My first encounter with (the Antwerp-based photographer) Jan Kempenaers was through 'COMPOSITE'. Which was an experience of immediate pleasure.

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The sense of isolation and desolation in these photographs is overwhelming. The monuments, once  revered or at least acknowledged, now stand as silent artifacts to the relentless idea of “time”. They exist, yet they don't - their presence is nearly spectral.

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But enhanced by the photographer's deliberate distance. This framing creates a heightened feeling of inaccessibility, leaving us as mere observers of these relics. This is particularly evident in Jan's photographs of historic war monuments. These monumental structures, set against mystique and nondescript landscapes, speak volumes of a neglected past.

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They're there but also not - like ghosts. Kempenaers’ photos don't have titles or places named. They focus on composition; leaving out the story or history behind them. Making your curiosity wander.

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“THE IMAGE NEVER INVITES THE VIEWER TO ENTER THE CONSTRUCTIONS, BUT KEEPS HIM AT BAY: HE’S THERE TO LOOK AT THEM, NOT TO VISIT THEM. OR, TO BE MORE PRECISE, WE’RE ASKED TO LOOK AT THEM, NOT TO LOOK UP TO THEM”. - Steven Humblet

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His way of mixing up parts of different photos makes things even more interesting. It's like he's playing with reality, and it leaves you trying to figure it all out, but never really getting it. In his series, such as SPOMENIKS, he plays with similar themes that provoke thought and introspection to ones' beliefs. He captures the SPOMENIKS in the misty mountain landscape at sundown. Looking at the images, we see these massive monumental sculptures that were once built in remembrance. But now we catch ourselves forgetting why they were built. Or for whom.

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The idea of things falling apart and not lasting forever shows up a lot in these photos. You see these monuments breaking down, which makes you think about how everything we make won't last. They were meant to be forever, but now they're just fading away with time. Themes of decay and transience are rampant in these works. The photographs, often showing the monuments in various states of ruin, serve as a poignant reminder of the inevitable fate of all human constructs. These structures, once striving for eternity, now face obsolescence, withering away due to the shifting sands of time and relevance.