honorable mention
Julien De Wilde belgium
title
The house of The Holy
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entry description
They live in a house completely holed. How is this house still standing? There is a place below the house where you are more or less protected in case of rain. Inside the house, we can’t stand straight, the roof is so down that you can’t stand up. When it rains, it rains everywhere in the house except above the bed. We must be careful what boards we walk on, because some will break. They dread the rain, because they do not know where to take refuge and also because when it rains, "Vien" can’t climb in the coconut trees, it is slippery and dangerous. That's how he earns a living. He climbs without any safety, barefoot, bare hands, more than fifteen meters high, to cut the coconuts. He risks his life for less than one euro. It's incomprehensible. How do people dare to send him to the top of the coconut trees, knowing that he is putting his life on the line for a coconut? Does their life have more value than "Vien"’s life ? Certainly not. "Vien" and his wife "Nee" have something unique that others do not have. They have faith, unconditional love and wisdom. They are bright. But sometimes they can’t smile. They are so poor and their house is so dilapidated that in the village some people do not dare talk to them, as if the poverty was contagious. One thing is certain: "Vien" and "Nee" do not know the material wealth, but they have opened some doors inaccessible to most of us.about the photographer
Julien De Wide was born in Belgium in 1976 and is a professional photographer since 1996. He received his first camera at age 10 and started photographing his skateboarders friends. At 16, he travels to Kurdistan and makes his first personal photographic report that will be exhibited in Brussels. After studying photography, he began his career as a fashion photographer for women's magazines such as Elle and Marie Claire. After meeting with Grand Master Ringu Tulku Rinpoche, Julien travels to India in Dharamsala. This is the beginning of a journey that will take him from Rishikesh to Bangkok where he lived for three years and did advertising photography for Nokia, Pepsi, Nike, among others. Now, Julien splits his time between Belgium and Thailand, working as a fashion and documentary photographer and as filmmaker. The search for truth and purity determines his work. The authenticity of emotions and intimacy with the people he photographs or films are at the center of his approach. Julien is extremely grateful to his mother and grandfather, both photographers.back to gallery