Over the past few years, I’ve had the chance to photograph models, clients, and creative collaborators against some of Ghent’s most iconic backdrops — from the quiet symmetry of cobbled alleyways to the grand theatricality of Gravensteen Castle. Whether I’m working on a fashion editorial or a romantic couple shoot, my goal is always to create something timeless, with a sense of narrative that feels both grounded and cinematic.

In his essay “In Praise of Cosmetics” the 19th-century poet Charles Baudelaire likened makeup, jewelry, and fashion to spiritual tools — ways of achieving transcendence through natural materials: powder, metal, fabric. Whereas Baudelaire’s engagement with fashion celebrated the escape from nature through ornament, eco-fashion photography — as I practice it — seeks a return to nature through these very tools. In juxtaposing styled models with animals in the wild, I explore how the contrast between artifice and instinct creates an unexpected resonance, with fashion models and wildlife speaking a shared aesthetic and symbolic language.

In a departure from traditional men’s fashion styling—you know, the abs and square jaw line in high contrast black and white—, we sought to create a bit more versatility and fluidity in the styling and the makeup, which was not only more interesting for the creative team, but also allowed the models more freedom of expression.

I have long admired with Alejandro Jodorowsky’s El Topo: a cult film about a gunslinger who feels like an Old-Testament Moses figure both doling out and undergoing the wrath of God. Needless to say, this isn’t your average Western. So when the opportunity arose to assemble my own team of “spiritual warriors,” I felt inspired to shoot a fashion editorial with a slight nod to Jodorowsky’s gunslinging psychodrama.

When I saw the comp card of model Lilli Clewing sent to me by her Vienna-based modeling agency Tempo Models, I knew I had to work with her. Her modern yet classic features prompted the idea for an elegant, timeless concept for which I knew my talented makeup artist perfect.

When I had the opportunity to work with model Jacquess at No Babes Agency, my wonderful makeup artist Vlad Thiriaux and myself were seduced into an experimental, avant-garde beauty shoot that would combine handmade wigs and bold 80s style makeup.

This beauty editorial for Falcon Magazine traces a visual evolution — from soft, minimalist beauty to something more surreal and emotionally raw. Created in collaboration with model Tanya Tseng and makeup artist Sarah Lumea, these fashion looks play with water and gloss as metaphors for transformation and inner upheaval. This shoot began as a study in elegance and ended somewhere closer to myth. .

When I first saw twin models Syl & Tybe Hendrickx I immediately became enthusiastic to work out a fashion editorial with them, as they had high fashion written all over them in my view. They are signed with No Babes Agency, a Belgian non-profit that questions taboos around beauty ideals, seeking to add diversity to the fashion industry by sharing the raw story of real people and showing that it is okay to be vulnerable in our differences.

Every fashion shoot feels a bit like a magic ritual in that the whole team collaborates to create something ex nihilo. Containing the synergies of everyone involved, the final product reflects this combined effort, and after 6-8 hours of being in the process of shooting and creating, it feels like the whole team is transformed: an alchemical process, if you will.

When I had the idea to do a fashion editorial in a hotel, I knew I wanted a quirky place that would match the vibe of the slightly bohemian wardrobe styling I had in mind. After researching a number of hotels, I had a feeling that Hotel Urania, a family-owned hotel in near Vienna’s old center, would be the perfect location.

So many articles have been written about testing with agency models that, well… all I can say is, IT’S WONDERFUL! Especially if you are just venturing into the field of fashion photography and shooting with professional models, working with modeling agencies will push you further into creating your own photographic style and sculpting those portfolio images for eventual commercial work.

When I cast model Elisabeth Charlotte Monstrey to test a few concepts for a studio shoot, I was excited to develop some new looks in collaboration with the very talented makeup artist Laora Casic. What I didn't expect, however, is that, paired with Elisabeth’s features and my choice of studio lighting, we would obtain a painterly look reminiscent of Albrecht Dürer, a touch of Boticelli, and the Flemish Masters I grew up with in my hometown of Ghent, Belgium.

I had been wanting to do a maternity shoot for a while, and I had been wanting to work with model Camille Nedelec for a while as well. So when I found out that Camille was pregnant (highly pregnant indeed, with the baby due only 3 weeks after our photoshoot), I seized the opportunity to create a pregnancy shoot with a fashion vibe.

When venturing through the streets of Brussels, you can expect the unexpected. Though Brussels tries hard to be like the Paris of Belgium, I would say Brussels is more like a Belgian New York: dirty subways, angry pigeons, and people on the go. For these reasons, I wanted this fashion series to reflect some of the contrasts that make up our capital: mobile yet static, old and new, posh and hip, nestled within the heart of Europe and at the same time incredibly diverse.