Ricardo Nagaoka presents a series of intimate portraits that addresses the prevailing societal ideas on what makes a man a man. Born in Paraguay to Japanese parents, Ricardo found himself stuck between the macho culture of Latin America and the strict patriarchal norms of his family.  

The photographs, all black and white, vary in crop and position: sometimes up close, cutting off certain body parts and revealing others, whilst others zoom out and show the portrayed head to toe. All images carry a quiet, timeless atmosphere, yet they express a distinct softness. Together, they call for a more inclusive understanding of gender, away from masculine stereotypes—largely based on Ricardo Nagaoka’s own experiences and desires. 

Nagaoka’s projects are not only about breaking down the ruling ideas on masculinity, but more so about building up what this term can include in the future.  

Kitchen, 2022

Aprétame (Justin), 2022

Wrestlers (Self), 2022

Daniel, 2022

Touching (Self), 2022

Brit II, 2023

El Mundo (Rose), 2023

Breaking (John & Timme), 2021

Ivan, 2022

John, 2022

Ricardo Nagaoka

Credo, from the series MADRE

challenges the binary opposition between the ‘good girl’ and the ‘bad girl’ deeply rooted in the Catholic traditions within Bolivian society. Closely collaborating with the sitters of her portraits, Marisol Mendez counters the simplified, sinner-versus-saint, vision on femininity. 

‘Madre’ in this case signifies much more than just a mother figure. It connects to the complex and multi-layered female goddesses traditionally worshipped in indigenous cultures and points to the rich, complex and varied experiences of 

Mendez deliberately uses the alternative spelling to, also linguistically, rid herself from limiting definitions of femininity. 

The portraits play with traditional symbolism associated with the stereotypical female: fragile, devout and proper stand next to rebellious and sexual. By doing so, the photographs show the contradiction experienced by many womxn between rebelling against and adopting these expected gender roles. 

Llorona, from the series Madre

Durazno, from the series Madre

Killa, from the series Madre

El marido sin cabeza, from the series MADRE

Huevo, from the series Madre

Our Lady of Plaster, from the series Madre

Pliegues, from the series Madre

Efigie, from the series Madre

Dolorosa, from the series Madre

Pared, from the series Madre

Estampita, from the series Madre

Quinceañera, from the series Madre

Virgen Andina, from the series MADRE

Soft, from the series Madre

Dual, from the series Madre

Marisol Mendez

is a close observation of performance in everyday life. Which roles do we act out on a daily basis and how does that influence our identities? Using the metaphor of the theatre to separate private (

) spheres, Eleonora Agostini studies her mother’s behaviours, gestures and expressions in her job as a waitress. 

Puzzling together photographs, archival images, moving images and texts into various collages, Eleonora Agostini breaks down the layers of performance one by one, revealing the repetitiveness of gestures, habits and adopted mannerisms used in serving clients.  

The work is also a commentary on the feminist theory of the “gaze”. The restaurant becomes the space where her mother is both the observer and the observed, where parts of her public behaviour as a waitress bleed into her private behaviour of being an individual, woman, and mother. Through her project, Agostini examines this relationship between the female body and the different social roles it performs in different spaces. 

From the series A Study on Waitressing

Eleonora Agostini

Opening Foam Talent | London, 2019

We can't live – without each other, 2019

Ka 2phisi yaka e pinky II, 2013, Her Story series

Tell the Trees to Smile

There Is Nothing New Under the Sun/See Daylight

The Act of Sitting

Malign Influences/The Holy Mountains

Face As Mask II, 2018

Koraal Tabak, 2016

Foam Talent Call 2023 is closed

Being selected as a Foam Talent puts you in the spotlight of the international photography world.

Foam Talent Call

Dialect, 2020

An internationally acclaimed photography prize awarded to artists whose creative vision speaks to our current time.

Foam Paul Huf Award

A fixed exhibition space in the museum that is exclusively oriented towards the innovative work of young talent from the Netherlands and abroad.

Foam 3h

Exhibition series that aims to introduce the public to innovative art created by young visual makers with ground-breaking use of photography.

Next Level

Foam 3h: Karolina Wojtas We can't live – without each other, 2022

Grant established in memory of Florentine Riem Vis with the goal of supporting young photographic talents.

Florentine Riem Vis Grant

Opening de Meervaart 

Youth development programme that focusses on up-and-coming talent within various cultural houses in Amsterdam.

Foam Forward

Talent Programmes

Tones of the Ecotone, 2025

at Foam 3h

Come and see the work of Finn Maätita and Jerrold Saija

A biennial fellowship for three promising emerging photographers working in the artistic field.

recommended Olympus Fellowship

Foam was one of the founding partners of Unseen Amsterdam. Each year, Unseen is the place where many renowned galleries worldwide reveal artist's work

Unseen Photo Fair

Your Foam, 2021

The Your Foam team consists of MBO students from a variety of educations.

