Biography Michiel Hendryckx

He moved to Ghent in 1969.  After secondary school, he opted to study photography at the Ghent Academy. He already began working as a press photographer for the newspaper De Gentenaar during his studies, always keeping Henri Cartier-Bresson’s moment décisif at the back of his mind. The viewer must be allowed to see everything, including the edge of the negative. In 1978 he joined the Flemish Publishers Society (VUM) and became a photography tutor at his alma mater, Ghent Academy.

The 1980s were a dynamic period for Michiel. He became a central figure in Ghent’s innovative art and culture world. He took photos for Nieuwpoort Theatre and the Etherisch Strijkersensemble Parisiana, a performance group around Eric De Volder. His collaboration with graphic artist Gert Dooreman began in 1986 and developed into a fruitful relationship, with Michiel introducing Gert to the world of typography. Together with bartender and artist Johan Dehollander, he formed the artist duo Hendryckx & Dehollander. Their conceptual photographic works were exhibited at the Foncke gallery and what was then the Museum of Contemporary Art in Ghent (now SMAK).

Michiel took a sabbatical in 1990. He trekked to Greece’s Mount Olympus with the donkey Odin as his only companion. He wrote about the experience in the book Two Donkeys, which was published in 1991 (without a single photo!) and was reprinted for the seventh time in 2018. After the trip, he left De Gentenaar’s editorial team and started working for De Standaard as a photo editor and photographer, as well as briefly heading up the weekly magazine. 

Since 2012, he has been travelling for DS Weekblad to tell the story of a place or an object in words and pictures every week (https://www.altijdergens.be/). These columns were compiled into Altijd ergens and Nog altijd ergens [Always Somewhere and Still Somewhere] Published by Hannibal Books.

Michiel’s versatility is also apparent in his work for television and radio. In the VRT programme De bende van Wim [Wim’s Gang] (2002), he travelled through Europe with musician Jean Blaute and actor Wim Opbrouck. For Canvas, he made the travel programme Het Bourgondisch complot [The Burgundian Conspiracy] (2005) in which he travelled by boat via inland waterways from Ghent to Burgundy. 

His passion for stories and photography has converged in several publications, including Een mus in klei [A Sparrow in Clay] (2001), Het mooiste licht is tegenlicht [The Most Beautiful Light is Backlight] (2007) and Dolen, onderweg in Europa [Roaming, On the Road in Europe] (2009). For Klara, he retraced Cyriel Buysse’s travels through France and republished Buysse’s car journeys under the title De Vroolijke Tocht [The Cheerful Trip] (2011). In 2012 and 2014, he lived in the Japanese city of Wakayama for six weeks, which also resulted in daily columns for De Standaard and the publication of the e-book Een analfabeet in Japan [An Illiterate in Japan]. 

His interest in history and culture led to a two-part radio series about the German soldier Heinrich Wandt’s (2014) war years in Ghent, and the reissue of Wandt’s book Etappenleven te Gent [Life Milestones in Ghent] under the title Het Frontparadijs [The Front Paradise]. He was also commissioned by STAM to take photos for the exhibition Het verloren koninkrijk Willem I en België [The Lost Kingdom of William I and Belgium] (2015). 

In 2017, he published the photo book Het verlangen naar Frankrijk [The Longing for France]. From March to May of that year, an eponymous exhibition was staged in the refectory of Ghent’s St. Bavo’s Abbey. In 2018, Michiel Hendryckx collaborated with Ghent Archives on a book about Ghent’s Kriegsalbum [War Album]. 

A photographer through and through, what truly sets Michiel apart is his symbiosis with the underlying story. His endless curiosity and urge to tell stories are apparent in his columns, reports, publications, and even the theatre show Kijk en Luister [Look and Listen]. 

In its long-standing tradition as an exhibition house with a penchant for stories, St. Peter’s Abbey is the ideal setting in which to allow Michiel’s work to shine.