The Liminal Spaces on Flanders Fields Exhibition Opened ...

A huge thank you to everyone who attended. You made the opening a night to remember ... to treasure really.

People have asked how they find the exhibition ... GPS's have trouble with the precise location of the Peace Village, so the address is Peace Village Messines, Nieuwkerkestraat 9, B-8957 Messines (Mesen in Nederlands). It's open Tuesday to Sunday each week - 9am till 5pm, until 28 February 2010.

There is also a routeplan on the website of the hostel hosting the exhibition - Messines Peace Village.

More news to follow in the days ahead.

The photograph ... still working in the hours before the opening.

Racing towards the Exhibition Opening ...

I arrived at the Peace Village here in Mesen at 8.30am, ready to finish the last of my framing and go over the accompanying texts.

Ice was blowing through the air at speed and it felt like I imagined the Artic tundra might feel... very cold and very white.

Finished by lunchtime, it's all about waiting for the technicians to finish with spotlighting and setting up so that I can hang my prints ready for tomorrow night's opening reception.

Suddenly the exhibition is so very close. I'll leave you with a photograph of New Zealand's previous Prime Minister, Helen Clark, arriving on Flanders Fields one foggy morning, accompanied by her husband and NZ's Ambassador to Belgium.
Tot straks from the Peace Village in Mesen.

Als je België binnenkomt... Coming into Belgium…

Als je in het noorden van Frankrijk op de juiste weg bent, en je komt België binnen, heb je vanop één van de heuvelruggen een mooi zicht op de “skyline” van het kleinstemstadje van België.

Deze foto werd genomen op een winterse ochtend net na zonsopgang. Het stadje lijkt zich te koesteren in de eerste zonnestralen. Ik ben al wel meer van dat prachtig uitzicht gaan genieten. Nu is het al rust en vree, maar ik kan me best voorstellen dat het hier ooit anders is geweest...

Voor deze foto gebruikte ik mijn Canon 40D met lens 24-70@70mm – f5,6 – 1/250 – ISO125

Travelling on the right road in the north of France, crossing the Belgian boarder. On one of the ridges there is this beautiful sight of the “skyline” of the smallest town in Belgium.

This photograph was taken on a wintery morning just after sunrise. The little town seems to bask in the early sun. I’ve been here several times before to enjoy this view. Now it is all quiet but I can imagine that it has been different in earlier days…

For this picture I used my Canon 40D with lens 24-70@70mm – f5,6 – 1/250 – ISO125

The Spectators

Sometimes, amidst the seriousness of the commemorations and ceremonies, there are the spectators who come to quietly peer over the fence ...

Een verhaal... A story...

Op Flanders Fields worden dagelijks ongetwijfeld honderden foto’s genomen. Het verwondert me steeds hoeveel mensen met fotocamera’s er een mooi beeld willen vastleggen. En achter elk van die foto’s schuilt er een verhaal. De foto wordt dan ook des te boeiender als je het verhaal erachter kent.

Ik vraag me af welk verhaal er schuilt achter het plaatsen van dit kruisje. Wat heeft iemand ertoe bewogen om dit kruisje te “planten” midden in een grasveld in een van de paviljoenen van Tyne Cot?

An awful lot of photographs are taken daily on Flanders Fields. It surprises me every time how many people, with all sorts of cameras, want to take a beautiful photograph. And behind every photograph is a story. The photograph becomes far more interesting if one knows the story behind it.

I wonder what story can be behind the placing of this little cross. What has moved somebody to “plant” it in the middle of a grass field in one of the pavilions of Tyne Cot?

90 Years on ...

And still families come from as far away as New Zealand to honour the soldiers who died on Flanders Fields 90 years ago ...

Here, Samuel Frickleton's New Zealand descendents carry the wreath in his honour.

The Mesen memorial to the New Zealand Victoria Cross winner, Samuel Frickleton, was inaugurated on the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Mesen. Frickleton’s actions played an important part in the success of the Battle, and saw him capture two German machine gun posts.