DE KEYZER, Carl - Congo (Belge)

Background information

"For his extensive work 'Congo (Belge)', the Belgian Magnum photographer Carl KEYZER traveled numerous times to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African country that is synonymous with the ruthless exploitation of man and nature through colonialism. First of all, from the Belgian King Leopold Collected as 'private property', later taken over by Belgium as a colony, the country experienced for decades cruel excesses of economic profitability. The Belgian colonial power only withdrew from the country in 1959. The ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the violence against women and the neglect to use natural resources has drawn the attention of several photographers, from Marcus BLEASDALE to Richard MOSSE.

Content

For the 'Congo (Belge)' photo book, Carl De KEYZER takes a quieter approach and focuses on the ruins of colonial architecture and moments from everyday life: a couple in the Academy of Fine Arts, a child on their hands next to a UN -Truck running, and the cathedral of the diocese. Together with the accompanying book "Congo Belge en Images" - a selection of pictures from the colony, including some rarely shown from the era of King Leopold II - the work confronts the viewer with the harsh reality and the effects of colonialism. Carl de KEYZER embarks on a search for clues through dangerous terrain. While a war between rebels and the military is raging in the east, the stabilization of the country is hampered by an almost complete disintegration of the infrastructure, administration and economy as well as the plundering of the resource-rich eastern provinces. With the help of an old travel guide from 1958 (the year the photographer was born), Carl de KEYZER tracked down relics of an organizational structure that once served the Belgian colonial power to effectively exploit the country and its people. Even 50 years later, his large-format color pictures still contain original colonial mansions, administrative buildings, mission posts and schools, factories and prisons. The ruins of an infrastructure that he discovered are completely new regulations today. This creates strange relationships between architecture and people, which Carl de KEYZER condenses with his typical photographic handwriting into multi-layered, subtly humorous and often surreal scenes." (freely traslated, © Bernd Detsch)

About Belgian Magnum photographer, Carl de KEYZER (b.1958)

Photo books by and with contribution by Carl de KEYZER