Vincen Beeckman (Brussels,1973)
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Represented by Jacques Cerami Gallery, Charleroi, BE

For Vincen Beeckman (b. 1973), collaboration is central. The photographer eschews the one-way photographer-subject relationship that defines so many photographic practices. Instead, he largely collaborates with marginalised and vulnerable individuals and provides visibility for communities otherwise unacknowledged.

Take Cracks (2020), a long-term project Beeckman began in 2014 in Brussels, Belgium, where he was born and still lives today. For this, Beeckman collaborated with a community of homeless individuals around Brussels’ Central Station. Facilitated by the alternative cultural centre Recyclart (and later published as a book by Void), where Beeckman previously worked, Cracks saw the photographer providing the community with disposable cameras. Instead of attempting to embed, he invited them to picture themselves, and the result is an unmediated record of their lives. The images are candid: documents of the exchanges between Beeckman and the community. And the connections between the homeless individuals themselves.

Beeckman's creative approach is intense. The people on whom his projects centre are not subjects. Instead, they become long-term collaborators and friends. However, for a fortnight each year, Beeckman resets. He flies to the US and road trips across it. The images he creates are different, focused on landscapes, and devoid of human subjects. He also photographs mini-golf courses — a hobby to which he is devoted.

Joy and lightness run through Beeckman's practice despite the challenging subjects he tackles. For instance, in his series Les Intimes (2014-ongoing), Beeckman photographed the Ansquer family: single-mother Marylène and her five children. He spent years capturing their daily lives in the former industrial town of Mons, Belgium. In reality, the family was struggling. But, Beeckman’s images hone in on their strength and vitality. Likewise, in La Devinière (2013-ongoing), the photographer collaborated with a historically ostracised group, allowing them to take ownership of their image. In 1956, La Devinière, occupying a farm bordering Farciennes and Fleurus in Belgium, was established to care for 19 young individuals experiencing mental health issues, many of whom remain today. The photographer visited the residence over several years. He worked alongside the residents to create an expressive and celebratory document of their otherwise marginalised lives.

The photographer’s work does not slip easily into a photographic genre. It is a constellation of many. Perhaps this is because Beeckman is a multi-faceted creative: an artist, a curator, and an educator. For instance, between 2014 and 2020, he organised the extra Fort evenings at Recyclart, collectively inviting hundreds of speakers to talk about photography across half a decade of themed evenings. And he also established the Fusée de la Motographie, a travelling museum of Belgian photography composed of 100 wooden boxes, each representing a different practitioner. Indeed, Beeckman is committed to facilitating exchanges and fostering creative communities in every element of his practice.


Hannah Abel-Hirsch, 2021.

selected solo shows

2026(Forthcoming), Stedelijk Museum, breda, nl
2026(Forthcoming), image master of brussels (2022-2024), brussels, BE
2025(Forthcoming), invisible cowboy,l'enfant sauvage, brussels, BE
2025(Forthcoming), Wittockiana Museum, brussels, BE
2025(Forthcoming), chinese restaurant, ic visual lab, bristol, uk
2025chinese restaurant, Red star museum of immigration, antwerp, be
2024Partout ailleurs on dirait marseille, show/performance, ateliers jeanne barret, marseille, fr
2024mercurchrome, urochrome, brussels, be
2023la bonaventure, eglise sainte-madeleine, institut pour la photographie, lille, FR
2023Ping Pong, FotoMuseum, Antwerp, BE
2023anneessens, la conserverie, metz, FR
2022si tu n'viens pas j'te scalpe, Arts et marges museum, Brussels, BE
2022vevey minigolf club, Images Vevey festival, vevey, ch
2022teen spirit, Espace Jörg Brockmann, geneva, ch
2022on veut des zèbres pas des chèvres, Le Vecteur, Charleroi, BE
2022Les cracks & Vincen Beeckman, Folkwang Museum, Essen, de
2021Espinho, encontros da imagem festival, braga, pt
2021Arts20+1 Vincen Beeckman, Woluminigolf (Wolubilis), Brussels, be
2020Partout ailleurs on dirait Marseille, ZEF, Manifesta Marseille, FR
2020Splendid, Vooruit Kunstencentrum, Ghent, BE
2019Claude et Lilly, Cerami gallery, Charleroi, BE
2019Histoires Belges, ZEF, Photo Festival Marseille, FR
2019Local Fototek Foundation, Recyclart, Brussels, BE
2018Espinho, Tique Art Space, Antwerp, BE
2018Je pense que vous êtes plusieurs, Le Château d’Eau, Toulouse, FR
2018Resto chinois (Part II), Eté 78 gallery, Brussels, BE
2018A Castle Made of Sand, Fondation A Stichting, Brussels, BE

