364,501 times a day, somewhere in the world, a new life begins and with it a new story. 'Birth Day' is the round-the-world journey of a mother, photographer and journalist searching for these stories and for the answer to the questions: "Why do we bring children into the world today? What does it mean to be born in a particular place in the world? And how does the world welcome its children? In each location Lieve Blancquaert stepped into the maternity ward and literally, into the life of the newborn baby and its family, meeting mothers during one of the most emotional events of their lives: the birth of their son or daughter. She also talked with family members, visiting their homes, taking part in in festivals and rituals, travelling to special places and events that told her more about the culture in which the child would grow up. She worked for two years on the project, visiting 14 locations around the world; experiencing and documenting an economic mix of communities, different religions and cultures. Included in this richly diverse journey of human experience are reflections from countries as far apart as Israel, India, China, the USA, Brazil, Kenya, Cambodia and Russia. AUTHOR: Lieve Blancquaert (b.1963) is a Belgian photographer, journalist and television producer but photography has been her passion since childhood. She studied art (film and photography) at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent and after graduating, she began working as a freelance photographer for various Belgian newspapers and magazines. Many people discovered her work through the Oxfam campaigns (2005, 2006, 2008, 2009), in which she photographed famous Belgians in special or unusual circumstances to encourage the public to commit more actively to Fair Trade. Her latest exhibition Lieve Blancquaert, Photographer (2011), which presented a collection of her work over the last 25 years, was extremely popular, attracting more than 50,000 visitors. SELLING POINTS: The initial collection in a planned Multimedia project covering Birth, Marriage and Death: exhibition (9 Oct 2013 - 5 Jan 2014, ING Cultural Centre, Place Royale, Brussels) and television series, with a dedicated website: www.birth-day.be 400 colour photographs
