This yearbook brings together twenty creatives and community organisers from all walks of life: musicians, visual artists, dancers, art collectives, and everything in between. From personal to political, their contributions reflect diverse forms of community-building through care. How do they inspire each other? Who do they care for? How do they care? 💘
- Name: Camille Carbonaro
- Photographer / Publisher and founder of Macaronibook
- Pronouns: she/her
- Age: 33
- Location: Brussels
- Instagram: @macaronibook
What do you care most about, and how is it relevant to your art/practice? It could be a social issue, your community, yourself, or anything!
I love to listen to personal stories that are part of a collective memory: about origins, multiculturalism, family stories, exile, communities… Through Macaronibook, I want to highlight photo projects that question these themes. It is a sensitive, poetic and political choice.
<img class="editorial-image-50-left" src="https://assets-global.website-files.com/61eebcc683107b99137f4423/64bfece962b4ec95bc2867f2_DifferentClassCarbonaro_01%20%C2%A9%20Camille%20Carbonaro.webp"/>
<img class="editorial-image-50-right" src="https://assets-global.website-files.com/61eebcc683107b99137f4423/64bfece93f2217b14440a67b_DifferentClassCarbonaro_06%20%C2%A9%20Camille%20Carbonaro%20%E2%80%93%20photoproject%20by%20%20Laure%20Lhoas.webp"/>
Three words that come to mind when you hear the term ‘care’?
Solidarity, respect and listening to yourself.
What inspires you to care more for others, or to use your art/practice as a platform to do so?
Publishing photo books is about having the power to share stories and perspectives, it is also about listening to others and giving a voice to artists.
How do you hope to inspire others?
Through my personal photography practice and my work as an editor, I try to share poetic, sensitive subjects and offer an opening to questions linked to our world and our society. Macaronibook shows that it is possible to make self-published (as I did 7 years ago) books with little money and share your desires and convictions through them. That is an incredible activist power.
<img class="editorial-image" src="https://assets-global.website-files.com/61eebcc683107b99137f4423/64bfece902c670ea073e07a5_DifferentClassCarbonaro_09%20Book%20Pourquoi%20%3F%20by%20Erell%20Hemmer%20%C2%A9%20Johan%20Poezevara.webp"/>
What type of change do you want to inspire in your community/environment?
I wish the publishing world would stop using the male name ‘publishers fair’ or ‘salon d’éditeur’ in French. There are few female publishers (in Belgium and France) but we’re here!
How much influence do you think (y)our backgrounds have on (y)our art and practices?
I think that our personal history, our relationships and our life experiences influence our art. I’m very interested in psycho-genealogy and inter-generational transmission. So it's not just our backgrounds that influence us, but those of our family, our history and our roots.
What are some challenges that you face while doing what you are passionate about?
The lack of money of course. Unfortunately, this is the thing that spoils creativity and well-being. It is no longer a challenge but a daily struggle. There is also a lot of competition in the publishing and art world. I was anxious for a long time because I was afraid of not succeeding, but I understood that we should only do what we love, for ourselves first. Achievement is not necessarily linked to success.
<img class="editorial-image-50-left" src="https://assets-global.website-files.com/61eebcc683107b99137f4423/64bfecea185b435f57cb5431_DifferentClassCarbonaro_07%20%C2%A9%20Camille%20Carbonaro%20-%20editing%20photographs%20of%20Alaa%20Mansou.webp"/>
<img class="editorial-image-50-right" src="https://assets-global.website-files.com/61eebcc683107b99137f4423/64bfecea3bd53003995a339e_DifferentClassCarbonaro_02%20%C2%A9%20Camille%20Carbonaro.webp"/>
How do you define ‘community’?
Ideally, I see a community as a group of people who share the same ideas and struggles. People who support each other...
What is a ‘safe space’ for you?
My bed is a safe space. A safe space is a tolerant and non-judgmental space. I also think of the word security (but that's an overused term).
Is receiving care a privilege, a right?
This should be a right. For everyone, everywhere in 2023.
Do you think this generation is redefining care and community building? And how?
I have a lot of hope for our generation and the younger generations who are already politicised. I think we are redefining many things. It is vital for us to belong to communities, to build things (but also to destroy them) and to think together facing governments that promote anti-communitarianism.
I see a community as a group of people who share the same ideas and struggles
<img class="editorial-image-50-left" src="https://assets-global.website-files.com/61eebcc683107b99137f4423/64bfece977716a6f0806e753_DifferentClassCarbonaro_04%20%C2%A9%20Camille%20Carbonaro.webp"/>
<img class="editorial-image-50-right" src="https://assets-global.website-files.com/61eebcc683107b99137f4423/64bfece9997e329c98b747f2_DifferentClassCarbonaro_03%20%C2%A9%20Greg%20Dua.webp"/>
What small acts of care do you hope to see more of?
The exchange and mutual support in the publishing and art world; It is important to give each other advice, to exchange opinions and to share open calls for example.
How do you balance taking care of others and taking care of yourself? Do you make that distinction in the first place?
I've always been the kind of person who says yes to be nice to everybody but I lose myself on the way. Now I take care of my mental health first to be ready and healthy to take care of others.
Do you care about being cared about?
Yes, of course. It's so good to feel listened to and supported.
<img class="editorial-image" src="https://assets-global.website-files.com/61eebcc683107b99137f4423/64bfeef43f2217b14443b947_DifferentClassCarbonaro_08%20Book%20Oh%20fatche%20by%20Camille%20Carbonaro%20%E2%80%93%20picture%20%C2%A9%20Johan%20Poezevara.webp"/>
What do you want to be remembered for?
Macaronibook is a publishing house that questions sensitive and political issues. Moreover, it is run by a woman!
<div class="editorial-banner"> <div class=“editorial-credits”> Photos shot by Camille Carbonaro, Chloé Milos Azzopardi, Greg Dua, Laure Lhoas, Alaa Mansou, Johan Poezevara <br/> camillecarbonaro.com <br/> macaronibook.com </div></div>
Different Class works with the interest of their community at heart.
Our work’s purpose is to foster a solid network for independent artists, those who love them, and those who want to support them. Become a member to contribute to the local Belgian art scene.
Our membership plans