Your Foam

Foam Lab was a cultural traineeship for young professionals that offered suitable work experience within the museum. 

Foam Lab

Past programmes

 Foam Magazine #65: Talent, 2024

Front cover: Faceless, 2023. Image from the series (Inter)Faces of Predictions

in Foam Magazine

Discover more Foam Talent

Talent

Foam Magazine is an international award-winning photography publication.

Foam Magazine #64 Extremes - The Environmental Issue. Cover: Abundance, 2023

Cover image: Sunil and Sulbha Dhiwar, with Tanmay, Tejasvi, Sourabh, Prachi and Vivek from the Goody family archive, 2002. Image from the series Eat with Great Delight

Cover image: Untitled / After Courbet (L’origine du monde), 2004. Colour photograph, 46x55cm. Photograph: David Rych.

Foam Magazine 61 Talent. Image: Paintings, Dreams and Love © Yushi Li

Foam Magazine #60 Glyphs – The Image + Text Issue

Image from the series EIGHTEEN NINETY 2020 installation detail from the exhibition In Plain Sight

Foam Magazine is published two times a year. Each issue is dedicated to a specific theme that is explored through work by both world-renowned image makers and newer, emerging talents. Accompanying essays, interviews and opinions by experts in the field come together to shape an in-depth and critical conversation.

Crafted with distinct editorial choices, Foam Magazine has been the recipient of several awards for its high-grade graphic design and quality of content.

Phone showing Foam magazine

Image from the series Playing with Visual Fragments

Title

Foam Magazine #59: Histories - The Archival Issue, 2021 

Image from the series After Hours

title

Image from the series Collection of Unjust Enrichment

Image from the series Where We ve Been, Where We re Going Why

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Magazine

Foam is proud to present a major retrospective exhibition of the celebrated American artist Saul Leiter (1923–2013).  Leiter is seen as one of the most important photographers of the 1950’s in the United States and a pioneer of colour photography. This exhibition brings together over 200 works, consisting of photography, both black-and-white and colour, as well as his abstract paintings. His eclectic oeuvre reveals a practice using shadow, light, and reflections to craft layered compositions. 

Footprints, c. 1950

Foam

Ana, 1950s

Harlem, 1960 © Saul Leiter / Saul Leiter Foundation.

Untitled, undated

“Photographs are often treated as important moments, but really they are fragments and souvenirs of an unfinished world.”

Saul Leiter - An Unfinished World

Created by Manon Wertenbroek in 2014. The artwork is a pigment print on Hahnemuhle Fine Art 285gr, on aluminum, on wood, and with paint, and displayed at 90.5 x 72 cm.

Waves from the Web, 2009

Visible in

The bright colours and cartoon-like drawings on the model’s body create a playful image. At the same time, the model’s elegant posture might remind you of a classic sculpture from the Renaissance era. In 

, Manon Wertenbroek combines the art of sculpture with the medium of photography. By incorporating the model into all sorts of compositions of colours, circles, blocks, numbers and frames, Wertenbroek explores a rather unconventional approach to portraiture. The young man in the photograph is her brother. They were very close as children, but grew apart as they grew older. Creating this series was a way for Wertenbroek to restore the bond with her brother. Yet her brother cannot recognise himself in the portraits, so that these represent her own projections rather than his actual self. 

Manon Wertenbroek was part of the 2015 Foam Talent selection. Her image 

 served as the cover image for the talent issue of Foam Magazine. 

Tandem Rose, 2014 from the series Tandem, 2014

Tandem Rose, 2014

Created by Egon van Herreweghe. The artwork is a Vogue magazine page altered with trichlorethylene, glued on plywood  and displayed at 40 x 30 cm.

The photographic medium is strongly connected to the world of fashion, fuelled by early fashion photographers like Edward Steichen and Richard Avedon. Vogue Magazine, as one of the world’s most important fashion magazines, publishes and largely dictates through images what counts as fashionable and is ‘en vogue’. But what happens when we don’t look at the image itself, but at its reproductions? This question forms the core of the work by visual artist Egon Van Herreweghe. 

Instead of making photographs himself, Van Herreweghe transforms existing photographs from Vogue magazines by using acetone to distort the ink. The process results in painting-like, alienating images, such as the work shown here, from the series 

. Whereas fashion photographs on billboards and in bus stops often just flash by, Van Herreweghe manages to get viewers to stop and take a good look at his work. His art urges us to reflect on the use and consumption of visual material in our daily lives. 

