Artist Harry Gruyaert invites us on a sweeping journey through the city, freed from the usual geographic markers that structure travel. His gaze moves freely through the streets of New York, Paris, Tokyo, Moscow, Antwerp, Mumbai and Zanzibar—ultimately, the destination matters little. What unites his photographs is not their subject but the way the world presents itself to him: the vibrant intensity of color, the sharp cuts of shadow, urban geometries that punctuate space like a phrase of jazz.

Yet this movement—echoing the works gathered under the title A Sense of Place, reveals another dimension of his oeuvre: a chronicle of urban life. The city becomes a stage where social interactions shape identities, where each person negotiates, in a single movement, both individuality and belonging to a collective. While his compositions and mastery of color have often been celebrated, less attention has been paid to the place his passage through the city gives to the anonymous city dweller.

In a café, on a street corner, leaning against a wall, his figures are captured in the apparent insignificance of everyday life. Nothing extraordinary drives his gaze except a curiosity free of any social hierarchy. The visual power then arises from the reconfiguration of reality through color and composition. Social rituals, architecture and muted light, caught in the moment, become strange, tender or subtly ironic. The ordinary becomes theatrical. And his immersion in familiar territories—Belgium, France—further sharpens his vision.

The body of work can thus be read as a vast inquiry into modern life, conducted over more than fifty years across the globe. In doing so, it captures what unfolds within the image, while also revealing a vital energy that extends beyond the frame fixed by the photographer’s eye. – Géraldine Lay

Along the sensational path that Napoleon carved for himself through history runs another, more hidden trail. Upon it stand the women who accompanied the emperor for part of the way, on the margins of his extraordinary life.

Most legendary is Joséphine de Beauharnais, his first wife and the love of his life. But Empress Joséphine had to make way for Napoleon’s political marriage to Marie-Louise of Austria, who bore him an heir to the throne. In addition, Napoleon had countless mistresses and fathered several illegitimate children. Not infrequently, his sexual escapades carried a political undertone.

All of these women were, in their own way, of exceptional importance. They helped shape the grand narrative. Thus, the saga of Napoleon is also one of princesses and maîtresses, of emotions and desires—matters of the heart. Although in his heart there was often more room for grand ideals and political ambitions. Did Napoleon truly have a heart?

In his inimitable style, master storyteller and eminent Napoleon expert Johan Op de Beeck lays bare the extravagant love life of the French emperor. This gripping story, steeped in turbulent passion and political intrigue, offers an illuminating portrait of Napoleon, one of history’s most important figures.