Created by Gerco de Ruijter in 2003. The artwork is a c-print on aluminum and displayed at 50 x 50 cm.

Today one might think that this image was taken with the help of a drone. However, back in 2003, drones weren’t all that common. Instead, the Dutch photographer Gerco de Ruijter attached an analogue camera to a kite to get a bird's-eye view of the construction site. De Ruijter’s artistic practice is characterised by his use of unique perspectives, allowing him to search for patterns from the sky to create abstract representations of the landscape. The geometric shapes in the image consist of areas from the building site in different stages of construction, giving the image a mosaic-like feel. 

In the early 2000s, several photographers were invited to capture the construction of the financial district of Amsterdam (Zuidas). 

 belongs to a series that presents Gerco de Ruijter’s interpretation of this project. 

Mahler IV

From the series (Inter)Faces of Predictions

, Sheung Yiu looks into different practices of face reading, facial prediction and facial recognition. For this multi-medial series, consisting of a video essay, a series of self-portraits and an extensive research notebook of visual references, he submitted his own face as a test case: scanning, screening and analysing his features in order to understand the processes behind it. 

In his practice, Sheung Yiu combines East-Asian traditions of facial readings, promising to predict one's future based on facial features, with contemporary facial recognition technologies, drawing a striking parallel between Eastern and Western practices around facial studies.  

On a deeper level, the project questions the way different technologies, whether digital or analogue, algorithmic or esoteric, shape the perceptions and biases connected to our faces. Through this, he recognises that a face is never just a face: it is what we, or the systems we use, want to read into it. 

Animation

Notebook scan, from the series Interfaces of Prediction

Facial landmarks (2023), from the series Interfaces of Predictions

Twisted Face (2023), from the series Interfaces of Predictions

Fortune in My Thirties from the series Interfaces of Predictions, 2023

Faceless (2023), from the series Interfaces of Predictions

Scan (2023), from the series Interfaces of Predictions

Between Two Charts (2023), from the series Interfaces of Predictions

Old and new moles (2023), from the series Interfaces of Predictions

Face Mesh (2023), from the series Interfaces of Predictions

Ancient Prediction (2023), from the series Interfaces of Predictions

Sheung Yiu

The West Desert, located on the western shore of the Great Salt Lake in Utah (USA), is the ancestral home of the indigenous Goshute people. Though officially public lands, managed by the Bureau of Land Management, this area is largely used for various privatised or military purposes, ranging from mining operations, testing grounds for weapons and improvised gun ranges.  

, Jaclyn Wright visited these cluttered sites, full of discarded targets and shattered clay pigeons. The bullet-holed remains, which she collected, photographed and filmed, are pieced together into performative installations, that reflect on the colonisation of ancient lands by bureaucratic systems.  

By inserting herself into the scene, wearing a skintight bodysuit made out of orange clay pigeons, Wright comments on the hyper-masculine culture of land dominance and cowboy fantasies. The synthetic orange colour becomes symbolic: used to enhance visibility, it signifies the strong opposition and rejection of its natural environment. 

Untitled (BLM arrows I)

From the series High Visibility (Blaze Orange)

Antelope Island (Utah) Buffalo Hunt photograph collection, Digital MSSC782, No. 6, Altered

L. Clyde Anderson photograph collection (1910- 1959), P0158, Box 1, Folder 27, Altered

Charles James Neal photograph collection (1900 - 1920s), P0694, Box 1, Folder 4, Altered

The West Desert is located on the western side of the Great Salt Lake [UT, United States]. Historically, this area has been documented through photography and land surveys, supporting the violent exploitation of the landscape. 

Archives, II

Untitled (grid)

Nearly one-third of the West Desert's 7.7 million acres are used as biological and chemical weapons testing grounds. The remaining areas of the West Desert are open to various uses, including improvised gun ranges.

