Ak-Tuz, Kirgizië - Heleen Peeters

In 1948, the grandfather of Heleen Peeters (BE) started a company in what many now consider taboo: horse meat. At that time, people were poor, recovering from the consequences of the Second World War, and horse meat was very popular because of its good quality and affordable price. But now, 70 years later, the horse meat industry is in decline.

From the family business, Peeters investigated horse culture in Belgium, France, Italy, Poland, Argentina, Uruguay, Kyrgyzstan, the United States and Canada. Why is horse meat becoming less and less popular? What happens to horses when they are no longer eaten? How do we actually deal with animals? And what is the need to reduce our meat consumption?

This resulted in the Horse project, of which this image is part.

The work of Heleen Peeters balances on the edge of the documentary and the autonomous. She does not see photography as an unambiguous window on reality, but as a reality with interpretation. In projects, she therefore often combines her voice as an author with multiple perspectives - those of the subject, the public media or other artists - and allows them to respond to each other. Editing and processing all these materials creates a new fictional space for imagination. In terms of her choice of subject, Peeters draws inspiration from her fascination with existentialism - themes such as the right to exist and transience are a common thread through her series. She sees photography as the ideal medium to address this: it creates permanent documents that show the world in constant change.