Dirk Braeckman (1958) is one of the leading art photographers in Belgium. Initially he focused mainly on (self-)portraits, but later he chose universal, anonymous scenes of abandoned sites, empty spaces, parts of the body and enlarged surfaces of objects with vague contours as themes for his black-and-white photographs. Braeckman’s photographs are not staged. They are born of an inner necessity and in that way they form the record of fragments and moments from the visual diary of images of the artist. The direct attention to detail elevates the minuscule to cosmic dimensions. The images are neither eloquent nor abstract. The suggestiveness of the photographs lies in the ambiguity between strangeness and recognition.
The silver gelatine print Ball emphasises Braeckman’s attempt to combine painstakingly recording reality with his drive to abstract it to the full. The largely abstract surface of the ball occupies three-quarters of the picture, resting on an outspread hand. In all its colourless vagueness, it is an exceptionally sharp record that bears witness to craftsmanship and refinement.