In The Valley, Flowers Remain

For over thirty years Patrick has lived in De Vallei, 'The Valley', a long term psychiatric ward in the Belgian countryside. He walks the woods behind the ward and since 2024, I walk with him.

De Vallei, Dutch for The Valley, is home to 38 people living with chronic psychosis and schizophrenia. Most residents spend their entire adult lives here, carried by slowness, repetition and care. I did not come as a psychologist, not for diagnoses or treatment. I came to be together.

Patrick was the first person to welcome me when I got lost in the corridors. For over thirty years he has walked the woods behind the ward, carrying a folded letter from the royal household in his pocket. I followed him, from question to answer, from silence to wisdom. Through him, I learned that gentleness can be stronger than knowledge, and that vulnerability and resilience can exist side by side.

Sometimes I brought my camera, a gesture to say 'we are here'.

While Patrick remains a guiding presence, the series 'In the Valley, Flowers Remain' opens toward the lives of others in De Vallei. Images grew out of our encounters, inside the ward and across its surroundings: sharing shadow, grief, light and flowers.

Yet long term psychiatric care is now under pressure. In Belgium, reforms are reducing the number of long-term beds. Over the past twenty years, the number of chronic care beds has fallen by almost 40%. At the same time, stigma persists. Psychiatric hospitals are still seen as places of fear and misunderstanding. Residents tell me they carry the burden of being perceived as less than human, long after their diagnoses.

That is why, when Patrick asked again if he is still human, I took his hands and said: “You are the most human person I have ever met."