THERE IS SOMETHING INHERENTLY CINEMATIC ABOUT THE SEA: ITS ENDLESS HORIZON, SHIFTING MOODS AND THE PROMISE OF SOMEWHERE ELSE. FOR BELGIAN PHOTOGRAPHER ZEB DAEMEN, THE ENGLISH COAST HAS LONG HELD THAT KIND OF MAGNETIC PULL. FIRST DISCOVERED WHILE SHOOTING HIS DEBUT SHORT FILM BACK IN 2019, ITS FISHING VILLAGES AND WINDSWEPT BEACHES BECAME THE SETTING FOR MEET ME BY THE WATER, A PHOTOGRAPHIC WORLD SUSPENDED BETWEEN MEMORY AND FANTASY.
BRINGING TOGETHER PORTRAITURE, STYLING AND CAREFULLY COMPOSED SCENES, DAEMEN FOLLOWS GROUPS OF YOUNG MEN THROUGH MOMENTS OF TENDERNESS, FRIENDSHIP AND LONGING, APPROACHING MASCULINITY WITH THE SOFT, ROMANTIC GAZE THAT HAS COME TO DEFINE HIS WORK. WHAT BEGAN AS AN OLD FILM IDEA EVENTUALLY GREW INTO HIS MOST PERSONAL PROJECT YET — NOW TAKING THE FORM OF AN INTIMATE TWO-DAY EXHIBITION AT THE NATIONAL 55 IN ANTWERP (OCTOBER 9TH AND 10TH) AND HIS UPCOMING FIRST PHOTOGRAPHY BOOK. IN IT, THE WATER BECOMES MORE THAN A SETTING: IT IS AN INVITATION, A PLACE TO IMAGINE WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE — AND WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN NEXT.
What drew you back to the coastlines and fishing villages of England for MEET ME BY THE WATER, and what did you find there that felt right for this particular story?
I went there in 2019 to shoot my first short film and fell in love with the whole experience. Because of that, the place holds something special for me. Perhaps I romanticise it a little, too.
I had an idea for another film about fishermen, but making a film takes a lot of time and effort, so I thought, why not explore it through photographs? The mood board had been sitting on my computer for a couple of years, and I kept coming back to it.
There was also a beach I’d spotted while filming in 2019. This project allowed me to return and photograph it.
The project brings together portraiture, styling and carefully composed scenes, almost like stills from a film. How did you build this world, and how important was it for you to create a sense of narrative beyond the individual images?
Since the mood board was originally for a film, I kept that idea. The photographs grew out of scenes and early ideas I had wanted to explore. I also worked with some of the people who created the costumes for my last short film, Fan Letter, in 2024.
I wanted to build my own world around the fishing community and the boys by the sea. Somewhere that doesn’t quite belong to the present or the past, a world you might wish you could step into.
Some images explore tenderness and friendship among adolescent boys. I like the feeling that each photograph is a moment within a larger story, even if you never see the rest of it.
Youth and masculinity are central to MEET ME BY THE WATER. How have your ideas around masculinity evolved through your work, and what did you want to explore or challenge with these images?
I’ve always looked at masculinity with a soft eye. It’s less a conscious decision than something I naturally return to in my work. I tend to bring my subjects towards something more romantic, for lack of a better word.
With these images, I wanted to give that softness room. The tenderness, friendship and quieter moments between boys.
Water and the coastline can carry so much emotional weight in photography — they can suggest escape, isolation, freedom or longing. What does the water represent within MEET ME BY THE WATER?
Definitely longing. Come meet me by the water could be an invitation to someone, or simply a wish to be there yourself. It brings to mind stories from growing up, a fantasy you once had, or a boy you knew who felt out of reach.
From the beginning, I wanted the images to leave space for your imagination. What’s the story here? What happened just before this moment, or what might happen afterwards? The water felt like the right place to hold those possibilities.
This October marks both the exhibition and the release of your first photography book. How does seeing the project exist as a physical book and exhibition change the way you think about the work, compared with encountering it as individual photographs?
It started as a small project for myself, with the thought that I might eventually show some of the photographs. At first, it was simply, let’s do one big shoot. But the ideas kept coming, so more shoots followed, including some in the studio.
That world gradually became bigger, and I realised I had enough material for a first book. It’s been an exciting and enjoyable project to work on. Making the book meant finding the story within the images and leaving quite a few out. It’s very much like editing a film. A shot can be beautiful on its own, but it doesn’t necessarily help the story. Seeing the photographs together made me think more about the rhythm between them and how one image changes the way you see the next. That was something new for me to explore. I’ve made just 100 copies, which feels right for such a personal project.
Zeb Daemen’s show MEET ME BY THE WATER is on until October 10th at NATIONAL 55 Gallery,
Prekersstraat 55, Antwerp.
Interview by Martin Onufrowicz
Images by Zeb Daemen
