Willi Filz

In 2020, with the war having raged for ten years already, the photographer Willi Filz travelled to Aleppo in Syria.

During this trip, he took portraits of young people in their respective environments and interviewed them to ask about their dreams.

This approach resulted in a very personal and candid portrayal of the subjects, a series of photographs far removed from the usual clichés about a war zone.

The photographs only reveal their full impact when viewed alongside the accompanying texts.

In late 2024, the political situation in Syria took an unexpected turn: President Assad fled to Russia and a new interim government took power – a development fraught with uncertainty, as was also reported in the media. To explore and document this new reality, Willi Filz will return to Syria in May 2025.

His project combines portraits of young people with impressions of the country. These photographs broaden the perspective and complement the portraits both in terms of content and visually.

Willi Filz (born 1962) is a freelance photographer and artist from the German-speaking Community of Belgium. A key focus of his work is portrait photography, as demonstrated by the series “Migration Fragil” (2021), which features portraits of migrants on Lesbos in Greece.

With the illustrated book “Camino”, published in 2023 and focusing on the Way of St James, Filz reveals a different, poetic side to his work. He is currently working on the book project “Versuch, die Leiter zu ersteigen” about Georgia, which is due to be published at the end of 2026.

Both areas of his work are characterised by his open, calm gaze. He photographs with focus, without any frills.

Exhibition views © Cité de l'image / Hype / CAL