In the 1980s, Daniel Decot studied to become a theatre actor and director, but he also took night classes in photography, so he could capture the productions he was in, taking pictures of his colleagues and friends. A curator saw his photos, invited him to be part of an exhibition and so his career as a photographer began.
Although there is a lot of nudity in his work, Decot does not consider himself an erotic photographer. “It’s just natural, nude people. No sex, just nude people,” he tells Wander+Lust. “The purpose is to make each picture the most simple I can. No artifice. Just a face, a body and to capture something with the models. A look. I don’t know. It’s very introspective work.”
Decot lives in Mons, a Belgian city of almost 100,000 people about an hour from Brussels, the Belgian capital and administrative centre for the European Union. It’s the city he grew up in, and it provides him a chill home life, with easy access to nature and to cosmopolitan experiences.
We asked Decot for some of his recommendations in Mons, Brussels, and for his favourite travel destination, Greece, where he’s found some ideal nude beaches.
What’s there to see and do in Mons?
There are many historic buildings, like the Collegiate Church of Sainte-Waudru (Pl. du Chapitre, Mons), which is UNESCO listed. The city was named the European Capital of Culture in 2015. It also has more modern constructions, including a new district called Haine, which is along the River Haine. That’s where the modern Wallonia Conference Center Mons (Av. Mélina Mercouri 9, Mons) is located.
You have a lot of theatres, art galleries, concert halls, museums, cafés. Beaux-Arts Mons (Rue Neuve 8, Mons; the museum is closed for renovations until later in 2024) is really beautiful, with good exhibitions—that’s my favourite place. The building is just nine years old and every year there is a new very big exhibition. They will couple a major artist, like Rodin, with the work of a newer Belgian artist. The biggest theatre is Mars—Mons arts de la scène (Rue de Nimy 106, Mons). They present works from all over the world, including ones in English, Spanish and French, of course, and a lot of dance, circus performances—from classical to very contemporary.
My favourite restaurant is L’Envers (Rue de la Coupe 20, Mons). It’s got everything I love. They serve a Belgian dish, carbonnade flamande, which is beef, onions, prunes, sugar and vinegar. They have croquettes de crevettes, tomatoes full of small Belgian shrimp, pork with onion sauce. Belgian chocolates and beers. The décor is very 19th-century Paris tavern, art nouveau, art deco. The atmosphere makes you feel calm.
The scene in Mons is very mixed, straight and gay people together.
What do you like to do in Brussels?
I will go into Brussels for the nightlife, to eat at restaurants and visit cafés. I like the Musée Modern Museum (Rue de la Régence 3, Bruxelles; temporarily closed). It’s an art deco building that’s beautiful both inside and out. Bibliothèque Royale de Belgique (Mont des Arts 28, Bruxelles) has excellent exhibitions all year long.
What do you like to dip in to in the gay scene in Brussels?
Brussels is a big city and there are many gay bars. Marking the gay area is a big street mural by gay comic artist Ralf König (Rue de la Chaufferette, Bruxelles), and most of the gay bars are close to that fresco. For a night out, I would start with a drink at the bear bar Le Baroque (Rue du Marché au Charbon 44, Bruxelles) before going dancing. During the summer, you can drink outside on the street, which is full of people, many of them gay. Just in front of Le Baroque, there’s a grill called Le Plattesteen (Rue du Marché au Charbon 41, Bruxelles), which has a terrace full of people. I also like L’Homo Erectus Bar (Rue du Marché au Charbon 5, Bruxelles). It’s a cozy bar and has the same owners as the men’s clothing and fetish shop Spit it out (Rue du Marché au Charbon 3, Bruxelles), which is next door. L’Homo Erectus is a small pub that plays music from the 1980s and ’90s. Sometimes I’ll go to a sauna—Macho (Rue du Marché au Charbon 106, Bruxelles) is a good one. You can have a drink, eat and of course, if you meet a guy, there is a swimming pool, cabins, a sauna. The age range is 20 to 50 years, it’s really mixed.
If I want to dance, I will just dance at home. I’m too old to go out dancing.
What’s your favourite travel destination?
I can tell you without thinking: Greece. I have been visiting the Cyclades islands since the 1980s, more than 10 years with my boyfriend. We travel there almost annually. We fly to Athens and take ferries, and spend one week visiting an island we haven’t been to before—we’ve seen a lot of them, and they are very different from each other. Then we spend one week on Naxos, which we think is the best island. It’s quiet and still really Greek—Mykonos is no longer very Greek, Paros is more touristic. Naxos has big beaches and some nudist beaches, including a gay nudist beach called Plaka. We are a quiet couple, so we don’t go to party. For that, maybe Paros is better.
What’s something you have to bring on every trip?
My camera, of course. And my man. Not many clothes, because we always stay naked on the nude beach and in our room, so we take only a small amount of luggage.
When you travel, are you mostly taking photos for yourself, or are you also taking photos as part of your art?
Sometimes I don’t take my professional camera and just take pictures on my cellphone, so it’s just memories.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
