Lukas van Bentum (b. 1995, DE) is a visual artist and photographer based in Brussels. His practice revolves around long-term, research-driven projects that probe the shifting landscapes of identity, belonging, and power. Working across Germany, Russia, Moldova, Great Britain, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and the United States, he examines how social, cultural, and political forces shape both individual lives and collective narratives.
Through his practice he traces the fragile intersections of privilege and marginalisation, seeking out the tensions between personal stories and broader historical currents. His work navigates spaces where identity is constructed and contested, revealing the complexity beneath seemingly fixed realities. Rather than approaching photography as a transparent window onto these contexts, he treats the image as both document and proposition. Formally, his practice is grounded in an expanded documentary approach that brings together different visual and research-based strategies.
His projects have been exhibited internationally, including at Deichtorhallen Hamburg, MARTa Herford, Landesmuseum Koblenz, NRW-Forum Düsseldorf, and FotoForum Brasschaat. In 2019, his series Identity Negotiation received the gute aussichten – new german photography award. For his project Spectacle, he was awarded the Roger de Conynck Prize from the King Baudouin Foundation. In 2025, he self-published his first photobook Erosion, created within the framework of the Roger de Conynck Grant.
Through his practice he traces the fragile intersections of privilege and marginalisation, seeking out the tensions between personal stories and broader historical currents. His work navigates spaces where identity is constructed and contested, revealing the complexity beneath seemingly fixed realities. Rather than approaching photography as a transparent window onto these contexts, he treats the image as both document and proposition. Formally, his practice is grounded in an expanded documentary approach that brings together different visual and research-based strategies.
His projects have been exhibited internationally, including at Deichtorhallen Hamburg, MARTa Herford, Landesmuseum Koblenz, NRW-Forum Düsseldorf, and FotoForum Brasschaat. In 2019, his series Identity Negotiation received the gute aussichten – new german photography award. For his project Spectacle, he was awarded the Roger de Conynck Prize from the King Baudouin Foundation. In 2025, he self-published his first photobook Erosion, created within the framework of the Roger de Conynck Grant.
2017-2018 ERASMUS, Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Ghent
2015-2019 BA Visual Arts, Fachhochschule Bielefeld
2025 Pour Gaza, Centre Culturel de Liège, Les Chiroux, Liège
2023 UNEXPOSED, PhotoTWENS 2023, Romaanse Port, Leuven
2022 (Un)broken, KASK, Gent
2021 UNEXPOSED, PhotoTWENS 2021, Romaanse Port, Leuven
2021 FotoForum Talent, FotoForum Brasschaat
2020 guteaussichten 2019/2020, Landesmuseum Koblenz
2020 guteaussichten 2019/2020, Deichtorhallen Hamburg
2020 7th LUMIX Festival for Young Visual Journalism, Hanover
2019 guteaussichten 2019/2020, NRW-Forum Düsseldorf
2019 Werkschau, Department of Art and Design, Bielefeld
2018 File not found, YUGEN, Ghent
2017 Kosmos, MARTa, Herford
2016 Tales and Tiles, Department of Art and Design, Bielefeld
2023 UNEXPOSED, PhotoTWENS 2021, laureate
2022 Roger de Conynck Prize, King Baudouin Foundation
2021 UNEXPOSED, PhotoTWENS 2021, laureate
2020 FotoForum Talent, FotoForum Brasschaat, laureate
2019 guteaussichten – new german photography 19/20, laureate
2023 Roger de Conynck Grant, King Baudouin Foundation
2017-2022 Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes e.V. Grant
2022 “Hallo, ich komme aus der siebten Liga”, 11FREUNDE, #245
2022 “Der implantierte Mikrochip”, taz FUTURZWEI, #19
2021 “Im Land der grünen Bananen”, 11FREUNDE, #235
2021 Identity Negotiation, Die Politische Meinung, #566
2017 Utopia, HANT Magazin, #09