Cycling in Belgium: a photographic exhibition in London

London's gone bicycle crazy in the lead up to this weekend's Tour de France.

One of the more interesting events is Flandrien: Hard Men and Heroes, a photographic exhibition being staged at the HOST Gallery until July 31.

All the black and white photographs are by Stephen Vanfleteren and feature the heroes of the Tour of Flanders and the Paris-Roubaix, two of the world's toughest -- and muddiest -- road cycle races.

Along with intimate portraits of the participants, there are some absolutely stunning shots of the landscape -- the cobblestoned roads, the flat rain-drenched fields of Flanders -- and some quite humourous photographs of the people who watch the races.

If you're in London tomorrow, there's a special evening viewing of the exhibition from 6.30pm to 9pm. But if you can't make it -- or live elsewhere -- all the photographs are available to view online [click on the first photo to access the complete 60-image set].

Comments

[Colin]

Fascinating set of photos - you'd scarcely know when in the last 50 years some of those villages had been photographed, they're so unchanged.

[Sailinghome]

This was mentioned on "the bike show" podcast too... with a brief interview of the photographer and a few others involved.... I can't visit it, being 6000 miles away, but thanks for the online links...!

the bike show is here...
http://thebikeshow.net/2007/06/26/25-june-2007-flandrien/

Nick.