Varanasi, the holy city on the Ganges, is a place where life and death meet. At the ghats, cremation fires burn ceaselessly, while believers purify themselves in the river. Varanasi is a city of contrasts: intense, raw and enchanting.

In the past year world champion boxing Oshin Deriew gave me an insight into her life. I followed her on training, during a world camp and in her personal life. Oshin’s motto is “Be your own legend”. It is also the title of an exhibition and a book.

At the Kumbh Mela, millions of Hindu pilgrims flock to Prayagraj (formerly Allahabad) to bathe in the Ganges to be freed from their sins. In 2025, it was a Maha Kumbh Mela which, according to the location of the stars, takes place only every 144 years. A total of 500 million pilgrims along with their gurus and sadhus descended to Prayagraj.

Venice is a city of shadow and brilliance, where the water is never silent and time moves slowly across bridges and alleys.

History leans on every wall, breathing through weathered stone.

Gondoliers and artisans, Venetians on crowded vaporettos and hordes of tourists live with and alongside each other.

Here the rush disappears and looking becomes learning to see again.

It is a big day for the fifty-year-old Christian Boscolo. He started as a gondolier in Venice fifteen years ago. At the Cantieri Nautico of Roberto dei Rossi, Christian receives his first own gondola today. Friends and family are celebrating this important moment with him. His fellow gondoliers perform a last inspection of the boat before Christian takes off to his assigned place at the Ponte dell’Academia.

Koen Naert is European champion marathon. I could follow him one year during his preparation for the Tokyo Olympics where he ended tenth.

Far from the posh hotels the Dubai Deira fish market is full of activity in the early morning. The traders are loud and always ready to sell fresh fish.

Puglia is famous for its beaches and delicious food. But the daily life of its inhabitants is as fascinating. People live outside their homes and towns become vibrant when there is a procession

The Carnival of Venice is an annual festival held in Venice, Italy. The carnival ends with the Christian celebration of Lent, forty days before Easter, on Shrove Tuesday (Mardi Gras), the day before Ash Wednesday. The festival is world-famous for its elaborate masks.

Shrimp fishing on horseback is so linked to the identity of the Belgian coastal town of Oostduinkerke that it became Unesco Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2013. Ten fishermen and two fisherwomen are actively engaged in the tradition which goes 500 years back.

Hagaya is a bar/restaurant in the Tokyo Shibuya district where the Japanese salarymen enjoy dinner & drinks after a day of hard work.

Almost 80 per cent of the population of Peru is catholic. They experience their devotion in a very intense way through processions and other manifestations. The Procession del segnor de los miraglos in Lima is each year attended by about 2 million people.

Jaweed is a 18 year old Afghan refugee. He reached Brussels end 2015 after a long and hazardous journey through Iran, Turkey and East Europe. During his application for the refugee status he was staying during the weekends with a Belgian family which gave him a lot of warmth. He is now a baker. With the portrait of Jaweed I won a prize in the “Sociaal” competition.

Tomitae is a maiko, which is an apprentice geiko or geisha in the world famous Kyoto Gion district. Gion provided the setting for “Memoirs of a geisha”, the bestselling novel by Arthur Golden. At 15 years Tomitae decided to become a geisha. She is now 19 years and her ambition to become a geisha is stronger than ever.

Sara Roosevelt Park is located in the heart of Chinatown in New York. Ignoring the frenzied New York life, Chinese immigrants practice their traditional sports and martial arts at any moment of the day.