Summer of 1988. I started working on my new book. I spent one month in Sochi, the Soviet Riviera, in the USSR. For this project, I booked 13 trips during one year with various European communist parties that organized journeys to the USSR. Each trip included Moscow, Leningrad, and a different Soviet republic. The book, Homo Sovieticus (published in Dutch as USSR-1989-CCCP), was presented on November 9, 1989 — the very day the Berlin Wall fell. Five parts this time. Part 1/5.
1987. Third visit to India. This one was not planned but Focus Amsterdam wanted to publish a book and convinced me to add extra images. 'India' was chosen by the publisher as title. A long list of awards and exhibitions followed (see website).
In 1987, the next chapter in my Flanders project was “body culture,” focusing mainly on bodybuilding contests. In 1988, I added a final subject to the project—though I’m sure Instagram wouldn’t allow me to post those images today. I had asked Flemish people, through an advertisement in a specialized magazine, to express their s... fantasies. By that time, however, I was too busy working on my USSR project, so I decided to put Vlaanderen on hold. The phone kept ringing up to 10 years later for that subject though.
During the summers of 1985-86-87 I visited India. Usually 2-3 months. I was a full time teacher by then, so only summers were available for travel. With the Lonely Planet as my guide. This is 1985.
In 1984-85 I started to use 6x7 medium format cameras with fill in flash. Pentax 6x7 at first. For a possible book project called 'Vlaanderen' (Flanders) I chose a different subject every year. First subject was 'public events'. The summer was reserved for another possible book project in India. 'Vlaanderen' was never published. Some images ended up in the book 'EVROPA'.
In between teaching full time and working at the Gallery XYZ I managed to make a few short trips to England and France. Resulting in a self published book called 'Oogspanning' (eye tension). The infrared work and some Belgium pictures were also included. Working with a second hand Leicaflex and a 50 mm (mostly). 1982-83. Part II.
