The event photographer is hungry

On Tuesday evening I covered a reception and dinner at the European Parliament for the European Ceramic Industry Association. There were 100 guests, 7 speeches, 4 courses and I took over 500 pictures in the space of nearly 4 hours.

As always, I met some extremely nice people, including Giuseppe from Bologna. We got talking, and it turned I out I that I had actually visited his tile factory in 1983.

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You might think that a European industry get-together would not be much fun. But if you enjoy photographing people as much as I do then it is a sheer delight to spend an entire evening with 100 willing subjects. As I got to know them, some posed, some fooled around and some played shy. Most simply ignored me. Meanwhile, I could take my time to stalk the room, picking my angles and my moments.

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I wasn't bored, but I certainly did get hungry. As the evening wore on, one of the waiters took pity on me and brought me some food and wine. I wanted to make a portrait of her but she said she didn't like photographs.

Walking around Brussels

When you walk around London or New York, and probably any other city of more than 5 million inhabitants, you feel as if you were shrouded in an invisibility cloak. As soon as you leave your own front door, you assume anonymity. When occasionally you do bump into a friend, you fling your arms round each other. "What are you doing here?" you both ask. "How small the world is!"

With a population of just over 1 million, Brussels is a big village. I started recognising faces on the street within a couple of weeks of arriving here in 2004. Now, I very rarely go out without meeting someone I know. Social, cultural, professional and local networks overlap and interconnect. Distances are short. Friends knock on one another's doors in the hope of a cup of coffee, but are not disappointed if there is no one at home.

I walk around the city a lot, and I always have a camera with me. I am not sure if the photographs I make count as street photography, which seems to have strict rules. I take pictures of people, but also of buildings, signs, street art, or anything else that catches my attention. Brussels is strong on whacky charm, so there is no shortage of subject matter.

Chaussée de Wavre, Matonge

Rue de la Concorde, Ixelles

You can find more of my street photographs here.

Muziekpublique

Muziekpublique organises a year-round series of 'world music' concerts in the centre of Brussels. Most take place in the Théâtre Molière, a small, traditional theatre hidden under an unpromising office block at Porte de Namur, just beside the Matonge district. Unusually, Muziekpublique is an entirely bilingual (Dutch/French) organisation. Perhaps for this reason it seems to embody what I think of as Brussels' real character – open and welcoming.

It is an enormous privilege to be able to meet and photograph top artists from around the world. When I can, I arrive at the theatre early enough to shoot during the sound check as well as at the concert itself. This enables me to get up on stage and work close to the musicians, with a much wider choice of angles. During the concert itself, I'm limited to the sides of the stage at the front of the auditorium, the balcony above, and the wings. 

I've created a gallery of some of my favourite photos from live performances – many of them taken at Muziekpublique concerts. Take a look.