Harry Gruyaert
Will be published approx. on 30. July 2026
Book
Hardback
112 pages
978-94-93531-32-1 (ISBN)
Description
Deutscher Text weiter unten.. Photographer Harry Gruyaert (born 1941) invites us on a sweeping urban journey. Whether he takes us to Brussels, Antwerp, Tokyo, New York, Paris, Ouarzazate, Old Delhi or Moscow does not really matter. What drives the shutter release is not so much the subject but the way it presents itself to the photographer's eye: intense, pulsating colours, the sharp outlines of shadow, and urban geometries that punctuate space like a jazz phrase - call and response. Gruyaert's magnetic music plays out on the street, where vibrations and emotions converse. Harry Gruyaert will be on show in the Chapelle Saint-Martin du Méjan during Les Rencontres d'Arles from 6 July until 4 October 2026. Der Fotograf Harry Gruyaert (geb. 1941) nimmt uns mit auf einen Städtetrip. Ob er uns nach Brüssel, Antwerpen, Tokio, New York, Paris, Ouarzazate, Alt-Delhi oder Moskau führt, spielt eigentlich keine Rolle. Dafür, wo er den Auslöser betätigt, ist weniger das Motiv entscheidend, als vielmehr die Art und Weise, wie es sich dem Blick des Fotografen präsentiert: intensive, pulsierende Farben, die scharfen Konturen von Schatten und urbane Geometrien, die den Raum wie eine Jazzphrase untermalen - Frage und Antwort. Gruyaerts magnetische Musik spielt sich auf der Straße ab, wo Schwingungen und Emotionen miteinander kommunizieren. Harry Gruyaert ist während der Rencontres d'Arles vom 6. Juli bis zum 4. Oktober 2026 in der Chapelle Saint-Martin du Méjan zu sehen.
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Persons
Harry Gruyaert is known for his extraordinary photographic work with color. Born in Antwerp in 1941, he originally dreamed of becoming a film director. In the late 1970s, Pop art and a trip to Morocco inspired him to become one of the first photographers in Europe to devote his work entirely to color photography. Gruyaert's cinematographic background instilled in him an aesthetic conception of photography. Rather than telling stories or documenting the world through his lens, he searches for beauty in everyday elements. His images are simply snapshots of magical moments in which different visual aspects, primarily color, form, light and movement, spontaneously come together in front of his lens.
A member of Magnum Photos since 1982, Gruyaert has photographed extensively in the United States, Morocco, Europe, and India. He has also taken many photographs of Belgium, his native country, which have been published in two books: Made in Belgium and Roots. His many other publications, including Morocco, Rivages, East/West, Last Call, and India, testify to his ability to work in the most diverse environments. As Gruyaert states, "For me, photography is not only a matter of composition or color, it must also talk about place and time."
A member of Magnum Photos since 1982, Gruyaert has photographed extensively in the United States, Morocco, Europe, and India. He has also taken many photographs of Belgium, his native country, which have been published in two books: Made in Belgium and Roots. His many other publications, including Morocco, Rivages, East/West, Last Call, and India, testify to his ability to work in the most diverse environments. As Gruyaert states, "For me, photography is not only a matter of composition or color, it must also talk about place and time."