Collected Targets

Collected Targets, from the series High Visibility (Blaze Orange)

L. Clyde Anderson photograph collection (1910- 1959), P0158, Box 1, Folder 6, Altered

Stansbury Island, the second largest island in the Great Salt Lake, echoes with gunfire and is littered with bullet holes, clay pigeons and improvised targets. The Bureau of Land Management refers to this detritus as "trigger trash".

Found Clay Pigeons

Archives, V

Jaclyn Wright

Dream-like figures appear in dense forests, dancing and floating around smoke and fires like magical figures. For 

Cansu Yıldıran collaborated with fellow queer artists based in Turkey to create a fantastic world where they could feel safe and sheltered —a feeling that is often lacking in their daily life.

The dreamy visuals are fittingly accompanied by a fairytale, written by Yıldıran themselves, which tells about the heavy norms enforced on the queer community by society and how this collaborative project helped them to believe in another world, a deep mysterious realm within them.

 offers an escape: inspired by their dreams and childhood fairytales, Yıldıran’s images unravel a certain state of mind, a deeper meaning of what it means to be queer within a hostile environment. The photographs are all analogue—a technical yet vital element of the project. Not knowing anything about the visual outcome during the process, it allowed Cansu Yıldıran to approach each portrait intuitively and independent of the rest. 

From the series Fathom

Cansu Yıldıran

 in 2004. The artwork is an analogue c-print and is displayed at 61 x 80 cm.

System 8, from the series Kosmos, 2011

visible in

is the main business district of Amsterdam, located south of the inner city. Starting in 2001, every year two to four photographers and visual artists received an assignment to capture this area and its rapidly changing environment. The ten works by Jasper Wiedeman that feature in 

 are a documentation of the garden that he created in the middle of the Zuidas.

06.09.2004

 in 2011. Using c-print as the medium, the artwork is displayed at 99 x 129 cm.

 is reminiscent of outer space; it is a familiar picture  of the infinite, of the unknown and total chaos that surrounds us. The photographs in the series 

 by Joris Jansen refuse the reading of the medium of photography as a method to make things visible. His photographs rather make things invisible. Jansen rephotographs the surface of an analogue photograph. By doing so he creates an imaginary universe full of milky ways and swarming planets. This new universe is far removed from the initial photograph and thus only the materiality of the analogue photograph seems to be relevant for the creation of a completely new universe. 

System 8

Created by Jean-Vincent Simonet in 2014. The artwork is an inkjet print and displayed at 90 x 120 cm.

Waves from the Web, 2009

Visible in

When Jean-Vincent Simonet chanced upon the book 

 (The Songs of Maldoror), he felt hugely attracted to its dark, theatrical, repulsive character. This avant-garde book, written in 1869 by the French poet Comte de Lautréamont, is an ode to the rebelliousness of youth, blasphemy, and the triumph of dreams over reality. Simonet decided to breathe new life into this literary mystery. His photographs are based on the atmosphere conjured up in the book: gothic angels framed against an overwhelming and digitally enhanced blue starry sky; dead branches that melt into pink and blue shapes and call to mind plucks of hair. The eclectic style inspired Simonet to use both analogue and digital photography, applying digital techniques to distort and blend together photographs. As a result, the book’s mysterious atmosphere becomes palpable in the images. It will likely not come as a surprise to learn that this book was once banned on account of its blasphemous character. 

Maldoror #2, 2014 from the series Maldoror, 2014

Maldoror #2

Created by Mayumi Hosokura. The artwork is a c-print and displayed at 35.5 x 26 cm.

What strikes you about the shapes captured by this photograph? The moss-covered tree trunk is pictured from an angle that makes the branches radiate outwards like sunrays. The tree trunk is precisely at the centre, like the hub of a wheel. In her 

 series, Japanese artist Mayumi Hosokura applies a certain aesthetic that infuses her images with a dreamy, mysterious atmosphere, contributing to the poetic character of the series. Besides using soft and diffuse light, Hosokura’s images are often monochromatic, with a subtle palette of pastel shades and tones of grey. This subdued use of colour accentuates the focus on texture and shape, and imbues the photographs with a sense of fragile beauty. 

