An 83-year old Belgian man lives in a ramshackle mansion in Antwerp together with his son, who passes his time in the attic. But he is no ordinary old man, rather a photographer who, more than just about anybody else, chronicled the golden era of late 20th Century culture with candid snaps of such movers and shakers as The Beatles, The Stones, Jane Birkin, David Bowie and Frank Zappa – and thousands of others.
The photographer in question is Herman Selleslags who redefined the notion of ‘behind the scenes’ when it came to portrait and reportage photography. He shared back seats of taxis with Jimi Hendrix – and recorded the experience. He was backstage with The Rolling Stones not long after Mick Jagger ditched the LSE for LSD. He was the sole snapper backstage when The Beatles were making the Magical Mystery Tour.
As filmmaker Aldine Reinink and producer Bart Maes of Zon*der_ling BV pointed out during their Antwerp pitch, they have access to millions of photographic assets which they can use to elevate their film to potentially stratospheric heights.
In the film we see how son Jan looks after his dad, cooking and caring for him, and is now looking to catalogue and protect the house’s photography legacy. “His mission is to revive the immense dusted archive and save it before it slips through the cracks in time,” say the film’s notes. Reinink further pointed out to BDE back in 2021 that Jan, too, is a skilled photographer. “I’ve seen work by him and he could be really good, but he never, I think, dared to develop his talent because of the shadow of his father and his grandfather.”
How so? The multiplicity of images also conceals two complex father-son relationships, which have defined life in the Selleslags’ household. Herman’s father Rik (Jan’s grandfather) was a photographer who was imprisoned after WW2 after he was accused of collaboration, having photographed for the German-controlled media during the war. He also created a hand-written and self-illustrated book during his incarceration, which revealed his thoughts and emotions, of which grandson Jan is the custodian.
Following her CONNEXT 2022 pitch Reinink further distilled the essence and importance of her film. “Life Will Give You Pictures tells not only the story of the glittering career of a photographer. In the film we dive into his inner world, which is reflected by the house he lives in. We touch upon a complicated double father-son relationship and universal themes like the influence of family dynamics and how to break free from life’s patterns,” she said.
“The enormous collection of Herman Selleslags contains millions of photographs, most of them still unseen, undiscovered. He has captured many unique musical and cultural highlights of the 20th century, while he always focused on the backside of the glamour, the behind the scenes, the faces of the stars that mostly remain hidden to the public.”
Reinink describes the experience of visiting the Selleslags household. “Everywhere, you stumble upon photographs and one is more amazing and more surprising than the other. And a lot of it never has been seen before. It’s like a treasure hunt.”
The project is currently 65% towards the overall budget target of €365,000. Rotterdam-based Volya Films is on board as co-producer, and the project has the support both of VAF and broadcaster VRT Canvas. Producer Bart Maes also confirmed that UK director and producer Frank Rodden (Quadrophenia, Master Chef) wants “to bring film to the UK.” Maes underlined that he is looking for sales representation and a French co-producer, given the great number of French personalities that Selleslags photographed, such as Edith Piaf, Françoise Hardy, Serge Gainsbourg and Jean-Paul Belmondo.
The film’s title itself is lifted from a quote by French photographer and luminary Henri Cartier-Bresson. “You just have to live life and life will give you pictures,” he said.
Another major character in the film will be the Selleslags abode itself, adds Reinink. “It’s like a house of ghosts. It’s a very atmospheric place. It’s lived in, it’s a bit decayed. There are squeaking floors and there are secret corners and shadows running down the walls. And there’s a magical play of light. Sometimes when you’re inside you feel that the elements take over. You feel that the wind is blowing through the cracks in the walls and the rain hits the windows. And on beautiful days, the sun pours in and is floating over the wooden floors. The journey that we make in this film through the memories and the thoughts of Herman is reflected by the house that he lives in.”
“But the mansion is a closed domain,” she continues. “Herman and Jan are both quite private people, but I have been given free access to this, to all these photographic treasures, to all these stories. And I would love to break the walls down and open the fascinating world that is inside to the public.”
