browse tags

John Vink

Portrait of John   Vink

John Vink (b. 3 Feb 1948, Ixelles, Belgium) is an independent photoreporter, previously affiliated with photo agencies VU (1986−1993), Magnum (1997−2017) and MAPS (2017−2022), who lived during 16 years in Cambodia (2000−2016), with a first visit to the Kingdom in 1989. Based in Belgium since 2016, he regularly shuttles from Brussels to Phnom Penh.

After studying photography at École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Visuels La Cambre (ENSAV, Brussels), John Vink received the W. Eugene Smith Grant for his series ​‘Eaux du Sahel’ in 1986, the same year he joined VU Agency. From 1987 to 1993, he worked on a photo project regarding refugees worldwide, resulting in his book Réfugiés (1994). He was also the editor of the review Thèmes, devoted to photojournalism. 

His encounter with Cambodia was not planned and yet essential: ​“I came to Cambodia in 1989 for the first time, a bit by chance, having replaced a colleague on an assignment for the French daily Libération. I came again in 1991, after the Paris Peace Accords and before the UN moved in. Then once more in 1999 to make a book Avoir 20 Ans à Phnom Penh’ (Being 20 in Phnom Penh, 2000). In 2000 I stayed, finally being somewhere else without the hassle of having to travel continuously. The big difference with previous stories I did is the availablity it gave me. It is really ​‘backyard photography’ now.” [interview with Eric Kim while he was still a member of Magnum Agency.] 

On Cambodia, the book Poids Mouche [about Khmer boxing, published in collaboration with Christophe Macquet in 2006, way before the spectacular comeback of Cambodian martial arts of the 2020s] was followed by a series of Apple photo ebooks, in particular Quest for Land, a visual summary of land-related conflicts he had covered for 11 years. Meanwhile, he wrapped up a long-haul photographic essay on ​‘hill people’ from Laos to Guatemala with the publication of Peuples d’en haut (2004).

In the demanding tradition of photojournalism, John Vink likes to remark that one doesn’t ​‘watch’ photographs, but ​‘read’ them, adding: ​“I am in the field of documenting facts and situations. And I work with certain ethics which are supposed to build a truthful relationship between the reader and me, and which give the reader some guarantee that he can trust what I say or show.”

Publications

  • [photo illustration, along with Claudine Doury, Hugues de Wurstemberg, Patrick Zachmann] Assia Djebar, Chronique d’un été algérien, Ici et Là-bas, Paris, Editions Plume, 1993, ISBN13: 9782908034820.
  • [with Gabriele Basilico, Carlos Canovas] Ría De Hierro / burdinezko itsas-adarra / Iron River, Bilbao, Ediciones Laga, 1993, ISBN13 9788488541062.
  • Réfugiés: Photographies de John Vink, 1987 – 1994, Paris, Photo notes, Centre national de la photographie with Médecins sans frontières, 1994, ISBN13 ‏ :978 – 2867540899
  • [ed.] Themes 1 — People’s Struggle, Brussels, Faut Voir, 1994.
  • [ed.] Themes 2 — Europe Recovered?, Brussels, Faut Voir, 1994. 
  • [ed.] Themes 3 — Childhood Thieves, Brussels, Faut Voir, 1995.
  • [ed.] Themes 4 — Amerindians, Brussels, Faut Voir, 1995.
  • [ed.] Themes 5 — Religious Rites, Brussels, Faut Voir, 1995.
  • J’ai deux amours: Portraits d’exil [with Brigitte Martinez], Paris, Le Cherche-Midi, 1998, ISBN13: 9782862746265.
  • Avoir 20 ans à Phnom Penh, Alternatives, 2000, 96 p, ISBN13 ‏ :978 – 2862272627[texts by Frédéric Amat and Kong Sothanrith, foreword by Rithy Panh].
  • De grot; Kroniek van een filmproductie; Een fotodocumentaire door Magnum-fotografen, Amsterdam, Get Reel, 2001 [with Carl de Keyzer & Alex Majolo].
  • Peuples d’en haut : Laos, Guatemala, Géorgie : la montagne est leur royaume, [with Christian Culas, Jesus Garcia-Ruis, Bernard Outtier], Paris, Autrement, 2004, 207 p, ISBN13 ‏ :978 – 2746705364
  • Poids mouche, [text by Christophe Macquet], Les Editions du Mékong, 2006, 81 p, ISBN13 9789995075002.
  • 30 Years for a Trial, [text by Robert Carmichael], Apple Books, 2012.
  • Quest for Land, [10-year investigation on land issues in Cambodia], texts by Robert Carmichael, Apple iPad, 2012.
  • Royal Silence, [texts by Pierre Gillette and Abby Seiff], Apple Books, 2013.
  • Sidelines, Veurne (Belgium), Hannibal, April 2025.

About John Vink

  • Maestros de la Fotografía. Refugiados y Minorías: Robert Capa, John Vink, Larry Towell, Dorothea Lange, todocollecion, 2009, ISBN13 9788498991185.
  • Eric Kim’s interview with John Vink, Eric Kim website.
  • Wayne Yang’s interview with John Vink, 2 parts, 2007.

Links

Photo: Autoportrait