ET's world
ET's world

BIO

ET or the abbreviation of Erik Tanghe was born with a camera in his hand the 1st of july. He was a very visual child and at the age of six he managed to put 1000 pieces puzzles together in a little bit more then one hour.

Erik Tanghe
'Erik Tanghe '

He sees combinations and colours where other people don't see them.. making him the perfect photographer. He has the eye for detail and even while climbing harsh mountains or driving motorbikes at high speed he's still able to discover the nicest spots for a good picture.

Erik Tanghe in Africa
'ET High above Addis Ababa, Ethiopia'
Erik Tanghe in front of Golden Gate Bridge
'ET in front of the Golden Gate Bridge during an assignment in America for Harley-Davidson'
Erik Tanghe in Gorges du Verdon, South of France
'Erik Tanghe in Gorges du Verdon, South of France'

His prime interest was filmmaking during mountain climbing and throughout his numerous trips to the Swiss and Italian Alps he made lots of documentaries which he showed to big audiences afterwards.
His biggest climb was for sure the ascension of the north face of the Cima Ovest di Lavaredo. In the middle of the 550 meter high wall there is a gigantic overhang (an upside down stairway) of 50 meters which is called the biggest roof in the world.. He climbed it at the age of 21 making a great movie of it during the impressive two days trip. See the trailer of this movie here

Tre Cime Di Lavaredo
'One of the best known rockformations of the world seen from the Drei Zinne hutte.. The 'tre cime di Lavaredo'
Drei Zinne
'The Drei Zinnen (Tre Cime Di Lavaredo) with the Westliche Zinne on the right. The huge upside-down stairway is clearly visible underneath the big black spot in the northface'
Tre Cime Di Lavaredo
'The Drei Zinnen (Tre Cime Di Lavaredo) very early in the morning (05 O clock) on our way to the northface'
Biggest overhang
'Seen from the valley below, the biggest overhang of the world can't be missed... It's like a giant animal bit a huge chunk out of the northface'
Riesendak
'After passing the biggest roof of the world it's impossible to get back because of the overhanging nature of the rock. A dropping stone hits the ground 45 meter away form the mountain. The only way is up to the summit!'
Westliche Zinne
'The 'Riesendach is a huge upside down stairway, 250 meter above the ground '
Climbing the Riesendach
'Erik Tanghe climbing the first meters of the 50 meter upside down stairway, known as the biggest roof of the world, Westliche Zinne (Cima Ovest Di Lavaredo) Northface at the age of 21, Italian Dolomites, together with Peter Gerard they were the 7th team to ever climb the route and the youngest team ever. Watch the movie here
Climbing the Riesendach
'In the upper section of the biggest overhang on earth, Cima Ovest di Lavaredo (Westliche Zinne) Italian Dolomites Watch the movie here
Erik Tanghe in the Diretissima
'Erik Tanghe in the northface (Diretissima) of the Cima Grande di Lavaredo (GroBe Zinne) Italian Dolomites, at the age of 20. He and Peter Gerard will have to bivouac on the summit without any sleeping material making it a very very cold night '
Summit of the Wildspitze
'Erik Tanghe on the summit of Wildspitze (3772 m) in Austria together with Els Vermeersch during an assignment for magazine 'Weekend Knack''
Verdon Climbing
'Erik Tanghe climbing in the French Gorges du Verdon in the eighties'
Erik Tanghe at work in Verdon
'Erik Tanghe at work on steep rock in Verdon, France'
Erik Tanghe at work in Verdon
'During the filming of 'De Jacht op de Vleermuisman''

Climbing in harsh conditions taught him to always stay focused, to manage difficult circumstances and to act quick.. a quality which he will often use during travels all over the world where he makes pictures for well known magazines in Belgium and abroad.

Erik Tanghe climbing in Freyr
'Erik Tanghe climbing hard rock in Freyr (double you - 7a), Belgium, during the filming of 'Games Climbers Play' Watch the trailer here'
Erik Tanghe in Mozet
'Erik Tanghe climbing one of the routes he opened in Mozet, Belgium, 'Games Climbers Play' Watch the trailer here'
Erik Tanghe at work in Verdon
'Erik Tanghe climbing in Freyr, Belgium (L'Escargot Trempé)'
Erik Tanghe in Borneo
'His 6 weeks trip to the rather unexplored jungles of Borneo got him into contact with well know magazines and he sold his story to six of them. It was the start of his free-lance career. See the pictures of this trip here'
Erik Tanghe climbing the Grosshorn
'The most important asset of a photographer are his feet..cause they will take him to the places where no others go.. Here on his way alone to the Grosshorn, Berner Oberland, Switzerland'
Erik Tanghe climbing the Grosshorn
'Selfportrait with selftimer on the way to the Grosshorn, Berner Oberland, Switzerland'
Erik Tanghe on the summit of Mont Brulé
'On the summit of 'Mont Brule', Switzerland after a climb of the northface'
On his way to Monchjochhutte
'Erik Tanghe On his way to the Monchjochhutte in bad weather'
Creux du Van
'Standing on the edge of the Creux Du Van, Switzerland 2013'

Taking pictures of motorbikes is something he has been doing for quite a while. He worked as a testpilot (see pictures below) for motorcycle magazines for more than 10 years and he knows the perfect lines motorcycles follow going through a curve.. His ability to act fast offered him the timing of capturing motorbikes moving at high speed

Erik Tanghe driving the Honda X11
'Erik Tanghe pushing the Honda X11, one of his all time favorites, into the corner, Belgium'
Erik Tanghe on the Honda SP 2
'Testing the Honda SP 2 on the Almeria racetrack '
Erik Tanghe driving the Honda CBR 600
'Driving the Honda CBR 600 on the racetrack of Nogaro, France'
Erik Tanghe driving the Yamaha R6 on the Almeria racetrack
'Erik Tanghe on the cover of Motorrijder Magazine testing the Yamaha R6 on the Almeria Racetrack, Spain'
Erik Tanghe on the Almeria Racetrack
'Driving the groundbreaking Buell Firebolt on the Valencia racetrack during the Official European launch'

Lately Erik Tanghe is giving plenty of importance to film, animation/cartoons and art

Acrylic painting by Erik Tanghe
'Baobab Forest, Acrylic painting'
Acrylic painting by Erik Tanghe
'Little boat - Big storm, Acrylic painting'
Acrylic painting by Erik Tanghe
'Red Flowers, Acrylic painting'

For this also see my youtube channel and the filmpage on this website

Acrylic painting by Erik Tanghe
'Giving Birth in The Mountains, an animation by Erik Tanghe. Watch it here '
Acrylic painting by Erik Tanghe
'Secrets of The High Mountains, an animation by Erik Tanghe. Watch it here '
cartoon about the corona crisis
'Cartoon on the Corona crisis'
cartoon about the corona crisis
'Cartoon on the Corona crisis'

For more cartoons, go to my cartoonpage

sunset panorama
'Pink cloud at sunset Frijthout, Park in Hove, Belgium'

Lately, I hardly do any professional photo assignements but photography will always remain my passion and I do update the photography part of this website. Check the latest great shots over here