Strange things behind Belgian windows snapped by photographer Jean-Luc Feixa

Strange things behind Belgian windows: Photographer spent three years snapping objects displayed on windowsills across Belgium – and says its residents are ‘natural born artists’

  • The photographer is Frenchman Jean-Luc Feixa, who has compiled his pictures into a book
  • The tome is called Strange Things Behind Belgian Windows and contains 160 windowsill images
  • Feixa said: ‘[The] windows allowed me to enter delirious worlds. I took a deep plunge into the Belgian soul’

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Belgians are ‘natural born artists’.

That’s what French photographer Jean-Luc Feixa concluded after spending three years photographing objects on windowsills across Belgium.

They are installed like ‘personal museums’, strange and intriguing treasures ‘clearly on display for passers-by’. Feixa – who moved to Brussels in 2013 – snapped so many that he ended up compiling them into a book called Strange Things Behind Belgian Windows, published by Luster.

He said: ‘Belgians love cats and dogs, have a strange passion for pharaohs, figurines and miniatures of all kinds, and are clearly natural born artists. This is my conclusion three years after having started my public window project. Before the start of this journey, I thought I was living in a cold, grey country. [The] windows allowed me to enter delirious worlds – I took a deep plunge right into the Belgian soul.

‘Could these windows be a form of dialogue? My wish is to believe that they actually are. Although no one seems to be posting them on social media, they are actually out there on the streets, just for the sake of conversation with anyone passing by.’

Scroll down to see a selection of the 160 images that appear in Feixa’s tome.

French photographer Jean-Luc Feixa spent three years photographing objects on windowsills across Belgium

Feixa - who moved to Brussels in 2013 - has created a compendium of windowsill snaps called Strange Things Behind Belgian Windows

Feixa – who moved to Brussels in 2013 – has created a compendium of windowsill snaps called Strange Things Behind Belgian Windows

Feixa said: 'Belgians love cats and dogs, have a strange passion for pharaohs, figurines and miniatures of all kinds, and are clearly natural born artists'

Feixa said: ‘Belgians love cats and dogs, have a strange passion for pharaohs, figurines and miniatures of all kinds, and are clearly natural born artists’

Feixa said the windows allowed him to enter 'delirious worlds - I took a deep plunge right into the Belgian soul'

Feixa said the windows allowed him to enter ‘delirious worlds – I took a deep plunge right into the Belgian soul’

Feixa likes to think that Belgian window displays are a form of dialogue

Feixa likes to think that Belgian window displays are a form of dialogue

Feixa describes the objects photographed as 'strange and intriguing treasures'

Feixa describes the objects photographed as ‘strange and intriguing treasures’ 

The objects appear to Feixa to be a way of communicating 'with anyone passing by'

The objects appear to Feixa to be a way of communicating ‘with anyone passing by’

Feixa said in regard to his project: 'You walk down the street, look through a window and get to see something from a new perspective. You get a glimpse of another universe very different from your own, and get to feel something new'. This display is evidently some sort of shrine to Beavis and Butt-head - and Kurt Cobain

Feixa said in regard to his project: ‘You walk down the street, look through a window and get to see something from a new perspective. You get a glimpse of another universe very different from your own, and get to feel something new’. This display is evidently some sort of shrine to Beavis and Butt-head – and Kurt Cobain

Belgium just seemed like a cold, grey country to Feixa before he started his window project

Belgium just seemed like a cold, grey country to Feixa before he started his window project

In this scene, alongside a picture of two ferries is a note that says 'please don’t put bikes or motorbikes here, only residents'

In this scene, alongside a picture of two ferries is a note that says ‘please don’t put bikes or motorbikes here, only residents’

Some window scenes have apparently disappeared - but have been recorded for posterity by Feixa

Some window scenes have apparently disappeared – but have been recorded for posterity by Feixa

One of the stranger displays photographed for the project - and the competition is stiff

One of the stranger displays photographed for the project – and the competition is stiff

Weigh to go: This window contains some sort of homage to sets of scales. Probably...

Weigh to go: This window contains some sort of homage to sets of scales. Probably…

Land of hope and gory: Feixa stumbled across a few slightly chilling windowsill displays

Land of hope and gory: Feixa stumbled across a few slightly chilling windowsill displays

Strange Things Behind Belgian Windows by Luster is out now, priced at €17.50

Strange Things Behind Belgian Windows by Luster is out now, priced at €17.50

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