The photo community Flickr has brought me into contact with some of my most important friends. One of the most extravagant of them surely is Robert Fischer. He contacted me three years ago to know my opinion about his work, and we've stayed friends ever since, commenting each other's work, inspiring each other with ideas. When I first saw images of his, I remember thinking I had never seen anything like it before. They provoked strong feelings of attraction and repulsion at the same time, like when you enter a completely unknown culture – with rules and habits you don’t understand and even fear. Now Robert has a splendid new website: www.robertfischerphoto.com. It features an essay about his Mark-exposition, written by your humble servant, and I'm proud Robert asked me to produce it. Just visit the site and find a rich and radical universe!

Charles Dickens' The Old Curiosity Shop tells the story of Nell Trent, a beautiful and virtuous young girl of 'not quite fourteen.' An orphan, she lives with her maternal grandfather in his shop of odds and ends. Her grandfather loves her dearly, and Nell does not complain, but she lives a lonely existence with almost no friends her own age. When I met the young and promising model Jessica, the idea came to me to put her in the role of a (somewhat older) Nell. So one afternoon, Jessica and I explored corners and searched behind cupboards in the charming CurieuzeNeuze curiosity shop in Veltem-Beisem, during our passionate quest for... beauty.

One of my most memorable fotoshoots ever was the one I did with Stefanie Rondelez for the book "Weg van Woorden". It required the painting of a "tattoo" snake on her back, so the make up artist Daisy Van Winkel had to use her painting talents for hours and hours, during which Stefanie stayed in a good mood by drinking Cava, listening to Lady Gaga and talking about her whereabouts. Taking the picture finally only took something like half an hour, but that only was the jewel on the crown: a hilarious afternoon with a bright young lady, Miss West-Vlaanderen 2004. Discover our newest collaboration, featuring the magnificent woodwork of the Gasthuiskapel of Aarschot, click here.

During the first warm weeks of this spring 2010, I had the most exclusive opportunity of photographing Barbara Lakhal in the Ghent "Miljoenenkwartier" featuring a few exquisite cars: Lagonda and Aston Martin. Barbara is Miss Sympathy and finalist of the "Misses Globe Belgium 2009" Contest. She's as beautifull as she's charming, and so were the cars. A few pieces from the Cindy Farrington Summer 2010 Collection  give the shoot an even more luxurious aspect, and finally the stylistic advices of Véronique Hoex, the operational help of Jonathan Roelants, the white wine of Dr. Cesteleyn and the eternal patience of his driver helped to make the shoot a huge succes!

"Ons heil, ons leven en onze verrijzenis"... that's what the inscriptions on the walls of the Gasthuiskapel in Aarschot say. The chapel was built in 1905 for the 'Grauwzusters' or Franciscan sisters that ran a hospital there from the 17th century on, and was designed by Pieter Langerock. The nine neogothic windows in stained glass were realised by Gustave Landon from Ghent. Now this chapel is the heavenly home of cultural events of all kinds, and recently of a lingerie photoshoot featuring Anna, a promising angel from the Netherlands.