Over a period of one year, Jan Kempenaers photographed the woods in the Hobokense Polder, itself the result of a botched urban development project and a former dumping ground for excess soil and toxic waste. Located in a suburb of Antwerp, the area was transformed into a nature reserve two decades ago. It is a new, modern landscape, the result of human intervention left to its own “natural” growth. The book is composed in sections (archive, selection, details), repeating image sequences that progress in a tendency towards abstraction. An essay on landscape photography by Steven Humblet adds insight to the approach Kempenaers uses to tackle this complex subject. Thanks to Roma Publications (Amsterdam).
104 pages, 31 x 22 cm, hardcover, Roma Publications (Amsterdam).