Bittersweet

Monkey or dog, animals strange or familiar, Michel Vanden Eeckhoudt does not differentiate. He fixes a moment of meeting between two beings, so close, so different. Beyond the bizarre, beyond the comical nature that underscores without caricaturizing, there is a respect of the other, a tenderness, a humility in his photographs that charges them with rare emotion. Since he began looking through his Leica's viewfinder, he has created pure and elegant photographs marked by a constant sense of humour. This balance has allowed him to adopt a fair and playful distance from what is going on before his eyes. His resulting compositions are arranged with a steady eye while managing to transform real life moments into often mysterious images.

Michel Vanden Eeckhoudt (1947-2015) member of the Vu Agency since its founding in 1986. In solo, he has notably exhibited in the following places: Galerie Delpire (Paris), Galerie Vu (Paris), Galerie Camera Obscura (Paris), Box Galerie (Brussels), Leica Gallery (Tokyo and Solms), ICP (New York), Musée de l'Elysée (Lausanne), La Galerie du Théâtre (Gap), La Filature (Mulhouse), Musée de la Photographie (Charleroi), Le Botanique (Brussels), Centro Andaluz de la Fotografia (Almeria).

Michel Vanden Eeckhoudt was born in 1947 in Brussels; his father was a biologist and his mother a social worker. Member of the Vu Agency since its founding in 1986. He has published several books, e.g. Les Travaux et les Jours (1996), Chiens (1997), Photo Poche nr 110 (Actes Sud, 2006). In solo, he has notably exhibited internationally, e.g. Galerie Delpire, Paris, Galerie Vu, Paris, Galerie Camera Obscura, Paris, Leica Gallery, Tokyo and Solms, ICP New York.

Jean-Christophe Bailly, born in 1949 in Paris, where he lives. After having worked in publishing, he taught at various schools, notably the Ecole de Photographie of Arles. He began publishing in 1967 and is the author of numerous books, including The Animal Side (Fordham University Press, 2011) and Le parti pris des animaux (Bourgois, 2013).