Willy Vanderperre: Narratives of a Visual Storyteller
Take a walk inside the fashion photographer's solo exhibition in Antwerp.
In 1989, I met Olivier and kissed him for the first time. This work also reminds me of my Flemish Catholic upbringing, the place where I grew up, Southwest Flanders and the Fassbinder films I love, wrote Willy Vanderperre on Philippe Vandenberg’s ‘The Kiss’.
I’ve been thinking a lot about how I should approach this story. Vanderperre is an illustrious photographer, and his works are fixtures within the fashion and art landscape. Yet, the more I learned about him, the clearer it became why the fashion photographer’s works are so endearing and lively: his raw emotions and stories embodied in his works.
Alongside a selection of beloved pieces by other artists that he personally curated, Vanderperre’s archives are currently exhibited in ‘WILLY VANDERPERRE prints, films, a rave, and more…’ at MoMu, Antwerp. Here, he took the liberty to explore and reflect on the images he created.
Wait – before we get into that, let's start at where it all began.
Willy Vanderperre was born and raised in southwest Belgium, where he discovered his love for art. Following his passions, he enrolled in the fashion program of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Antwerp. Shortly thereafter, though, as mentioned in an interview with Wayne Sterling for Models.com, he fell in love with photography, finding its fluidity better suited to conveying his emotions, and thus transitioned to become an image maker instead.
In the early ‘90s, Vanderperre collaborated with his close friends from the academy: Olivier Rizzo on styling and Peter Philipps on make-up, bonded by their shared love of art. It was during this time that they also began working together with close friend (and now, an iconic fashion designer whom we love), Raf Simons. Their collaboration started as a creative outlet – working together on the weekends driven solely by their passion for creating despite limited resources. (One of the first collaborations with Raf Simons involved some thrifted pieces used to style his collection. How cool?) Eventually, their projects caught the public’s attention, including Terry Jones, who featured one of their earlier works in i-D.
Soon, what began as a friendly project among friends blossomed into a 25-year collaboration. In the years following their first feature in i-D, Vanderperre worked on multiple campaigns for numerous fashion houses and publications. While partnering with prestigious labels such as Jil Sander, Dior, Prada, and Calvin Klein, two names remained constant: Olivier Rizzo and Raf Simons.
Despite being a celebrated photographer in the scene, Vanderperre’s works are more than just another beautifully shot fashion imagery. His lens captures the zeitgeist, but Vanderperre himself acts as an eloquent storyteller who breathes life into each image. Flipping through the pages of ‘865 WILLY VANDERPERRE’, published by IDEA in 2019, his emotions animate every shot, inviting the audience to delve deeper into the narratives behind each frame. Simultaneously, his images evoke a sense of contentment for those who view them. Through his emotions, Vanderperre captures the ebb and flow that makes fashion so.. alluring.
And this emotion is exactly what it felt like to walk through the second-floor gallery at MoMu. In its first-ever photographer-focused exhibition, Vanderperre’s works adorned the walls of the brightly-lit space, accompanied by words that describe his thoughts and memories from sets. Among the curated works were archives of significant collaborations, such as the 2002 video project for Raf Simons S/S Collection about youth and rebellion, while others are equally notable photographs that hold special meaning for the photographer.
One section of the wall houses a 2010 photo published in Arena Homme + taken at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, showcasing his long-time collaborator and model Robbie Snelder. Snelder, photographed with his back towards the camera, wore a T-shirt made by Olivier Rizzo during his third year at the academy with the words ‘YOU WANTED TO BE A HERO’ splashed across the back.
Another picture shows Snelder posing together with Chloé Winkel, also a long-time collaborator and model, for a feature in i-D Magazine in 2001.
Scattered throughout the gallery, Vanderperre’s works are accompanied by words – some humorous, others romantic, but one thing for sure is that every sentence is polished with emotions and a touch of personality. Reading his words on the tiny exhibit labels, I couldn’t help but ‘aww’ and smile ear to ear; it almost felt like I was reading his diary entries.
Further into the gallery, a dark room motioned exhibit-goers to enter – a space filled with LED screens displaying his images. Working together with Jelle Van Riet, Vanderperre presents a reflective monologue of his time as a photographer, flowing above images from his collaborations with Raf Simons. Below are two excerpts (which I so dearly love) taken from his monologue:
Of all days, those days with a photo shoot are still the most exciting. As soon as I open my eyes in the morning, I feel it: everything is glowing; I am glowing. The air is charged with nervous energy and expectation. This is what I live for: to give expression to what is raging inside me. To unlock a language with which to reach you. There is no lessening of that desire. I slip out of bed, take a shower and put on the clothes I got ready the night before: black jeans and a black t-shirt.
A photo shoot is something made together. Even though I am the photographer on duty, there is no hierarchy in my team. The fuel we run on is love – along with good, freshly ground black coffee. As soon as I enter the studio and see those familiar faces, I know that this is what I was so looking forward to on my way to the studio: seeing my professional family again. Just as people call their friends their chosen family, I see the circle of people I work with as family.
I am a chameleon. I am proud that I have the expertise to be at the service of so many different stories. Those who book me do not do so just because of the technical skill that my team and I bring with us. They also make a choice for my signature style, which has grown emotionally richer over the years. I scratch away more and more varnish as time goes on. I want whoever looks at my photographs to be moved by them. A good photograph is a snapshot of pure emotion. In that moment, the model lifts the veil from their soul. We see uncalculated, unvarnished, highly individual and therefore universal humanity.
If you want to know how I experience the world, look at my editorial work, especially what I make with my husband, Olivier Rizzo, a stylist and consultant. From all the work that is rooted in our heads and our hearts, you can read what makes us happy, angry or rebellious. There, I show you who I am and how we interpret time. Every reportage that Olivier and I make together tells about both us and the times we live in. Fashion is a powerful medium, like no other. Olivier can tell a story through fashion that inspires, touches your core, or makes you think. With his combinations of clothing, he kisses characters, worlds and dreams awake.
Of course, a photo shoot is work. Passion may be our driving force, but what we create is not optional. Our photographs are not going to stop wars, let alone prevent global warming, but the images will spread around the world like a vapour. They will colour glances, magnetize thoughts, shape the world. We help design the culture we want to live in tomorrow. So, we have to rebel, stretch boundaries and redefine freedom. Fashion is not separate from the world, it is grounded in it. Fashion is emotion.
Capturing a beautiful image is one thing, but to deeply feel and share those emotions with the audience is another – a sentiment that resonates throughout the entire experience of observing and admiring his work.
As I’m finishing up this article, I’ve just learned that a little over a week ago Vanderperre himself spoke with MoMu, talking in-depth about the exhibition. As it turns out, all campaigns featured across the gallery were specifically chosen to be only those he had done together with his husband, Olivier Rizzo. In Vanderperre’s words from the interview, “I dedicated everything to him, because he is my pillar of strength. And, after all, MoMu is located in Antwerp, the city where I chose to live. I have shared that with him pretty much from the first day. So it makes perfect sense that the exhibition focuses on the images we made together.”
<3
On another note, I hard-launched Call Time on my Instagram last week… For the sake of transparency, it was a terrifying experience, lol. I told one of my friends that it felt like I accidentally left my journal on the streets. Nevertheless, I’m so happy I did it!!
With that being said, there are a couple of new friends here!
To everyone reading this, I just want to say thank you so much for being here!! Seriously, it means a lot to me that you take the time to read my letters.
I hope you’re having a lovely summer, and see you next time! <3
Karina