Mayumi Hosokura was one of the artists selected for Foam Talent 2011. Her series 

 was presented in Foam Magazine #28 Talent Issue and the accompanying talent exhibition. 

Untitled from the series Kazan

Untitled 5 from the series Kazan

A photograph is able to capture unguarded moments that would otherwise pass by unnoticed. In this image by Mayumi Hosokura from her series 

, a naked woman sits on the backseat of a car. She seems lost in thought, gazing upwards absentmindedly. The speed of the moving car distorts the background landscape into a blur, and the light as it flickers between the trees is reflected on the car window. The peace of the scene inside the car forms a vivid contrast to what is happening outside. In her series, the Japanese artist plays with the idea that photography can stop the passage of time, so that people and landscapes preserve their beauty for ever. Instead of suggesting a certain meaning, Hosokura seems to stimulate the viewer to use their own imagination.   

Untitled 3 from the series Kazan

Created by Stephen Gill. The artwork is a pigment print on Canson Platine Fiber Rag and displayed at 78,6 x 60,8 cm.

What do you experience when you look at the colours and textures in this photograph? Since there is no clear subject, the viewer is drawn into an interplay of warm colours and abstract shapes. Instead of telling a story, this photograph seems intended to convey a feeling. 

, in which Gill attempts to visualise the intensity of urban life in the London borough of Hackney. For this series, artist Stephen Gill experimented with the photographic process by soaking the negatives in energy drink. The result is a dreamy image, where virtually all traces of the original image have disappeared. 

 is like a visual poem, in which the message lies beneath the surface.  

 was introduced to the public during Foam’s first major retrospective devoted to the English photographer Stephen Gill.  In addition to 

, the exhibition showed work from his series 

Untitled from the series Best Before End

Untitled 3 from the series Best Before End

In analogue photography, a ‘negative’ image (in which the colours are inverted) is converted in the dark room into a so-called positive image, which is the resulting photograph. This is a technical procedure that requires a series of steps. Artist Stephen Gill likes to play with this process by introducing different steps. For his series 

, he does so by submerging the negative in energy drink. This not only causes a beautiful colour palette to emerge on the photo-negative, but also allows Gill to distort the photo. The sweet drink causes the light-sensitive layer of the photo film to let go, after which Gill can manipulate it with a fine brush. In this case, the process has resulted in an almost spooky portrait with unique colours and a fascinating texture. The final image is a photograph of the manipulated negative.  

Untitled 2 from the series Best Before End

After having documented the London district of Hackney for fourteen years, artist Stephen Gill felt that there was something lacking in his work. How can you capture the intensity of busy city life in an image? By experimenting with the process of making as well as of printing his analogue photographs, he found new ways to capture this feeling in images. For example, in his series 

 Gill experimented with energy drink: by letting the negatives soak in the sweet fluid for a while, the light-sensitive layer of the film softened. The result is an abstract image with wonderfully warm colours, as this picture shows. What feelings does this photograph evoke in you?  

 was introduced to the public during Foam’s first major retrospective devoted to the English photographer Stephen Gill. In addition to 

Untitled 1 from the series Best Before End

Created by Stephen Gill. The artwork is a pigment print on Canson Platine Fiber Rag and displayed at 111,76 x 111,76 cm.

What innovative approaches do photographers take towards the medium? Numerous artists like to experiment with photographic techniques in order to transcend the limitations of the medium and thereby to push its boundaries. 

, by the English artist Stephen Gill. By combining different perspectives – such as large versus small, far away versus nearby – Gill plays with the scale of the subjects of his photographs. Adding a measuring tape further enhances this effect by suggesting that the branches in the background are similar in size to the woodlouse in the corner. By highlighting details, Gill invites the viewer to reflect on the relationship between humans and nature and how other organisms understand the world around. 

Untitled from the series Talking to Ants

Untitled 2 from the series Talking to Ants

Created by Raimond Wouda. The artwork is a c-print on dibond and displayed at 180 x 220 cm.

