photo: © Stephan Vanfleteren - 2. Gilmar Corriera, Porto Alegre, São Tomé and Príncipe young surfer/student, 2016–2018
That fall, Kunsthal Rotterdam proudly presented the photography exhibition Surf Tribe. In his recent project of the same name, Belgian photographer Stephan Vanfleteren (Kortrijk, 1969) reveals a culture defined by deep respect for the ocean.
Vanfleteren looks beyond the traditional surf spots of California and Hawaii, traveling around the world in search of people who live where the ocean meets the land. There he captures an almost fluid community of ‘subjects of the mighty Surf Tribe’ whose only master is nature. This series contains no action photographs on azure waves, but serene black-and-white portraits in Vanfleteren’s pure and compelling style.
Stephan Vanfleteren immersed himself in the international surfing community for a year and a half. Through numerous encounters and adventures, he photographed many surfers. Featuring more than seventy characterful black-and-white portraits, the exhibition Surf Tribe is an impressive tribute to people who carry the ocean in their souls.
The photographs show the real people behind the surfers, in all their strength and vulnerability. They are united by their love of the water and addiction to the wave: the sense of insignificance before the forces of nature, and battles won and lost—with others, but above all with themselves.
They are united by their love of the water and addiction to the wave
Surf Tribe presents competitive surfers, free surfers, and surfing hippies from around the world. They range from young talents to surfing icons and living legends such as Bethany Hamilton, who lost an arm to a shark at age thirteen. The exhibition also includes Maori descendant Kehu Kehu Butler, who wears an eye patch following a classic surfing accident alongside his traditional moko tattoo. Peter Cole has lost half of his right eye and is over eighty, yet that does not stop him from surfing. They all stand before Vanfleteren’s camera without inhibition.
Stephan Vanfleteren studied photography at Sint-Lukas Brussels from 1988 to 1992. Alongside his own projects, he worked as a freelance photographer for the Belgian newspaper De Morgen and other international media until 2009.
...serene black-and-white portraits in Vanfleteren’s pure and compelling style...
Vanfleteren specializes in black-and-white portraits and long-form documentary projects in Belgium and abroad. His independent work reveals an artist who keenly observes, listens, reflects, and writes about the world around him. His work has received numerous honors, including the European Fuji Award, the Dutch National Portrait Prize, and the five-year Culture Prize of the province of West Flanders. In 2013, Vanfleteren won a World Press Photo Award for the sixth time, for his series People of Mercy in the category Staged Portraits.
Photographer Stephan Vanfleteren gave a public tour of his exhibition on Sunday, October 21 .
More information at www.kunsthal.nl.
