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Stephan Vanfleteren

@stephanvanfleteren

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Represented by Atelier Stephan Vanfleteren // [email protected]

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The Tide Will Bring You Home

The Tide Will Bring You Home is a black-and-white film directed by Basile Rabaey. For two years, the filmmaker closely followed photographer Stephan Vanfleteren, witnessing how the sea deeply took root within him. Rabaey accompanied him through the calmness of a still water surface, the rolling waves at night, and the force of a powerful swell. This film is not about the sea itself, but about the obsessive relationship between a photographer and that element. It tells the honest story of a man seeking to understand the landscape and to represent all the facets of the sea, while knowing the mystery will never be fully solved. The result is a poetic and compelling portrait of a man engaged with the landscape, marked by his hesitations, attachment, and passion for the moving water; wading, drifting, struggling amid his constant companions of the shore: danger, solitude, melancholy, darkness, and euphoria.

Digital video
Black and white
29’21”

Production: @czar.be
Director, cinematographer & editor: @basilerabaey
Sound & music: @hielehiele & @sarahdavachi
Colorgrading: @wannesvanspauwen
Cast: @stephanvanfleteren & @hofmannatacha

The Tide Will Bring You Home is on view in Het Scheepvaartmuseum, Amsterdam until the 4th of April 2027 by @stephanvanfleteren

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3 days ago

Wannes Cappelle, Belgian singer song writer, 2026 ©️Stephan Vanfleteren

‘Af en toe moet je weer eens niemand mogen worden’ - Wannes Cappelle.

Nice interview with Guinevere Claeys // De Standaard Weekblad - 03/10/2026
@cappellewannes @wannes.cappelle

@destandaard @guinevereclaeys #portrait #stephanvanfleteren #wannescappelle #musician #singersongwriter by @stephanvanfleteren

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15 days ago

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a month ago

Jelle Denturck, Belgian singer-songwriter, 2026©️Stephan Vanfleteren

DRESSED LIKE BOYS is a solo music project of singer-songwriter Jelle Denturck. Jelle is based in Ghent, Belgium.
Portrait for DS Weekblad. Beautiful interview by Guinevere Claeys. @dressedlikeboys
@guinevereclaeys @jelle_denturck

#indiepopfolk #portraitphotography #stephanvanfleteren #dressedlikeboys by @stephanvanfleteren

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a month ago

The sea never makes a fuss. You don’t have to explain yourself or be polite. What does she care what you think of her or what you make of her. When you come or where you enter her. I capture, interpret, sublimate, abstract. I show everything, I show nothing.’ — Stephan Vanfleteren

In Transcripts of a Sea, photographer Stephan Vanfleteren shares the enchantment that has driven him to the sea over the past five years. He analyses the sea, in all her various shapes and ever-changing light, with an obsession bordering on the dangerous, and with a fluid longing.

Stormy, mirror-like, misty, thunderous, the surface deceptively calm or like a wildly-thumping washing-machine drum: the photographer does not observe it from the beach or from a boat but opts for a wet confrontation by literally immersing himself in the sea.

Come and see ‘Transcripts of a Sea’ exhibition in Amsterdam from 10/10/2026 until April 2027. @hetscheepvaartmuseum / The Maritime Museum Amsterdam

#transcriptsofasea #stephanvanfleteren #exhibition #Amsterdam #photography

📷Exhibition in 2025-2026 MSK-Ghent by @stephanvanfleteren

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a month ago

🌊 Vanaf 10 oktober | Stephan Vanfleteren - Transcripts of a Sea toont de betovering van de gerenommeerde Vlaamse fotograaf, die hem de afgelopen vijf jaar letterlijk de zee in dreef. In verrassende beelden zie je de zee in diverse gedaanten: van gladde waterspiegels en vluchtige mistbeelden tot onweerachtige dreigingen en een verraderlijk rustige zee.

Bekijk de fotografietentoonstelling 10 oktober 2026 t/m 4 april 2027. Meer informatie via de link in bio.

