Pieter Numan

Amsterdam

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No Love Lost

Gallery de Schans
Amsterdam
2024

Creative Direction & Photography: Pieter Numan
Graphic Design: Next House Over
Production: Pieter Numan & Flint Studio 
Art Direction photoshoot: Flint Studio
Text: Leendert Sonnevelt


 

In uncertain times, countercultures often challenge norms and celebrate liberated identities. "No Love Lost," a book and exhibition, explores this by spotlighting the vibrant Antwerp-based community around musician Kleine Crack. This group defies traditional gender roles and societal norms, embracing fluid self-expression. Kleine Crack's music, influenced by 1980s Memphis rap and horror themes, creates an inclusive space. Despite its dark tones, it avoids promoting violence, instead fostering a culture of inclusivity and self-expression. Photographer Pieter Numan captures this dynamic collective, showcasing the creativity and boundary-pushing nature of the group. The project documents a blend of post-punk energy and universal themes, revealing a community where individualism and unity coexist. The collective, including the VHS crew of young artists, challenges traditional genres and embraces a fluid cultural landscape. Their work, featuring dark Flemish rhymes and Memphis-inspired beats, offers a unique commentary on contemporary life. "No Love Lost" highlights the collective spirit that binds this group, showcasing their unconventional performances and collaborations. They embody a vision of a better future, celebrating diversity and rejecting judgment. The project is not just documentation but a celebration of a counterculture that challenges the status quo and inspires hope for an inclusive future.



Everything Ok not Ok

Gallery Melkweg Expo
Amsterdam
2020




Everything OK Not OK is a photographic collection that tells a paradoxical story where the mundane dominates a concrete, urban environment. The images depict young people dressed in Western clothing, occasionally accented with vibrant details or symbols of alternative subcultures. What Western audiences might interpret as subtle acts of resistance may go unnoticed or misunderstood in their own cultural context, as these struggles are no longer significant issues in the West.

For example, wearing an earring, dyeing one’s hair, or a woman smoking a cigarette might seem trivial to Western viewers, but in Tbilisi, these actions can serve as acts of defiance against societal norms, the Orthodox Church, and prevailing social expectations. Simultaneously, they represent a fundamental expression of identity of simply "being." Yet these seemingly small acts can provoke dangerous consequences.  A man perceived as feminine or someone openly expressing same-sex attraction risks severe backlash, often met with hostility or violence from others. The architecture in the photographs may strike Western viewers as exotic, but for the residents of Tbilisi, these decaying concrete structures embody their everyday reality. They stand as relics of a bygone era steeped in exclusion and intolerance a metaphor for the outdated, homophobic ideologies upheld by the Orthodox Church, which remains strongly supported by both the government and broader society. The youth depicted in the images are metaphorically imprisoned, unable to freely explore or express their identities. For them, existential struggles, such as freedom of selfhood, remain unattainable a stark reminder of the ongoing fight for basic rights in a society that resists change.






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