5|6

"A Belgian businessman who had disappeared in the Russian metropolis of St. Petersburg on 6 April, has been found lifeless in a ditch. An investigation into manslaughter has been opened. This was announced on Saturday by the local antenna of the Research Committee.

The corpse of the 56-year-old Joseph Brice was found in a ditch next to the Rossija motorway, 500 meters from the town of Jam-Izjora, in the district of Tosno. According to the Committee, the corpse showed signs of a violent death.

A police source cited by the local media speaks of a death as a result of a skull trauma. According to that same source, the passport, money, a gold wedding ring and a Rolex watch were found near the body of Brice.

The businessman had arrived in St. Petersburg from the German city of Frankfurt for consultation with his Russian colleagues. He disappeared without trace on April 6 in unclear circumstances."

(Belga, 2012.04.28)

3 weeks after my father went missing, we received this information through the Belgian press.

My father died all alone in the night of April 6 2012 in Saint Petersburg, although because of the 2 hour difference in time, for me he died on the 5th of April.

Exactly 5 years after his death, I decided to meticulously remake his journey.

Where I was absent on his last day, I wanted to be as close as possible with him this time.

I wanted to walk in his trail, to sit where he sat, to see where his body had been dumped.

With my analogue point and shoot camera I clicked away those moments, and it felt so liberating.

The rush of traveling and being in transit turned into a slow and heavy atmosphere once I reached the place. I shot a few images on my camera obscura to let that place grow onto me and let it become a part of me too.

Then I buried all of the film rolls and took some samples of plants and sand.

3 weeks later, on the day that his body was found, I went back and dug up the films.

For 10 days I stayed in Saint Petersburg, I got the films developed, took some more samples and got to know the city I hated. On the day that his body was repatriated, I went back home, with a box full of films in my hands.

At the moment, I’m scanning and selecting images in order to make a book.

In my contactsheets I noticed there are a lot of double images, 2 clicks that only differ a second.

I will use those images to create a double chronological story. From A (home) to B (the place) and back to A, so that the book can also be read from back to front.

As here is no truth.

There is only my personal experience.

In undefined transit places such as roads, highways and airports, decorated with arrows, codes and routes to be followed, where masses of people pass each other, the loneliness prevails.

Despite this distance and the harshness of the facts, I just want to make something beautiful that is full of love.

I want to make an ode to my best friend. An ode to my dearest father.

Film maker Irina Popova followed me during the whole journey with her camera.

The total project will be a book, an exposition and a documentary about my journey.

In the book I will add an anthotypie (with sand and plants I collected) of the only image I have of the place. I will expose and develop the print, but won’t fix it. The viewer can choose to see the image briefly for a few seconds, or keep the image in the enveloppe and never see ‘the last image’.

The grant money would be wonderful financial injection for the production of the whole project. I hope you can see the potential of this project on my contactsheets...