictures. After his studies in photography and film-making, he made a few films as director of photography for Flemish television before turning to colour photographs in his adopted Paris in the early 1960s. By the end of the 1970s, he had travelled to the United States, India, Egypt, Japan and Morocco. The latter was a revelation to Gruyaert whose images of the country were later published in two different books. In the early 1970s, while living in London, he worked on a series of colour television screen shots later to become the TV Shots, now part of the Centre Pompidou collections. Around the same period, he also photographed his homeland and produced two books, Made in Belgium and Roots. In 1982, he joined Magnum Photos. Among other important works, the two editions of Rivages (Edges), published in 2003 and 2008, are the testimony of how Gruyaert likes to work in different environments, with contrasting lights and colours. He recently released a new book called East/West depicting his work in Las Vegas and Moscow from over 30 years ago. There are arguably no better visual documentations of the look and feel of early 1980s LA, Las Vegas and Moscow than Harry Gruyaert s photographs. THE BRUSSELS TIMES MAGAZINE 59

2 Brussels, Gare du Midi Harry Gruyaert / Magnum Photos I had a love and hate relationship with Belgium and feeling that there were so few colours in Belgium, I started to work in black and white. You once said There is no story. It s just a question of shapes and light. Can you expand? What do you look for in your work and when capturing your images? Well, I said that because I don t carry out my work as a journalist, I have no real intention to document. However, having said that, I hope it s not just all about the aesthetics either. There are many layers to the images and being at a certain place at a certain time of course gives an understanding, which also manifests itself in the pictures. So while it is not intentional, the pictures reveal something about what is going on and are not just beautiful. Which colours do you find most profound in Belgium? As a colour photographer, I really had to do something about Belgium. I had a love and hate relationship with Belgium and feeling that there were so few colours in Belgium, I started to work in black and white. I did that for about two years but then decided to work in colour. At that time, I was influenced by the pop-art culture from the West. As I started to work with the Belgian images in colour, I saw beauty in certain banality of daily life in Belgium. 60 THE BRUSSELS TIMES MAGAZINE

3 Ostende, Belgium, Harry Gruyaert / Magnum Photos As I later started to work with Belgian images in colour, I saw beauty in certain banality of daily life in Belgium. Ostende, Belgium, 1988 Harry Gruyaert / Magnum Photos What made you decide to release East/ West now? Sometimes I have worked for many years on books. Some books took me two years to finish, others up to thirty years. For Roots, the title of my photo book on Belgium, I had taken pictures for 10 years. The pictures making up East on Russia, were taken in only 10 days. I had been there for such a short period and kind of forgot about those pictures. As I looked back on them again recently, I saw many interesting pictures but thought that by themselves they wouldn t be so interesting. So I put them together with the American pictures to make up East/West. 62 THE BRUSSELS TIMES MAGAZINE

4 The West pictures are less populated or show people in more isolation, while the East part pictures people in larger informal groups. Was this on purpose, a coincidence or simply what you observed? It was just my observation. In Las Vegas or the West part of the book, everybody was inside cars. There were few people walking on the streets. While in the East you would see lots of people out on streets. The culture was very different. In late 80s Moscow, there was still communism and it was in general more social; while in Las Vegas, everything was just about money and of people pursuing money. It was lonely, and I felt there was a sense of disappointment. I was back in Russia in 2009 and saw that much had changed since my first time in It has become capitalistic and more aggressive with lots of advertisement everywhere to be seen. Belgium. Roots. Harry Gruyaert / Magnum Photos Thermes, Ostende, Belgium, Harry Gruyaert / Magnum Photos Boom, Belgium, Harry Gruyaert / Magnum Photos THE BRUSSELS TIMES MAGAZINE 63

5 Morocco, Erfout Harry Gruyaert / Magnum Photos Photography is something you do yourself. It s important to find your own way and not be influenced by others. When I started, for example, there were no photo books and certainly no internet which facilitated finding one s own style, rather than looking at your peers. Looking back on your travels, which one had the biggest impact on you personally and on your career? Les Halles, Paris, France, Harry Gruyaert / Magnum Photos It is hard to answer. I like to change, to be surprised! I have been to China, India, Japan, Morocco and many other countries. Certainly, my travel to Morocco for the first time with its world of strong colours and different landscapes made a big impact on me. It was like stepping back into the Middle Ages. But looking back at it all, I really love to work everywhere. It s about freedom and discovery. 64 THE BRUSSELS TIMES MAGAZINE

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7 Morocco, Region of the High Atlas. Msemir region Harry Gruyaert / Magnum Photos

8 Fort Mahon, France, Harry Gruyaert / Magnum Photos You joined renowned Magnum Photos back in How did it affect your career? It was a question of being more organised. But aesthetically it didn t change a lot; I kept doing the same that I always did. Of course, one got stimulation from talking to other photographers and it motivated me to keep challenging myself and do better work. However, at the end of the day, photography is something that you do yourself. It s important to find your own way and not be influenced by others. When I started, for example, there were no photo books and certainly no internet which facilitated finding one s own style, rather than looking at your peers. Galway, Ireland, Harry Gruyaert / Magnum Photos 68 THE BRUSSELS TIMES MAGAZINE

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11 Moscow Harry Gruyaert / Magnum Photos Moscow Harry Gruyaert / Magnum Photos Moscow Harry Gruyaert / Magnum Photos The culture was very different. In late 80s Moscow, there was still communism and it was in general more social; while in Las Vegas, everything was just about money and of people pursuing money. It was lonely, and I felt there was a sense of disappointment. 72 THE BRUSSELS TIMES MAGAZINE

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13 Moscow Harry Gruyaert / Magnum Photos

14 Kerala, India, Harry Gruyaert / Magnum Photos What projects are you working on at the moment? I have a big retrospective exhibition in FOMU, the Antwerp photo Museum, running from 9 March to 9 July in So I am very excited about that. I am also working on a project on Egypt and on a new version of Roots which has completely sold out. It deals with my work and feelings towards my homeland Belgium. Cairo, Egypt, Harry Gruyaert / Magnum Photos 76 THE BRUSSELS TIMES MAGAZINE

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