Many of us know the soulful portraits made by Marc Apers.
But looking at the large collection of more than 30 large classy prints on display in his first solo exhibition of last week, was stunning.

The opening was successful. Among the crowd was a large group of 1x members who came to congratulate him. The mood was great. It was so fine to see curators, moderators, senior critics, group managers, editors and more members gathered on this unique photographic event.

Jef Van den Houte, Gilbert Claes, Ben Goossen, Luc Vangindertael, Marc Apers, Maurits De Groen, Luc Tourwé
The ladies: Susanne Stoop, Yvette Depaepe, Edith Hoffman, Hilde Ghesquiere

Each of Marc's portraits is worth more than a thousand words.
He is always searching to capture the soul, the background and life experiences of everyone he portrays.
Wherever he goes, may it be abroad or in his own country, he carries the bare minimum. No lenses, no filters, no tripod! Just his Canon 5D Mark II and his tremendous gift to socialize with everybody who crosses his path. He never takes a portrait without first starting a conversation with the people he meets. He always tries to make them feel comfortable by being open minded and honest. By talking, giving a wink or any sign of gratitude, he is accepted more as a friend than as a photographer. The combination of his humanity and photographic skills results in high quality, intense and outstanding portraits.

Each “face” displayed has it's own story and Marc loves to talk endlessly about the stories behind his portraits.

His brother introduced him to the public at the opening and wrote a wonderful text that really describes who Marc is as a wonderful photographer and also as a warm personality.

Here is a humble translation of a few sentences of that introduction. I did the best that I could do.

"Camera Obscura"
"I wish I could write like my brother photographs. He is painting with light, finding the line, focusing with the right shutter speed in a determined and disarming way. He is proud to capture people in the universal landscape by using many tones of black and many tones of white. He keeps his eyes wide open wherever he is in this world and they're always sparkling! As a poet I write upside down, as a photographer he photographs straight. In the end, we are sitting in the same black box and share our roots: images and words. When we escape from the box and return to the reality, everything comes together where it belongs."

Here are some images displayed on the exhibition “Faces”.
Enjoy … as much as we did!

“Amhara”

“Intriguing”

“The old shepherd”

“Broken arrow”

"Helpless"

“Writing lessons”

“The protagonist”

“The beauty of old age”

“Anxious”

“Meaningless”

“Mother's jump”

“The performer”

“Island girl”

“Winsome”

“Homeless”

“Madame Carpentier, 94”

“The bachelor”