Gucci from the series Elaine Firenze

Gucci

Created by Sara Cwynar in 2015. The artwork is a c-print and displayed at 88 x 72 cm.

A range of colourful items floods the image from below, cluttering the otherwise anonymous space. The objects are carefully composed as a still-life – originally a painting genre that shows arrangements of inanimate objects, flower bouquets or food. Here, on closer inspection, the viewer notices a pattern in the seemingly random collection: whether it is the picture of the moon, a plastic hamburger, or an alarm clock, all items are circular. In this work, artist Sara Cwynar does not just capture the sentiment of a time gone by, but also makes the viewer aware of the amusing fact that certain shapes have become part of our modern-day society. 

, reflecting her obsession with collecting and organising visual materials. In her work, she rearranges the everyday objects and materials she has collected over the years, to create images that represent her own visualisation of the times we live in. 

Circles, 2015 from the series Everything in the studio (destroyed)

Circles, 2015

Created by Raphaël Dallaporta in 2010. The artwork is a dye destruction print process of an original ektachrome slide, Ilfochrome print by Choï in Paris and displayed at 150 x 120 cm.

visible in

Both death and the human anatomy are frequently occurring themes in art. How can you document something as sensitive as death? In contrast to the grief and horrors often associated with death, the French artist Raphaël Dallaporta treats the death of a person with the same businesslike approach as doctor Tulp in Rembrandt’s famous painting, 

, Dallaporta worked with a team of forensic physicians to determine the cause of death. Blood shows a drop of blood against a black background, but also resembles the image of an eye’s pupil and iris. The result is a purely rational image of death, without any of the customary emotions. 

Blood from the series Fragile, Humours

Blood

Opening of recommended Olympus Fellowship at Foam

major partners

collaborative projects

Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation & Foam Talent

Opening of Now You See Me Moria at Foam

Image from the series Flash Points

Foam aims to be a flexible and versatile partner to companies that wish to associate with talent development, contemporary photography of the highest international level, entrepreneurship and innovation. We kindly welcome businesses to commit to our organisation as sponsors.

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Created by Wang Juyan in 2015-2017. The artwork comprises of four prints on Hahnemühle baryta paper (matte), mounted on aluminium boards, each displayed at 250 x 150 cm.

Maldoror #6, 2014

Foam is supported by the VriendenLoterij, Foam Members, De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek, the VandenEnde Foundation and the City of Amsterdam.

In 2021 Foam receives additional support from the Mondriaan Fund and Kickstart Cultuurfonds

, shows a misty mountainous landscape divided across four panels. Wang Juyan’s mountainscape is reminiscent of the art of traditional Chinese painting, 

, but it was actually created through a complicated technical process. During his many travels between London and Beijing, Juyan took hundreds of aerial shots of Chinese mountain ranges. Using digital technology, he combined the images he captured over a period of two years to create a fictional landscape of steep mountains, valleys and rivers. The message behind the piece is as serious as the piece itself is magical: the collage refers to the political value of landscapes in both Eastern and Western history. Traditional Chinese scroll paintings, propagandist murals, cartography, surveillance material captured by airplanes or drones… The title of the series is a reference to George Orwell’s influential novel 1984 (plus 101 years) and the fear of being constantly watched by the authorities.

No 8. from the series Project 2085, 2015-2017

 in 2016. Using burned inkjet print as the medium, the artwork is displayed at 150 x 220 cm.

White Charcoal, 2016

Borges experimented with the destructive power of fire in relation to imagery. She burned the photographic surface of a large-format print, a way of exploring what happens to the meaning of an image when it is burned. Does the piece lose its signification by being damaged or does it acquire a different sense?

Borges portrays objects and artefacts to free them from their specific meaning, to let them stand by themselves. She strives to show us that even photography, a medium bound up with reality by definition, can let go of reality, as happens in a painting or sculpture. In her work, she investigates what representation is, and what a photograph can be. Myths, fabulous creatures and philosophical questions about representation, mimicry and imitation play a major part in her work.

White Charcoal

 in 2008. Using C-type as the medium, the artwork is displayed at 150 x 120 cm.

Bouquet V, 2008

 by Maurice Scheltens and Liesbeth Abbenes looks like a typical Dutch seventeenth-century still life. But like most floral still lifes from that time, this carefully arranged bouquet is far from realistic. Many seventeenth-century painters assembled bouquets in their paintings with an assortment of seasonal flowers, which could never flourish at the same time. Bouquet V is also an artistic construction: the duo cut all parts of the flower arrangement from books, magazines, and catalogs, which were accurately combined into a balanced composition. This two-dimensional construction was then photographed in a three-dimensional setting, distorting the viewers’ gaze and perception of reality. The still life we see is fake and real at the same time: although not quite what it seems, it is a true creation, not a digital tableau.

