Carl de Keyzer

Carl De Keyzer (27 December 1958) is a Belgian photographer. Major subjects in his work have included the collapse of the Soviet Union, and India. He became a full member of Magnum Photos in 1994. De Keyzer has exhibited his work in many European galleries and has received several awards, including the Book Award from Rencontres d'Arles, the W. Eugene Smith Award and the Kodak Award.

Career De Keyzer was born on 27 December 1958, in Kortrijk, Belgium. His freelance career began in 1982, at which time he also taught at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Ghent, Belgium.

He was nominated to the Magnum Photos agency in 1990, became an associated member in 1992 and a full member in 1994. He currently lives in Ghent and continues to teach.

In late 2024, he stirred controversy with a new book called Putin’s Dream, created with the help of AI. It is intended as a harsh criticism of Putin's Russia. The book drew both fierce criticism as well as praise for its pushing of boundaries, openness to working with new technologies and interrogating the place of AI in the future of photography. Magnum Photos have distanced themselves from the book.

Publications Oogspanning, 1984, India, 1987 (Uitgeverig Focus 1999) Homo Sovieticus/USSR-1989-CCCP, 1989 (Distributed Art Publishers 1993) , God, Inc., 1992 (Uitgeverig Focus) East of Eden. Ghent: Ludion, 1996. Carl De Keyzer. Paris: Centre national de la photographie, 1997. Europa, 2000 (Ludion Editions NV) Zona, 2003 (Trolley Books) Trinity, 2008 (Schilt) Congo (Belge) (Editions Lannoo) Moments Before The Flood, 2012 Higher Ground, 2016 Cuba La Lucha, 2016 DPR Korea Grand Tour, 2017

Awards

1982, First Prize – Experimental Film, Festival for Young Belgian Filmmakers, Brussels, Belgium 1986, Hasselblad Award Belgium, Brussels, Belgium 1986, Grand Prix de la Triennale de la photographie, Photographie Ouverte, , Charleroi, Belgium 1988, Grand Prix de la Triennale de la Ville de Fribourg, Switzerland 1990, Louis Paul Boon Award, Ghent, Belgium 1990, Prix du Livre, Rencontres d'Arles, Arles, France 1990, W. Eugene Smith Award, New York City 1992, , Paris 1995, Annual Fine Arts Award Belgium, Brussels, Belgium 2008, Shortlisted, Prix Pictet for Moments before the Flood

Collections

De Keyzer's work is held in the following collections: Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst, Ghent, Belgium Photography Museum, Charleroi, Belgium Fotomuseum Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium Fnac Collection, Paris, France Ministry of Culture, Brussels, Belgium International Center of Photography, New York Centro de Arte, Salamanca, Spain Magnum Photos Collection, Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin

Exhibitions Zona, Impressions Gallery, York, UK, 2005