Exhibitions

Born in 1962 in Brussels.
Lives and works in Poulseur (Belgium).
www.galerielereverbere.com

Thomas Chable is best known for his photos of Africa, his shots imprinted by the time of the black continent and in which we can perceive its languor and its suspension delicately reflected in images that are never greedy nor exotic but rather reflect the brotherly availability of the photographer, which can even be seen in projects that can be considered a priori more political in nature Les Brûleurs (The Burners), a feature-length documentary finished in 2001 on the people who cross the deserts in an effort to reach Europe, leaving behind them all emotional and identity ties). 

This same availability is found in a series of "private" photos which Thomas Chable has sorted, selected, revised and arranged to finally present at BIP2012 a novel aspect of his work reflected through the concentric circles of a couple, a family, a network of close friends, a distant fraternity ... And we realize that Thomas Chable photographs his close ones as he photographs Africa, and vice versa: with sobriety and momentum as an involved observer. How could it be otherwise, we may ask?  Yet it is not so simple... 

The project matured for almost a year. This is a confrontation other than that of a voyage: mixing images that were initially not meant to be shown and that were only reflections of daily routines, of opportunities to meet up, of small moments worth being photographed without really knowing exactly why.  However, familiarity does not deceive the eye in this series.  We find the usual balance, the same sense of composition, and the typical halo of restraint and generosity, which characterize the work of Thomas Chable in general. Simultaneously the same and different, this new series nevertheless displays a period different from that of Africa, a time of romantic and brotherly love lasting several years, and it pays a collusive and complicated tribute to the beauty of the moment more than to the event itself, seen right through to the silent landscapes, bursting with humanity while exuding a sweet melancholy.