05-03-2022

Joost Vandebrug, the tunnels and the river

In 2011, photographer Joost Vandebrug came into contact with street children in Bucharest by chance. That led to a book, a film and a new phase in his work.

He took the plunge two years ago. After ex-Franeker Joost Vandebrug quit his commercial assignments for Art+Commerce in New York, he also quit his representation at Canvas Represents in London. He decided to focus on his art and return to old photographic techniques. "I hardly dare to say it, but I think I have become an artist."

On commercial assignments, he was more of a director than a photographer. ,,When you went to a job, the light was already set up, and there was a rented camera ready to go… it only came down to your ideas. I wanted to go back to the darkroom, experiment with cyano types and plate photography, to feel the material again…” He ducks out of the frame during our video call and picks up an example, a print on extremely thin washi paper.

The river plays an important role in his latest work. The Danube, which he needed so much for his project Lost Boys and the making of the film Bruce Lee and The Outlaw.

During an assignment in Bucharest, Vandebrug came into contact with Costel in 2011. "I missed the documentary side of photography in my work." He took a photo of a boy on the street and brought him a printout the next day. Over the next few days, they interacted more frequently, and Costel introduced him to Bruce Lee and the community of street children he was part of, in the city's underground tunnels.

Bruce Lee was seen as "dad" by the boys. The man coated himself and his clothes with aurolac, a silver car coating that gave him the appearance of a living statue. It's also a good thing that he and the kids sniff to get high quickly. Bruce Lee trusted Joost and repeatedly invited him to return to the group, where Vandebrug increasingly photographed and filmed.

In 2013, Vandebrug published the book Lost boys about the group. "What struck me was the strong mutual friendship," he said at the time. “They share their food with each other and (a lot of) dogs. There are shelters in the cold. They can get food in a church or orphanage, but they don't feel safe there. They'd rather be together."

Vandebrug continued to follow the boys but was not yet making a film. “That happened to me.” When he found one of the boys, Nicu, critically ill, he thought he should take him to the hospital. Nicu turned out to have AIDS and was teetering on the brink of death. Thanks to medication and the support of Joost and the Romanian Raluca, he slowly recovered.

“Raluca runs a dog shelter for stray dogs. I sometimes helped her, because I was fascinated by those dogs.” She buys expired food from supermarkets to feed the animals. Some homeless people help her with that. That's how she knew Nicu too. "When he got out of the hospital, they redecorated a room in the dog shelter, where he could go to live."

Where Nicu first saw Bruce Lee as his father, he now sees Raluca as his mother. She helps him and some other boys. "She has become an official NGO," says Vandebrug. She ensures that Nicu could go to school, and for her, they let go of the aurolac more and more. “Raluca has found a way to help these children. They've fallen through all the 'safety nets' but she doesn't judge and they trust her."

With Nicu, Vandebrug got a main character to hang a film on, someone who is going through a development. In the hospital he found out that Nicu was already fifteen, even though he looked like ten. He continued to follow him until his eighteenth birthday.

“During the time I was working on it, I also took film ethics classes. What is the influence of the camera on the children?” He gave everyone he met the space to refuse to be filmed. Afterward, he showed those involved his material, and the people could still object. ,,This means I was unable to use some heartbreaking scenes...'' After a first screening for the group, he still had to cut someone from the editing. " And I waited a long time until they were eighteen and could decide as adults whether they agree with the result."

The result is the gripping and confrontational film Bruce Lee and The Outlaw. Outlaw was the pet name of Nicu, who was considered a protégé of the group leader. The film premiered in 2018 and played at dozens of festivals for a year, where Vandebrug won all kinds of prizes. "I am so grateful that corona only broke out after that."

Although there were still many screeningss, he does not know whether the postponement will be canceled. The film can be seen on Sunday 6 March at the Koornbeurs in Franeker, after which reporter Kirsten van Santen will interview the filmmaker. “A Q&A like this is a great way to close the chapter. People are captivated and emotional.”

Emotions also regularly played tricks on him during the making of the film. "To clear my head, I would travel to the river." He could relax and meditate on the banks of the Danube. “One of the first lessons in meditation teaches you to see your thoughts as leaves that you float on a river. They can be there, and you can take them out if you want to, but you can also let them go.”

In his current art he uses many images of the Danube, sometimes literally taking leaves from the river and placing them under a microscope. For example, he captures the river from a bird's eye view and shows these images on five superimposed video screens, such as last year at the Unbound festival in Amsterdam. Leading in his work is a statement by Heraclitus: 'You can never step into the same river twice'.

That also applies to Vandebrug and a possible sequel to Bruce Lee and The Outlaw. ,,I can't just make something else with all my material, because then I would have to ask everyone for permission again. And I'm not going to look for another documentary project. If I found myself in a similar situation again, I wouldn't pick up the camera again."

Franeker - De Koornbeurs: screening of Bruce Lee and The Outlaw with discussion, Sun 6 Mar 3 pm, www.theaterdekoornbeurs.nl