CRITICAL DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHY Carl De Keyzer

The RPS Benelux Chapter INTERVIEW

Carl De Keyzer

"I want to question the images that are in our memory. There is always a double level in my work; what you see is true and at the same time not true"

© Book covers of GOD INC I and GOD INC II by Carl De Keyzer - 320 pages - 308mm x 258mm x 33mm - EAN 9789401470049

Carl De Keyzer (Ghent - Belgium, 1958)

studied photography at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp (Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten - KASK) and has been a full member of Magnum since 1994. His photo work is thematic and is often about colonialism, history, propaganda, power and religion.

Since the 1987 publication of the photo book India, I have followed Carl's photo work and in 2010 I visited the Congo exhibition in FoMu (Photo Museum) - Antwerp plus from time to time I buy a book of his photo work. For me a book is more tangible than a file on the computer as you can look at it more calmly and absorb the content much better than from a screen. Plus, websites are a bit more volatile in nature!

How do you look back on your photo work from India in 1987? What does this photo

work evoke in you? This is still some people's favourite book of mine. Perhaps because of the open-mindedness - a young backpacker with a camera who is looking for aesthetic images. That is still the benchmark for most

photography enthusiasts; sadly I would dare say. Yet this already contained the beginning of a concept, showing the expected clichés with a twist.

Then you made the series in the former Soviet Union and in the United States of America. Why the choice for both

unions? The USSR was a happy coincidence. For India I took the cheapest flight with Aeroflot and that is also how I ended up in Moscow. The world I saw there, for a moment, was enough to devote a book to it. The theme was quickly chosen after the fall of the wall. In the US, I chose a subject that I found special, namely religion in the land of the winners of the Cold War.

You made different books. They are narrative reports, often including multiple layers. Sometimes by connecting the foreground and background and then again through what is happening in the photo (which is different from the two layers you describe in your quote - see page 4). What do you pay attention to when you are out and

about? I always find the background first. If it is in place, you can continue to build. Then I see whether something special is happening in the foreground in relation to the chosen subject or concept. Often I start with one interesting topic compared to the background, then I add elements, paying close attention to having an element too much.

Last fall the photo book God Inc II was released. There are actually two photo books, because your photo work from God Inc I (1992) is also included here in the form of a tête-bêche design book. Why a second

book on this theme? God Inc I was 30 years ago and I like projects with two books (Congo, WWI, Climate, communism and now also religion in the US). The world and also the world of religion seemed to me to have changed enough. New technology, the same story that people sell but visually packaged differently. Propaganda in its various forms has always fascinated me because it is so visual and ideal for critical documentary photography.

What are the biggest differences, besides black and white and colour

photography? God I had the conservative 60s as a concept with Life magazine and the first great evangelists. God II is about fake news in Trump's time with the latest technology: mobile phones, GPS, internet, email, streaming. Hence the adoption of the font from World News Today (a newspaper with hilarious fake news). For me, religion is also fake news.

© Carl De Keyzer (GOD INC I) Daytona Beach - Florida - USA 1991 Bike Week 50th anniversary. Preacher with wooden cross on the beach highway. “Miss Harley Davidson contest” ad banner flying by.

Why is photographic research into religion

important to you? Power systems and propaganda have always fascinated me. Religion is the best example of this, especially in the US. The fact that more than half of the

world's population still believes that there is a God somewhere, I find is a very surreal thought that continues to inspire me visually. Especially in the US, they keep reinventing the wheel in that regard.

In an interview in "De Tijd" (A Belgian newspaper - 24 October 2020 - Thomas Peeters) you tell that during your trip in the churches you met just one Biden supporter. What did you notice most in Trump circles and how do we see that reflected in your

photo work? I think all the people I've photographed now were Trump fans. They are therefore very sensitive to such stories.

Your photo of a snake charmer is one of many striking images. What is the thought

behind the churchgoers? There is a sentence in the Bible that if you believe the snake will not bite you. Quod non. [“Which not.” Which it does not; a denial of the truth or persuasiveness of an assertion. Source: Oxford Reference].

What do you want to record for a follow-up

project? Nothing planned for the time being. These are difficult times for photographers with personal projects without support.

BOOKS

Carl made twenty photo books. If you are interested… Signed copies are available on his website. God Inc. I & II, is a fascinating documentary of American life that bundles both series of photographs. The first part God Inc I is supplemented with 27 photographs that were not published before.

© Carl De Keyzer (GOD INC II) Alabama - USA - 2019 The Rock House Holiness Church. Snake-handling church

© Carl De Keyzer (GOD INC II) Tampa - Florida - USA - 2019 Good Friday re-enactment at Lykes park. Organized by the First United Methodist Church Of Lutz

© Carl De Keyzer (GOD INC II) Clermont - Florida - USA - 2019 Jesus Movement Tent