09.03.2017
19.03.2017

For three whole months, twelve young patients set out to capture the world armed with nothing but a camera and their natural sense of wonder. After an introduction to the world of photography by photographer Nicolas Sonnet, it was the children’s turn to get down to work. The project Playing with Light enabled kids with a chronic illness to experience photography and share their stories with the outside world through a platform that they helped to create.

Now you can rediscover the world through a child’s eye thanks to Amelie, Cleo, Ditte, Fiebe, Kato, Lara, Lore, Merel, Rik, Thobias, Thibe and Sjors. Immerse yourself in the countless tiny details that we forget how to see in our everyday lives but which these talented 8 to 13-year-old aspiring photographers have recorded so creatively. Playing with Light is a small exhibition by children and for children (and adults too!).

It’s nice when children with a chronic illness get opportunities, get to experience things that they wouldn’t otherwise and therefore experience something positive to come out of their illness, however small or simple that might be.
— Mother of 13-year-old Fiebe
Many of the patients return to the hospital with a more positive attitude after the workshops.
— Doctor, Antwerp University Hospital (UZA)

Sunday 12.03.2017 — 4pm


Panel discussion Cultivating Creativity, on how projects such as this can contribute to a higher quality of support for people in special circumstances. With Stijn Verhulst (chief of paediatrics, UZA), Wendy Van Mellaert (Social assistant), Nicolas Sonnet (photographer and workshop leader) and Joachim Naudts (curator, FOMU).

Project supported by

  • — The Queen Mathilde Mother and Child Centre of Antwerp University Hospital
  • — Nikon
  • — Milo-Profi

Under the guidance of

  • Professional photographer Nicolas Sonnet