BOOK
The FOMU library collection comprises more than 30,000 titles and contains relevant publications from the very beginning of photography to the most recent trends and developments. It contains books, magazines, brand and photographic documentation, auction catalogues and archives. The collection is divided into a study collection, a museum collection and a collection of precious works, and is used intensively by researchers from various disciplines. The collection took shape with the acquisition of the library of the Association Belge de Photographie and the library of the company Agfa-Gevaert. It boasts books from the (inter)national photographic canon with an emphasis on Western European and Belgian photographers. The collection is the largest and most specialized of the Dutch-speaking region.
The library collection is divided into three sections. The Museum Collection covers books from the international photographic canon from ca. 1950 until now, with an emphasis on Belgian and Western European photographers. The publications range from the work of a particular artist to that of an art movement . Magazines that have a significant historical or artistic worth are also part of the museum collection. The Valuable Works are those which are fragile and unique, generally published before 1950, and that have great value as cultural heritage. The Study Collection consists of books, magazines and other documents from the 17th century (precursors of photography) to the present day, covering various subjects within photography (techniques, styles, movements, equipment, history, manuals). A selection from the study collection as well as recent issues of photography magazines are freely available for viewing in the reading room.
Max Pinckers, The Fourth Wall, Self-published, 2012, Collection FOMU, 2013-34
La catastrophe d'Anvers. 6 septembre 1889, Anvers: Section anversoise de l'Association belge de Photographie, 1889, Collection FOMU, 1968-545
Henri Cartier Bresson, The decisive moment, New York/Paris: Steidl, 2014, Collection FOMU, 2015-392
Exhibition of the Works of Industries of All Nations, 1851. Reports by the Juries on the subjects in the 30 classes into which the exhibition was divided, London: Spicer Brothers, 1852, Collection FOMU, 1966-60
Bieke Depoorter, As it may be, Veurne: Hannibal, 2017, Collection FOMU, 18078090
Sanne De Wilde, The Island of the Colorblind, Veurne: Hannibal, 2017, Collection FOMU, 18098129
Lucas Leffler & Benoît de Moffarts, La Belgique vue du frigo / België gezien door de koelkast, Brussel: Prismes, 2015, Collection FOMU, 18098297
Harry Gruyaert, It's not about cars, Antwerpen, Gallery Fifty One, 2017, Collection FOMU.
Vincent Delbrouck, Some windy trees, Self-published by V.D., 2013, Collection FOMU.
Marie-Françoise Plissart, Jacques Derrida, Droit de regards, Brussel, Les Impressions nouvelles, 2010
Thirteen million Congolese, Brussels: Inforcongo, 1959
Collection FOMU, 21111260
Dries Segers, Fungi, self-published, 2019, Collection FOMU.
Lara Gasparotto & Emmanuel d'Autreppe, Sleepwalk, Yellow Now-Angles vifs, Crisnée, 2012, Collection FOMU
Jan Kempenaers & Willem Jan Neutelings, Spomenik #1-26, Amsterdam, Roma Publications, 2010, Collection FOMU
Paul Casaer, people, bags, bushes & tracks, Brussel, self-published, 2001, Collection FOMU.
Larry Sultan, Pictures from home, New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1995, Collection FOMU
Man Ray, Man Ray. Photographies 1920-1934, Paris, Hartford: James Thrall Soby, 1934, Collection FOMU, F5357
Karl Blossfeldt, Urformen der Kunst, Berlin: Ernst Wasmuth, 1953, Collection FOMU, F155
Jeff Wall, A Sudden Gust of Wind (after Hokusai), Oakland Ca.: TBW Books, 2023, Collection FOMU
Nan Goldin, The ballad of sexual dependency, New York, N.Y., Aperture, 1986, Collection FOMU
Gregory Halpern, ZZYZX, London, Mack, 2019, Collection FOMU
Georges Champroux, Brussels by night. 19 unpublished photographs, Maison Ernest Thill, Brussels, 1935, Collection FOMU, P/2002/1483, © Georges Champroux
David Helbich, Belgian solutions, volume 1, MediuMER, Ghent, 2013, collection FOMU
Nick Hannes, Red Journey, Lannoo, Tielt, 2009, Collection FOMU
Tamara Berghmans e.a., Photobook Belge, Veurne/Antwerp: Hannibal Publishing/FOMU, 2019, Collection FOMU
Masahisa Fukase, Ravens, Tokyo: Sokyusha, 1986, Collection FOMU