Io Cooman is a photographer and photo-editor for newspapers such as De Volkskrant (NL) and De Tijd (BE) with a strong interest in visual anthropology, colonial history and the impact of images in media.
Her photoseries Io Cooman’s Collection of Human Beings Inhabiting the Southwestern Parts Of The Low Countries (2013) explores the propagandistic imagery made in Belgian Congo during the colonial era of Leopold II.
In her work she balances theory and photography. The main focus lies on herself as a photographer and on the power and responsibility that comes along with making and distributing images.
When in New Orleans she will continue her research for a way to incorporate reflexivity, a strong theoretical base and participation in photography. A medium that is, after all, a rather classic tool to tell a story.