I Believe | The World in a Suburb
What is it like, living in a super diverse migrant district? And what do those living there have to say on today’s hot topics?
With these two questions in mind, Maastricht photographer HJ Hunter started working in Liege neighbourhood Bressoux, three years ago. Since then, a team of 10 professionals has committed to working on this project.
‘I Believe | The World in a Suburb’ makes life in a multicultural and multi religious neighbourhood visible and tangible. Visitors of the exhibition get to know inhabitants from different cultures through photo series and short movies, and enter worlds that usually remain closed to outsiders.
The inhabitants portrayed share their life stories and provide an insight into their believes regarding current social issues: migration, racism, nationalism, integration, radicalisation, the position of migrant women, religion, and living together with other cultures in one’s direct environment.
Both the photo-exhibition texts and the films are translated into English.
To put the topics in a broader culture historical perspective and to promote dialoge, March 2019 will see the start of a public programme organised by Centre Ceramique, Studium Generale and the Sphinx Debate Centre.
We tell stories that matter
Visto Studio is a non commercial networking organisation of photographers, film producers, musicians, designers and translators. We create interactive visual stories. Each production is autonomous, and is told from an independant journalistic position.
It is a shared interest in today’s topics that binds us. We want to tell stories that go beyond the basics. Stories that matter. That are relevant to people of all ages and backgrounds.
This results in artistic, journalistic documentaries. They will be shown on the Internet, in a museum or a cultural institution. Or in a book.
Our creative team
Travel through
the world
in a suburb
I Believe | The world in a suburb
What is it like, living in a super diverse migrant district? And what do those living there have to say on today’s hot topics?
With these two questions in mind, Maastricht photographer HJ Hunter started working in Liege neighbourhood Bressoux, three years ago. Since then, a team of 10 professionals has committed to working on this project.
‘I Believe | The World in a Suburb’ makes life in a multicultural and multi religious neighbourhood visible and tangible. Visitors of the exhibition get to know inhabitants from different cultures through photo series and short movies, and enter worlds that usually remain closed to outsiders.
The inhabitants portrayed share their life stories and provide an insight into their believes regarding current social issues: migration, racism, nationalism, integration, radicalisation, the position of migrant women, religion, and living together with other cultures in one’s direct environment.
Both the photo-exhibition texts and the films are translated into English.
To put the topics in a broader culture historical perspective and to promote dialoge, March 2019 will see the start of a public programme organised by Centre Ceramique, Studium Generale and the Sphinx Debate Centre.
We tell stories that matter
Visto Studio is a non commercial networking organisation of photographers, film producers, musicians, designers and translators. We create interactive visual stories. Each production is autonomous, and is told from an independant journalistic position.
It is a shared interest in today’s topics that binds us. We want to tell stories that go beyond the basics. Stories that matter. That are relevant to people of all ages and backgrounds. This results in artistic, journalistic documentaries.
OUR CREATIVE TEAM
Lisa Artois
translator
Graduated in 2017 magna cum laude as a Master of Arts at Ghent University for translating Dutch, English and French. She is also learning Korean and Vietnamese and is mainly occupied with translations in tourism and the cultural atmosphere.
Nico Bastens
documentary photographer and film producer
Studied at the Dutch Photography Academy, graduated cum laude from Amsterdam Photo Academy. Won two awards in 2012 at the Photo Academy Awards and came in third at De Zilveren Camera. His artwork has been published in Dutch photography books New Photography 2013 and Selection of Dutch Photography 2014. Publishes in De Limburger and De Volkskrant. Exhibits his work both domestically and abroad. Travelled to Armenia several times to do photography for a charity organisation. This resulted in a multimedia project.
Maggie de Bruin
technical leadcomponist and musician
Songwriter and singer in Amsterdam band ‘Magge & The Jarr’. Created the 2017 movie clip Resurrection [link naar clip Resurrection] about the Venezuelan uprising. Maggie is co-owner of Frameworkproductions, did the audio mixing and mastering (amongst others) of the Care project of H&M to strengthen the position of women in developing countries.
HJ Hunter
documentary photographer, film producer and writer
Completed the four year Master degree in Photography at Forum BEELDtaal. Published in photography books and international photography magazines (print and online). Exhibited his work at a gallery, in Centre Ceramique and In the Dutch Photo Museum in Rotterdam. Published several (journalistic) articles and books.
Sytske de Jong
translator
Studied at the College of Interpreters and Translators, is ‘native speaker’ in Dutch and French and has her own translation agency Latourdebodegraven.nl. She translated the novel Thérèse by François Mauriac, provides language courses and is language coach for Vluchtelingenwerk (refugee assistance association).
Lode de Roos
musician and sound engineer
Studied at the Conservatory (Jazz and world music), is an allround musician, composer and co-owner of Frameworkproductions. Was responsible for the audio of several songs by different artists (Ali B) and groups (Wild Romance, Maggie & The Jar). Took care of recording, mixing and mastering two of The Secret’s albums: Magnolia and Final Desire. Did the audio mixing and mastering of the Care project of H&M to strengthen the position of women in developing countries, together with Maggie.
Bram Rusman
cameraman and editor
He studied Multi Media Design in Eindhoven. During his internship with T36 Media, he became interested in camera work. After being on a pay roll for 16 years, he is now a freelance camera man/editor and Motion Design is his second love.
Paul Salemink
photographer
Graduated cum laude from the Royal Dutch Photography Academy and studied Photography at the Royal Dutch Academy of Fine Arts in The Hague. Worked as an allround photographer at different photography studios. Specialised as a freelancer in documentary, advertisement, interior and portrait photography. Publications in magazines and books. Exhibited his work both domestically and abroad.
Maaike de Wijs
translator
Graduated in sinology from Leiden University. Through her company Cultural Diamond, she provides translation services and workshops. She is also an editor for two magazines, China Nu and Linguaan. In her spare time, she likes to play the bassoon and guzheng (Chinese zither).
Paul van der Veer
graphic designer, illustrator and photographer
After living in Singapore for a period of eleven years, working for design agencies Epigram and Equus, he returned to Maastricht and worked 7.5 years for Zuiderlicht. Afterwards, he established Beeldplus, and followed a three year program in digital photography in Hasselt. His Singapore experiences converged in his photo book “Chinese street opera in Singapore,” which resulted in several exhibitions (Het Domein Museum in Sittard, amongst others).
Iñigo Viu Huguet
sound engineer and editor
Graduated in sound engineering at SAE Amsterdam and specialized in sound restoring, color grading and video editing. He loves photography and has an inherited passion for art, music and history in general.
