Since the invention of the daguerreotype process revolutionised photography in 1839, photographers have used the streets around them for artistic inspiration.
European cities like Paris and London were among the first subjects for photographers. Images ranged from simple street scenes to candid and intimate portraits of people taken by photographers such as Henri Cartier-Bresson, who is often referred to as the godfather of street photography.
Today, street photography remains just as popular, and many cities have organised collectives where each member documents the city in their own unique style.
In Brussels, a group of photographers is turning everyday city life into art. The 1000Streets Collective brings Brussels locals and expats together to explore Belgium’s streets, capturing the country’s spirit one frame at a time.
Credit: Holger Kunze/1000Streets Collective
Speaking to The Brussels Times, Antoine Deckers, the founder of The 1000Streets Collective, said: “The idea to start the collective came to me at the end of 2021. I felt a lack of motivation in doing street photography on my own, with no real way to share my passion except for posting on Instagram. We were still in a post-pandemic period, which didn’t help, and I felt the need to reconnect with people,”
Deckers said he was initially inspired to start the collective after seeing similar groups abroad, such as VoidTokyo and Oslo SPC. “I wanted to experience something similar to what these collectives offer their members, but I couldn’t find anything like that in Brussels or even Belgium - at least anything centred around street photography,” Deckers explained.
Credit: Antoine Deckers/ 1000Streets Collective
“I started organising small photowalks with friends who owned cameras but weren’t necessarily into street photography. After each walk, we would share our best pictures on a dedicated Instagram page that I named 1000streets Collective,” Deckers said.
Monthly photowalks
After the group of street photography enthusiasts started posting to Instagram, the collective began to receive lots of positive messages, and more and more people started showing up to the monthly photowalks.
“After our first exhibition, I also realised I needed some help to keep things moving forward. That’s when I decided to join forces with Stéphan Bartholomeus and turn our collective into an official association.”
From that moment on, Deckers explained, the collective became more official, with a smaller group of active members who help manage activities and events, as well as promoting the collective. That being said, the events are still open to anyone wishing to join, and there are no skill-level or equipment requirements.
Credit: Stéphan Bartholomeus/1000Streets Collective
“Our photowalks have begun attracting much larger crowds than they did in the beginning, and now we have even started collaborating with major street photography organisations such as the BSPF (Brussels Street Photography Festival) and Street Photography France,” Deckers said.
2025 has been the collective's most hectic and exciting year yet. They held their third and largest ever gallery at the Mont-de-Piété Centre d’art, a venue in the heart of Brussels.
In addition, the collective published their first catalogue, made up of the photos from the gallery, and also held their first photography contest, where contestants could submit photos they took in Brussels. The contest was called 'Bruxellitude', which was also used as the title of the exhibit.
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'It's about fun'
Even with the clear escalation of output from the collective, Deckers explained what the true goal of the collective is. “It’s all about fun! Simply sharing a common passion with like-minded people and enjoying some good times together, while also learning and getting inspired by each other’s work.”
Credit: Salvatore LaMonica/1000Streets Collective
“I was already doing street photography before joining the collective. But thanks to Instagram’s algorithm, I discovered 1000streets and joined one of their photowalks at Parc du Cinquantenaire," explained Maurice Jaccard, a Swiss photographer and member of the collective.
Jaccard moved to Brussels a little over four years ago and has found that street photography to be a nice way to explore Brussels. He said it is also a good way to meet new like-minded people, as well as network in a professional sense.
“I think that 1000streets events are a great place for beginners who are just getting into street photography to receive a bit of advice from more experienced members," said Jaccard. "It often happens that someone explains their camera settings, lens choices, or technique. We even organise walks where participants can follow a more experienced photographer to learn directly in the field."
Members of the 1000Streets Collective pose for a group photo outside Brussels Central Station. Credit: Vicente Torre Hovelson
“Some members have a raw, gritty style, others are more refined, some only shoot in black and white, others love colour. The diversity of style within the collective constantly pushes me to experiment in my own work,” he added.
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