Hernie & Plume

A story about stereotypes, aging, social mobility, but, above all, an outstanding love story.

I met Blieke, Nicole and their little dog ‘Plume’ (feather) on a December evening, while I was taking pictures of Christmas decorations in a trailer camp in the outskirts of Brussels. A man came out of his cabin, and asked what I was doing there. I apologized, and he said : ‘Come inside and have a beer with us instead.’ We became friends, it was in 2013. They invited me to various wacky parties and told me about their amazing life story.

I immediately fell in love with Blieke and Nicole’s small wooden cabin. Its decoration is warm, eclectic, cheerful and also a bit messy. The objects laid out here and there are as many relics of moments of conviviality, friendship or love collected over the years. In the centre stands this huge table, always set with a colorful oilcloth which changes according to the seasons and keeps traces of time and feasts. Friends are never far away. Blieke and Nicole are, as we say in Brussels, two ‘zwanzeurs’ ; they love to laugh, make jokes and party. As when they invited me to the genuine wedding of two small dogs, or when they organized me a birthday party worth the Olympic games.

Blieke often told me, when I went to see them, that I had again missed an exceptional evening. So I gave them disposable black and white cameras to record themselves all those moments that I could not capture.
As we talked, Blieke and Nicole told me about how they met, about their wounds, their moments of pride, the accidents of life they experienced. Their health became fragile, friends stopped gathering in their cabin. But the love between them continued to grow and flourish.

Their story plays with stereotypes that we all tend to have, no matter how much we try to avoid them, and also confronts us with our possible short-sightedness. While reading, various criminal facts are evoked. What is the couple’s involvement in these events? Are Blieke and Nicole Brussels versions of Bonnie and Clyde? 

From the personal archives that the couple entrusted to me, the reader will question his own prejudices and discover the true story of Blieke and Nicole, which they share with disconcerting sincerity and generosity.

Katherine Longly

Website: www.katherine-longly.net

© KATHERINE LONGLY, series Hernie & Plume, 2013 - 2020