Max Pinckers en Quinten De Bruyn

Max Pinckers (Belgium, 1988) studied

photography at the The Royal Academy of

Fine Arts in Ghent. Both he and Quinten

De Bruyn (Belgium, 1984) have exhibited

in Belgium. Pinckers’ work has also been

exhibited abroad. In their documentary

project Lotus, Pinckers and De Bruyn explore

not only the gender crisis transsexuals

go through, but also the identity crisis

inherent in documentary journalism.

Their thesis is that the assumption that

a documentary maker can record something

without influencing it is erroneous

and outdated. The captured moment is

genuine, but ultimately it is the photographer

who determines everything. His apparent

absence is only a pose in the studio

into which he has transformed the reality.

Pinckers and De Bruyn undertook their

exploration of the backstory of transsexuality

in Thailand, where sex changes are a

socially accepted phenomenon. Ladyboys,

the name by which transsexuals are known

in Thailand, are an important part of culture

and are even to be found in the ranks

of the film stars, models and sports icons.