Fragment uit The Tide Will Bring You Home @basilerabaey taken in Het Scheepvaartmuseum by @stephanvanfleteren

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a month ago

Dear Jean-François, As a young press photographer, the ‘Visa pour l’Image’- festival had an enormous impact on me. It was the pinnacle of photojournalism, where we gathered in Perpignan to inspire one another, and forge bonds of camaraderie. It gave us strength, courage, and the drive to keep plugging away at our solitary profession in this harsh world.
And on the festival’s throne sat a king named Jean-François Leroy. Or so it seemed.
It wasn’t until years later that I got to know you better as an approachable and sensitive man.
You remained a driving force behind ‘Visa pour L’image’ with your compelling vision of the necessity of photojournalism.
The more I, as a photographer, ventured down different paths, drifting away from photojournalism, the better we got to know each other. There was always mutual respect, even when we didn’t always see agree.
Jean-François, I will miss our conversations and especially our text messages. When you fell ill, I promised myself that every time I thought of you, I would send you a text message, always ending with the last three words: ‘I love you’.
Today, I scrolled through our messages again. On February 20, 2026, I wrote: “You can use my portrait on your obituary, on one condition: that you’d live another 10 years.”
JF you broke your promise. You fell short by 9 years and 189 days.
The inevitable happened this morning.
You certainly have a way with timing—passing away right in the middle of your own festival.
You’ve done so much for photojournalists. You’ve honored photographers—young, old, or deceased—by showcasing their work.
We, in turn, will honor you. Your passing is as irrevocable as a still image. There’s no going back, but we can always look back. And we will see you. You were one of the hardest people to photograph. Impatient and restless. Portrait photography wasn’t really your thing. But I’m so glad I was able to freeze time for a moment and capture you in front of my lens.

Have a safe journey, JF
There are good people waiting for you over there.
We’ll be joining you a little later. Our visa application is still pending.

Jean-François Leroy ©️Stephan Vanfleteren

@visapourlimage #perpignan by @stephanvanfleteren

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2 months ago

Exhibition: Close to Léon Spilliaert. Dialogue with contemporary art.

It’s an honour to exhibit with Michaël Borremans, Berlinde De Bruyckere, Dirk Braeckman, Luc Tuymans, Thierry De Cordier, Hans Op de Beeck, Antony Gormley, …

Curated by Anne Adriaens-Pannier & Eddy Verloes

From 28/08/2026 until 26/09/2026. Open on Wednesday to Saturday 11-18 h.
Native, Rue Américaine 26-28, 1060 Brussels.

Welcome!

#leonspilliaert #art #contemporaryart #brussels taken in Elsene / Ixelles by @stephanvanfleteren

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2 months ago

Sometimes it is hard to believe that someone is no longer with us. Today was one of those days.

Rarely have I had the privilege of photographing someone so generous. That beautiful gaze in his grey-blue eyes, his boundless patience, his wavy grey hair, and his skin, where the light seemed to settle before fading away.

Beyond his musical talent, his greatest quality was his compassion for others.

Today, Ireland lost not only a cultural icon but also a truly good man—someone for whom the word “gentle” might well have been invented.

Glen Hansard, forever in my heart.
©️Stephan Vanfleteren

@glenhansard #rip #portrait #stephanvanfleteren #willbemissed #sadday by @stephanvanfleteren

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3 months ago

It's all in the details 😍 Have you noticed the see-through pages in Pentimenti?

They're a nod to the correspondence between @mauritshuis_museum director Martine Gosselink and photographer @stephanvanfleteren throughout the creative process for the exhibition, where they discuss the hidden messages and histories behind the paintings, everything that lies beneath the surface of the paint, and more.

Plus, for those who remember: the paper is a throwback to the wafer-thin airmail paper used for intercontinental mail back in the day 📬

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At Hannibal Books we are absolutely in love with the art of making books and creating beautiful publications that last forever. Every week this summer, we'll be sharing some of the precious details that give our books that special Hannibal touch 🐘

#hannibalbooks #artbooks #photographybooks #theartofbookmaking by @stephanvanfleteren

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3 months ago

Hot in the city. Time for a swim! 💦
©️Stephan Vanfleteren
#water #climate #stephanvanfleteren #sea #feet by @stephanvanfleteren

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4 months ago

Almost ten years ago, in 2016-2017 I set out to photograph surfers—not just the icons and legends, but the people and communities living between land and sea.

Today, I’m deeply grateful that SURF TRIBE has reached its 10th print run.

A book about the ocean, passion, identity, and the people who dedicate their lives to the waves.

This series of images embraced the love for the water, the addiction to the waves, the passion for the surf.
With more than 300 portraits of, among others, Kelly Slater, Gerry Lopez, John John Florence, Laird Hamilton, Bethany Hamilton, Greg Noll, Stephanie Gilmore, Mick Fanning, Joel Parkinson, Mickey Munoz, Filipe Toledo and Tom Carroll.
With a preface by surf legend Gerry Lopez.

Thank you to everyone who continues to keep this story alive.

SURF TRIBE - STEPHAN VANFLETEREN
Published by @hannibalbooks
#stephanvanfleteren
#surftribe
#women
#photography
#surf by @stephanvanfleteren

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4 months ago