Hangar proposes, in the context of PhotoBrussels Festival 06, a large exhibition: In the Shadow of Trees. The exhibition brings together twenty photographic projects (including the three winners of the Prize*).

Standing alone in the landscape, or surrounded by or competing with its peers in the forest, forming a distant or close part of human activities, the tree is a highly pertinent subject in contemporary photography. The variations of forms and light that the tree expresses so well, in essence, the raw materials of photography, did not escape the pioneers of this medium in the 19th century either. Throughout the history of art, the tree has been used as an explicit symbol of life, growth, seasonal death, and resilience. 

While the tree, the world’s largest living organism, sometimes surviving for thousands of years, is often the emblem of a particular region or culture, it is also a state of mind. The images revealed by the lens make it possible to gain an idea of the artist’s character and emotions. It is precisely that extraordinary diversity that the Hangar aims to reflect through In the Shadow of Trees, an exhibition that brings together twenty or so photographic projects. The show also aims to shine a light on the crucial place that trees occupy in life and the influence they have on the survival of humankind. Indeed, in 2022 we can no longer ignore the ecological and environmental underlying all artistic work.

On the one hand, In the Shadow of Trees invites us to capture the flow of energy that emanates from these artistic projects and the way in which they affect our mood, attitude, and desires. While on the other, the exhibition calls on us to become aware that every individual on this planet Earth, lives in some way in the shadow of trees…

To this Hangar curation are added the three winners of the call for projects, the Prize*.

PhotoBrussels Festival 06 Prize

After several days of deliberation, the jury members awarded the following three winners:

Benjamin Deroche (FR)
Yutao Gao (CN)
Kira Krász (HU)

They will be exhibiting their photo project alongside artists selected by Hangar in the collective exhibition "In the Shadow of Trees" (more info below).

Congratulations to the 12 finalists: Jean-Christophe Béchet, Karin Borghouts, Dana Cojbuc, Filippo Ferraro, Roberto Frankenberg, Samuel Hense, Edgar Martins, Bruno Oliveira, Rea Papadopoulou, Juliette Pavy, Peter Pfügler, and Marc Van Roy.

We would also like to thank the 250 participants in the Prize for their great creativity.