Chance Encounter: Q&A with Bieke Depoorter, for Aesthetica
Agata, Paris, France, November 2, 2017 (c) Bieke Deportera
Bieke Depoorter’s (b. 1984) breakthrough project Ou Menya saw her traveling the Trans Siberian railway, staying the night with strangers met along the way. Chance meetings and random encounters have proved pivotal to the Belgian visual artist’s practice ever since, resulting in series such as Agata, an artistic collaboration and friendship spanning more than four years. Her images explore questions surrounding the authenticity of photography, blurring the traditional boundaries of “artist” and “subject”. Now a Magnum Photos member, with a solo show open at at C/O Berlin, Depoorter talks to Aesthetica about her curiosity – revealing how her interest in others is as much about herself as it is those in the frame.
A: The show’s title, A Chance Encounter, reflects the way that the two series on show, Agata and Michael, began. Can you tell us about the meetings that initiated each project?
BD: I was in Paris in 2017 for a project by Magnum. It wasn’t the best time, I had just broken up with my boyfriend and I was doubting everything, including photography. I was walking around at night with my camera in my backpack and I got talking to this bouncer of a strip bar. He invited me back there the next night. There I met Agata Kay, who was a stripper at the time. It was her 24th birthday and we celebrated together. We really connected, talking about photography, love, all kinds of things. The following day I went to photograph her at home and that’s the pink portrait on the cover of the book. I discovered she had so many different faces. I wanted to photograph her one way, she wanted me to photograph her another way. It became a very interesting dynamic. We agreed I would keep photographing her but she would choose the locations. Immediately it was collaborative. I thought this would last a week but then she invited me to Athens where she was performing and we started traveling together.
Bieke Depoorter: A Chance Encounter runs until 9 September at C /O Berlin. co-berlin.org | biekedepoorter.com