De Donkere Kamer

De Donkere Kamer is a live-evening program on photography designated for anyone interested in all aspects of photography.

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The first edition took place in Antwerp in May 2016. Since then, De Donkere Kamer has been hosted by Bozar, C-Mine, Toneelhuis, Museum Dr. Guislain, OPEK, Concertgebouw Brugge, Stadsschouwburg (Sint-Niklaas & Mechelen) and Scharpoord. DDK has therefore been present in seven cities: Antwerp, Brussels, Ghent, Genk, Bruges, Louvain, Sint-Niklaas, Mechelen and Knokke.  

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DDK is moderated by professional interviewers. Previous editions have been led by Anna Luyten, Frank Raes, Fien Sabbe, Nicky Aerts and Lieven Vandenhaute. The evening always includes a talk with an acclaimed national or international photographer. Additionally, photographers from every discipline within the photographic field are invited to talk about recent projects, new books and events. Cross-medial artists as well as visual columnists are also invited to present. From conceptual to popular photography, all are welcome.  

Apart from the interviews, the event introduces three upcoming photographers who each present their projects to the audience in a three-minute pitch. Prior to the event photographers can apply to participate, from which a professional jury carefully selects three promising projects to be shown. At the start of the evening, in exchange for a ticket, the crowd is given tokens which they will use to vote for their favourite pitch. The tokens represent a monetary sum. At the end of the evening, each young speaker will receive the distributed tokens exchanged into euros. In this way, the young photographers can have their projects financed through crowdfunding.