Alexander Decoster: The Spirituality That Transcends Borders

How old are you? Where do you currently live and work?

Born in Oostende, Belgium, I am 64 years old and currently live with my wife, Sonia, in Vila Madalena, São Paulo. I am retired, after more than 30 years of an international professional career in a Belgian multinational company.

Tell us about your journey in photography. When did you start photographing and why? What role does photography play in your life?

I got my first camera when I was 8 years old, a gift from my father, who loved to document family parties and our holiday trips to the south of France. Since then, I developed an attentive eye for nature, especially for landscapes.

Over the years, and due to a career that took me to different countries and continents, photography ended up taking a back seat. It was only in 2009 that I rediscovered the magic of light—and found in it a way to maintain balance.

Amid the stress of long meetings, demanding schedules, and constant travel, photography offered me a moment of clarity, a way to reconnect with myself. Alone in nature, camera in hand, I felt the world slow down as its beauty revealed itself in unexpected ways.

What started as a personal escape transformed into something greater: each captured image seemed to open a door to dreams, calm, and enchantment.

I realized I could share these moments, offering not just photographs, but invitations to step away from the noise and enter a world of light, texture, and possibilities. My photography is not just about what I see, but about what I hope each person finds when they look at my images.

Tell us about your finalist work for the FotoDoc Photo Contest 2025. When and where was it created? What is its concept? How does it fit into your photographic practice?

Although landscape photography is my great passion, over time I discovered that portraying people also fascinates me. By approaching them with respect and sensitivity, I found open doors to their stories.

It was the same during a trip to Ethiopia in 2019. On the last days of this journey, I experienced intense moments in Gondar during Timket (Epiphany)—a vibrant and deeply religious festival that celebrates the baptism of Jesus Christ by John the Baptist in the Jordan River. The festivities begin on the eve, January 18, known as Ketera, with processions and ceremonies. On the 19th, there is the blessing of the water and the symbolic reenactment of the baptism.

I was impressed by such devotion that I couldn’t help but document it. The submitted photos were taken in Gondar on the night and early morning of January 18 to 19, 2019.

To be very honest, the reason for entering this series in the contest is that this experience was decisive for my decision to dedicate myself more to documentary photography. I realized that capturing people’s stories and emotions is something profoundly fascinating.

What projects are you currently working on? What are your near-future plans for photographic production?

As I mentioned before, the experiences and emotions of that night were, I believe, the starting point for me to follow the path of authentic documentary photography more intensely.

In 2022, I immersed myself for a few weeks in the life of two indigenous communities in Acre, and, more recently, I discovered the inspiring work of the Brazilian photographer João Roberto Ripper. Since then, I have been participating in immersions in local communities in Brazil, seeking not only to record images but to understand and share their stories.