Bouquet V

A self-portrait of an algorithm no.89, 2023

Vistas #22, 2020

Untitled, from the series In Their Own Image of God, They Created Them

Variations of an Erosion op. 1, 2023

The ability for machines to 'see' and 'create' has improved tremendously over the past decades, meaning that computers have been trained, by humans, to recognise and generate images that come shockingly close to a photorealistic image.

From Innovation to Art: The History of AI Images in Foam Magazine #66: Missing Mirror

Ctrl.Alt.Img

It has become increasingly difficult to distinguish between a human-made photograph and an image created with AI, which threatens to shatter the foundation of photography: its claim to truth.

The Zizi Project (2019 – ongoing)

The Zizi Show (202)

The Zizi Show (2020)

The Zizi Project (2019 – ongoing) — Jake Elwes

Spread from Morehshin Allahyari's portfolio in Foam Magazine #66

Moon-faced ماه طلعت, Video (color, sound) 2048 × 3712 pixels 2 minutes 5 seconds

Moon-faced ماه طلعت,

ماه طلعت Moon-faced — Morehshin Allahyari

Behind the Scenes: Resurrect by Paolo Cirio

Mugshots.com, N2, from the series Obscurity, 2016

Visit the museum

Photography Through the Lens of AI

from the series Nothing New Under the Sun

Foam produced a series of podcasts on the occasion of Foam Talent 2022. In this third and final episode, host and curator of this year's Foam Talent exhibition Mirelva Berghout speaks with Foam Talent Kata Geibl and special guest Shailoh Phillips.

Podcast

The Feast Inside, from the series Paintings Dreams and Love

Talent Talks 2022 - Kata Geibl & Shailoh Phillips

from the series Marble Ass

Foam produced a series of podcasts on the occasion of Foam Talent 2022. In this second episode, host and curator of this year's Foam Talent exhibition Mirelva Berghout speaks with Foam Talent Pavo Marinović and special guest Barbara Gregov.

Talent Talks 2022 - Pavo Marinović & Barbara Gregov

From the series Inner Journey

Foam produced a series of podcasts on the occasion of Foam Talent 2022. In this first episode, host and curator of this year's Foam Talent exhibition Mirelva Berghout speaks with Foam Talent Marvel Harris and special guest Hélène Selam Kleih.

Talent Talks 2022 with Marvel Harris & Hélène Selam Kleih

from the series Woman, who would be King

The 20 participating artists look closely at both the world around us, and the one within - without shying away from discomfort or pain. Learn more about this year's Foam Talents through digital exhibitions, articles, podcasts and more.

Painting

Ricardo Nagaoka

Marisol Mendez

Eleonora Agostini

Talent

Magazine

Saul Leiter
An Unfinished World

Tandem Rose, 2014

Gucci

Circles, 2015

Blood, from the series Fragile, 2010

Our partnerships

No 8.

White Charcoal

Bouquet V

Photography Through the Lens of AI

Talent Talks 2022 - Kata Geibl & Shailoh Phillips

Talent Talks 2022 - Pavo Marinović & Barbara Gregov

Talent Talks 2022 with Marvel Harris & Hélène Selam Kleih

Foam Talent 2022

Artists shaping the future of photography

Foam Talent 2022 Frankfurt

Talent Digital 2022

From Innovation to Art: The History of AI images

Diana Markosian - Father

Playing, protesting and photographing at the same time:
A Closer Look at the Work of Alp Peker

Saul Leiter - An Unfinished World

Painting

Ricardo Nagaoka

Marisol Mendez

Eleonora Agostini

Talent

Magazine

Saul Leiter An Unfinished World

Tandem Rose, 2014

Gucci

Circles, 2015

Blood, from the series Fragile, 2010

Our partnerships

No 8.

White Charcoal

Bouquet V

Photography Through the Lens of AI

Talent Talks 2022 - Kata Geibl & Shailoh Phillips

Talent Talks 2022 - Pavo Marinović & Barbara Gregov

Talent Talks 2022 with Marvel Harris & Hélène Selam Kleih

Foam Talent 2022

Artists shaping the future of photography

Foam Talent 2022 Frankfurt

Talent Digital 2022

From Innovation to Art: The History of AI images

Diana Markosian - Father

Playing, protesting and photographing at the same time: A Closer Look at the Work of Alp Peker

Saul Leiter - An Unfinished World

Saul Leiter
An Unfinished World

Playing, protesting and photographing at the same time:
A Closer Look at the Work of Alp Peker