Kim De Molenaer is a contemporary photographer based out Belgium & Greece. The artist captures his human subjects in moments of vulnerability, either staged or improvised, and places emphasis on the forms of the human body.

Characterised by structure, form and feeling his, mostly black & white, photographs are representing energy and movement within stillness, harmony and proportion. Mesmerised by the sunlit country with its extremely bright natural light ,De Molenaer’s photographs show a beautiful depth within their grey tones, caused by this intense lighting.

In a digital area Kim De Molenaer returns to the essence of Photography, using mainly analog cameras and analog techniques in Black & White prints which make his work unique & vibrant.

His photographs are a statement of true craftsmanship, he manages to handle the ‘tool’ – the analog camera – in such a way that his works are balanced, pure and highly enjoyable.

He often uses the various shades of the natural daylight in Athens and surroundings and places his models close to nature or sea. In his garden/outdoor studio models, dancers and athletes are coming and going to result in artworks filled with emotion, truth and an overall nostalgic feel of the 1950s and 1960s.

His intuitive understanding of the medium and its technology combined with an unrestricted, imaginative mind and relentless devotion to the art reveals an original insight to the human experience. His works have been showed in several galleries & art fairs in Belgium, The Netherlands, France, Germany & the U.S. Recently the historic L’avenirsite was showing 45 of his works during the exhibition “Archetypen I” and in 2019 some of his works were featured at the PAN Amsterdam art fair.

Kim De Molenaer currently lives and works in Athens & Antwerp.

Curriculum Vitae.

In your work, you tend to emphasise the forms of the body. What does it mean to you as a photographer and an artist the human body?

The human body inspires me all the time, it has endless possibilities, my inspiration also comes from the Greek beauty ideal.

Why do you research to capture the human subject and body in moments of vulnerability?

In moments of vulnerability the human subject is at its purest.

Would you like to tell us more about the technique you use?

I use many different cameras, every camera adds an extra style to a photograph, also i the aspect of "less is more" is very important, i dont work in studios with big settings an a team of 6 people, I mostly work with natural daylight and if needed a hair & make up artist.

What do you think it brings to your photography, to use analog cameras?

I like working in an old fashioned way, it gives an extra signature to the picture, i like the proces of developing the film, making contact sheets scanning..it's the opposite of the way we're living nowadays, everything has to go fast and has to be ready in a few clicks..

You normally take many of your series in Greece, have the covid been impacting this part of oyur work or have you been able to go there and create new series?

Covid had a serious impact on my work, in 2020 I didn't travelled at all to Greece. I couldn't make any plans for new work.

If not, have you been thinking from Antwerp, where you live of a new serie you would like to do once able to be out there and if so, could you tell us a bit more?

Since the situation due to COVID keeps on going, I started to photographing people who are close by here in Antwerp, also i'm thinking of making still lifes with natural elements from Greece , such as marble, mediterenean plants, leaves etc..