Lunch break at Tabor primary school in Hoorn, and pupils quickly fill the central hall. Groups pounce on tables, where they examine each other’s lunchboxes while sharing the latest bits of gossip.  

This is the ambiance that the Dutch photographer Raimond Wouda manages to capture in his series on schools in the Netherlands. His photographs not only give insight into pupils’ behaviour, from group formation to clothing style, but also serve as a demographic map of the surrounding area. Given how easily distracted children are, it is remarkable how oblivious they seem to the photographer. This is why Wouda’s series 

 offers such a pure depiction of young people in school. This lively photograph of the hall forms a striking contrast to the static school portraits made every year. 

Comprehensive School Tabor I, Hoorn from the series School

Scholengemeenschap Tabor I, Hoorn

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.

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

Created by Charlotte Dumas in 2005. The artwork is a c-print on aluminum and displayed at 85 x 105 cm.

All the attention is drawn to the wolves’ posture and the softness and colour shading of their fur. In her series 

, Charlotte Dumas displays her unique perspective on the relationship between humans and animals. Her style diverges strongly from other and more familiar types of animal photography, for instance as displayed in the famous magazine 

. Instead of focusing on the sensational, Dumas tries to capture intimate scenes. This composition centres on a pack of wolves, apparently not bothered by the photographer’s presence. The timeless and intimate character of her portraits results from the close bond that Dumas manages to build with the animals by staying in their vicinity for a long time. The angle of light, the animals’ pose, and the image’s framing were carefully chosen to enhance the sense of serenity. 

Zonder Titel (Resting) from the series Reverie

Untitled (Resting), 2005

Created by Vincent Zedelius in 2004. The artwork is a c-print mounted on MDF coated with epoxy and displayed at 90 x 70 cm.

As the title suggests, the images for this series served as a training exercise for Vincent Zedelius, enabling him to improve his photographic eye. 

 shows the interior of an old carpentry and furniture school. The rectangular shapes on the ground and the wall, in combination with the desk and piece of paper create a pleasant geometry. However, the clean surfaces and the centred lighting also add a slightly mysterious feel. The peel of the tangerine disturbs the scene and enhances the uncanniness. Aside from the peel, there is little to suggest the building is still in use. 

Throughout his work, Zedelius displays an interest in environments where only traces of human presence can be found and the tension this creates. In 2006, Zedelius’s series 

Exercise #03 from the series Exercise

Exercise #03

Created by Daniëlle van Ark in 2005-2007. The artwork is a c-print on aluminum and displayed at 60 x 75 cm.

Look at the different emotions expressed by the subjects in this photo! The two portrayed women do not see each other, divided by a gallery wall, yet the viewer gets a simultaneous glimpse of their facial expressions. Their emotional juxtaposition is reminiscent of the comedy and tragedy masks that symbolise the theatre. Over the course of a year, Daniëlle van Ark visited gallery openings in the New York art district, Chelsea. The resulting series, 

, offers a peek into the exclusive circles of the art scene. Van Ark’s images reveal the human tendency to perform different roles in social settings, conforming to the strict norms of high-brow art spaces.  With a sociological approach, van Ark observes the scene and captures its peculiarities within a split-second. 

 reflects Van Ark's fascination with concepts of status and with places that are normally off-limits to the general public. 

Untitled (Smile, No Smile) from the series For Art's Sake

Untitled (Smile, No Smile)

 in 2014. Using inkjet print as the main medium, the artwork is displayed at 120 x 90 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

When Jean-Vincent Simonet came across the book 

 (The Songs of Maldoror), he felt hugely attracted to the dark, theatrical and transgressive character. The cutting-edge book praising youth revolt, blasphemy and the victory of dream over reality was published in 1869 by Comte de Lautréamont. Simonet decided to revive the literary enigma. His photographs are based on the atmosphere it evokes: gothic angels provided with dramatic blue photoshopped skies full of stars and dead branches merged into pink and blue shapes that look like hairs. The eclectic style inspired him to shift between analogue and digital, using digital techniques to glitch and merge photographs. This enables the mysterious atmosphere of the book to become tangible in the pictures. That the book was once banned because of its blasphemous character, comes as no surprise.

