If you don’t have any plans for this week or next weekend yet, then you might be in for a last-minute visit to the Birth Day exhibition in Brussels, which I visited last month.
Before you head over there, I provide you with a little background info to the project (you can thank me later :)).
364,501 times a day, a new life is welcomed into this world. Each life has its own story and this exact story is what photographer, journalist and television producer Lieve Blancquaert is trying to search for in her documentary Birth Day.
Birth Day is a journey around the world, 14 locations to be exact, by Lieve Blancquaert, pursuing these stories and the answer to questions such as ‘what does it mean to be born in this particular place in the world?’.
It’s a captivating journey, which took Blancquaert two years to complete, visiting fourteen locations and taking over 50,000 photographs.
The series is available in three formats: a book, an exhibition and a tv series. The latter is broadcast on Belgian television and heading towards its final episodes, but there’s still time left (not much!) to visit the exhibition in Brussels. Next week, January 5th 2014, marks the final opening day of the exhibition which is open daily at the ING cultural centre.
If you can’t make it to the exhibition, than perhaps the book might suit you as well. I got a copy myself earlier this year and it’s stunning, with over 400 photographs in 14 locations and 14 accompanying powerful stories.
Birth Day exhibition
ING Cultural Centre
Koningsplein 6
Brussels
The Birth Day book is available for purchase in the Lannoo Shop
(images two to five used with kind permission by Lannoo)