selected group shows

2025Novê salm (avec la s grand atelier), BPS22, charleroi, be
2025OUEST. Urban Legend, Bozar, brussels, be
2025pour gaza, les chiroux, liège, be
2025Au Pluriel, biennale de photographie en condroz, vyle-tharoul, be
2024Next generation please!, Bozar, brussels, be
2023ectoplasmes, ateliers jeanne barret, marseille, fr
2022Teen Spirit, BPS22, Charleroi, BE
2022fictions modestes & réalités augmentées, MUSÉE INTERNATIONAL DES ARTS MODESTES, sète, FR
2022von menschen und raümen, ST WENDEL MUSEUM, sankt wendel, DE
2021Bruxelles Universelle – Multupli.city, Centrale For Contemporary Art, Brussels, BE
2019Amour, No’Photo, Geneva Photography biennial, CH
2019The invisible Cowboy, Le Hangar, Brussels Photo Festival, BE
2018Dry and Spicy, A Galerie, (with Alex Webb), Brussels, BE

selected books

2025Castle made of sand, as part of Image Master with the support of VGC, be
2025Marseille, selfpublished, be
2025napoli, selfpublished, be
2024Route510 Chambre06, published by Macaroni book with the support of la centrale & la ville de Bruxelles, be
2023pong ping, published by FotoMuseum Antwerp
2022jump the wall, published by Photo Elysee
2022la devinière - si tu ne viens pas je te scalpe -, published by delpire & co
2022on veut des zèbres pas des chèvres (with Nicolas Polli), published by Ciao Press
2022teen Spirit, published by BPS22/ICVL Studio
2021birds of a feather opstap, published by APE
2021espinho, published by intimate structure
2021Les éternels (with Nicolas Polli), published by Ciao Press
2020Cracks, published by VOID
2020Le petit Rempart, published by Macaroni Books
2020Filip Anneessens, published by Recyclart
2019Claude et Lilly, published by APE

public space exhibitions

2026(forthcoming) De Parade, show/performance during Carnaval, organized by Stedelijk Museum Breda, nl
2025(Forthcoming) Podcast "outsider" kanal pompidou + Kiosk radio, brussels, be
2021Pikuur, (Solo show curated by Centrale for Contemporary Art), Saint-Pierre Hospital, Brussels, BE
2021Kiel, Fotomuseum Antwerp, BE
2007Metro Station Anneessens, Brussels, BE

awards, grants and residencies

2025maison culturelle, quaregnon, be (residency)
2025bridderhaus, Esch-sur-Alzette, lu (residency with clementine davin)
2025Biennale de photographie en condroz, photographic mission (collectif les beeckman's), be (residency)
2023Ateliers Jeanne Barret "Viens je t’emmène où les nuages tristes vont s’amuser" (Residency)
2022Prix Elysée 2022-2024 (selected nominee)
2021Grand Prix Image Vevey (Shortlisted)
2020Bourse Futur pour la Culture, Fédération Wallonie Bruxelles (Grant)
2018Platform Project, Fotomuseum Winterthur, CH (Selected Artist and final nominee)

collections

Centre de la Photographie de genève, ch
Folkwang Museum, Essen, de
Foto Museum, Antwerp, be
Fondation A Stichting, Brussels, be
Le Château d'Eau, toulouse, fr
Eté 78, Brussels, be
Musées des beaux arts de charleroi, be
Parlement de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, be
banque nationale, be
Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, be
La Space collection, Liège, be
private collections

Masterclass, talks and others

2025Masterclass, Summer Camp Photography, ISSP Festival, Riga, LV
2025Masterclass, Breedbeeld, alost, be
2024Masterclass, organized by Delegation of the European Union to Algeria, Mostaganem, dz
2024Talk, fotofort, la nombreuse, brussels, be
2023Talk, fotodok booktalks, with magnum photographer susan meiselas, utrecht, nl
2023Masterclass, Mentor mentor, ghent, be
2022talk, artists talks by the eye, Paris Photo, fr
2002 - 2020Visual Arts artistic Director, Educational Facilitator, Recyclart, Brussels, BE
2020Eating manifesto, “A dinner with Franky and Johnny”, Recyclart, Brussels, BE
2014 - 2020Extra Fort (series of photography - themed evenings - invitation of 240 photographers / editors / curators)
Recyclart, Tipi Bookshop, Pinguin Space Project, Botanique, CFC, Brussels, BE
2014 - 2020Fusée de la Motographie (Travelling Photography Museum) – Founder and performer
Fotofestiwal Lodz Pologne, CNA Luxembourg, C/O Berlin, Le Bal Paris, FOtoMUseum Antwerpen, Wiels
2019Performance show with Marie Papazoglou “Soirée Belge”
Rencontres de la Photographie, Temple Arles Books, Arles, FR
2019Workshops, Summer Camp Photography, ISSP Festival, Riga, LV
2007 - 2015“Fotomaton” (Moving Human Photobooth – 14000 pictures collected), Brussels, BE
2010 - 2013“Bewoner van de Maand”, Participative project in collaboration with Netwerk, Aalst, BE