Born in 1970 in Paris, he lived since his earliest days in Luxembourg. He is a nonprofessional photographer documenting the decay of urban and industrial structures across Luxembourg, France and Germany. There is an undercurrent of haunting, solemn nostalgia in Jean-Claude Berens’ photographs, with his often formal compositions and almost painterly rendition of light perfectly conveying the mood he finds in his subjects. His work is reminiscent of Simon Marsden’s series on supposedly haunted sites in England, and like Marsden, he uses a special technique of photography that has proven an uncanny match for his theme. He has developed a love for decay because he realized there is actually tremendous beauty in decay. And indeed, Jean-Claude has a lot of beauty in decline to show, with a variety of picturesque subjects. His explorations have taken him into old, disused burial crypts, abandoned farmhouses, medieval castles and a multitude of mothballed industrial sites. He has got into this type of photography while privately researching the history and culture of Luxembourg and of his ancestors. Though born in Paris, Jean-Claude grew up and still resides in the tiny but once heavily industrialized country of Luxembourg. Rich in iron, Luxembourg had a profusion … Continue reading About Jean-Claude Berens