ABOUT
Jo Voets (1958) lives in Brussels, Belgium. He is a self-taught photographer who learned the basics of black-and-white photography in the late 1980s from a friend in a squat at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel.
Jo has a particular interest in documentary and humanistic photography. Occasionally, he enjoys making a (studio) portrait. As a unit stills photographer, he worked on numerous Belgian films and international co-productions. It is on these movie sets -where nothing is ever quite what it seems- that he developed the skill to work quickly and discreetly, capturing the essence of a scene in just a few frames. This talent is also evident in his street photography, where he empathetically captures the humanity of his subjects in a single glance or gesture.
EXHIBITIONS
2026
TRUTH(S), group show at the Central Library of Cape Town, Cape Town Photography Festival, Sept 4 – Sept 26 2026
2025
PARIS INTERNATIONAL STREET PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS, winners group show at Magazzini Fotografici, Napoli
ATOMANIA, solo, touring 17 cultural hubs throughout Flanders
2024
PUNCTUM, group show at Jinny Street Gallery, Shibuya City, Tokyo
TYPICALLY BELGIAN, group show at the Brussels Street Photography Festival, Reset Brussels
2023
POP UP group show at Contretype / Centre d’art pour l’image et la photographie contemporaine, Brussels
2022
MIRROR, a Brussels Analog Gang group show, Studio Baxton, Brussel
2018
LES CAHIERS MAROCAINS, a Moroccan diary in black-and-white (2005), Espace Magh, Brussel
2013
BATHO, PORTRAIT OF A COMMUNITY: National Museum, Bloemfontein
2012
SHORT STORIES FROM THE CITY OF ROSES: Cape Town Month of Photography, IZIKO South African National Gallery, Cape Town
2011
SHORT STORIES FROM THE CITY OF ROSES: Oliewenhuis Art Museum, Bloemfontein
2010
PRIX NATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHIE OUVERTE: group show, Musée de la Photographie, Charleroi
2008
SEXFLIES: group show, Galerie IG Bildende Kunst, Wien
2007
THE WAY OF AL-MUSAWWIR: Kunsthalle Mannheim, Fotofestival Mannheim_Ludwigshafen_Heidelberg
IN MEMORIAM GEORGE MXOLISI KHUMALO: contemporary dance in Soweto, Rosas Performance Space, Brussel
2005
BUCURESTI UNDERWORLD: Martin-Gropius-Bau Berlin, Photography Festival Berlin
1996
NY SIDEWALKS, GallerY' Vrije Universiteit Brussel