Maldoror #6

Lilac from the series Flamboya

 series. Using C-print on  as the medium, the artwork is displayed at 80 x 65 cm.

Codex from the series Parasomnia, 2010

more artworks

 shows a young Kenyan man standing in a white shirt with a pink book on his head. He's looking up, but his face is not visible. The photograph is part of the 

 series, which for a large part consists of portraits of young Africans in Zambia, Kenya, and Tanzania. They were often constructed as part of an intuitive collaboration with the subject. Remarkably, it is often impossible to see the subject’s expression: the face and parts of the body tend to be wrapped within a shadow, turning away from the viewer or only display the lower half of the body. This makes it hard to identify with the subject in the photo. The (in)ability to properly register a person’s identity, the limitations preventing the viewer from forming an accurate picture, and the role of photography are recurring themes in Sassen’s work. She plays an intriguing game with perception, undermining our assumptions and stereotypes.

Codex from the series Parasomnia

 series. Using inkjet print on archival paper as the main medium, the artwork is displayed at 100x80 cm.

Lilac shows a loving entanglement, in which two models appear to merge as one with their intertwined limbs. The photograph is part of the 

Still from the On Earth video tour: Drew Nikonowicz

On Earth Video Tour - Drew Nikonowicz

In a four-part series led by acclaimed Polaroid artists Rhiannon Adams, Ellen Carey & John Reuter, and Marcel Veldman and Foam 3h alumnus Ece Gökalp, the participating students were able to use the recently launched Polaroid I-2 camera – the first advanced instant camera with built-in manual controls. Moreover, they had the chance to discuss their perspectives about the possibilities of storytelling and the enduring relevancy of this unique medium.

Students as well as young, self-made creatives approached the medium from various angles and shed light on its artistic, social, and technological significance by pushing the boundaries of what instant film can achieve. The results of their collective efforts are now on display as part of an exclusive online exhibition.

This programme is made possible with the support of Polaroid.

Foam is supported by the VriendenLoterij, Foam Members, the VandenEnde Foundation and the City of Amsterdam. 

PORTRAITURE
AND
THE PHYSICAL
PHOTOGRAPH

“Polaroid photo processes are completed in situ, there is no external hand involved. It’s pure – just me, the camera, the environment, and the film.” 

POLAROID PHOTOGRAPHY 
AS AN ARTISTIC MEDIUM

CAPTURING 
REAL 
               LIFE

“In between all the skateboard tricks and stuff, I like something contrasty. Instant film for me is the perfect way to do this. It gives you an example of the free life aside from the actual skateboard.”

Polaroid Photography in Multiple Perspectives

Blue Alchemy, from the series Modern Alchemy 2022

Botter, 2022

The Supremes, 1965

Ajax, 1967

Mode voor Avenue, 1966

articles

Still from the video Foam 3h: Ece Gökalp - After Anahit, 2023

Foam 3h: Giath Taha Becoming a Ghost

Still from Foam 3h: Sem Langendijk - Haven, 2023

Foam 3h

Still from the video Foam 3h Steffi Reimers - Guilty Grounds

Foam 3H: Steffi Reimers Guilty Grounds

Polaroid x Foam: Artist Talk Rhiannon Adam

Artist Talk with Rhiannon Adam

⁠⁠“Now I think I know why gods⁠⁠ Are so partial to heights—to mountain⁠⁠ Tops and spires, to proud iroko trees⁠⁠ And thorn-guarded holy bombax,⁠⁠ Why petty household divinities⁠⁠ Will sooner perch on a rude board⁠⁠ Strung precariously from brittle rafters⁠⁠ Of a thatched roof than sit squarely⁠⁠ On safe earth.”⁠⁠  Flying from Collected Poems by Chinua Achebe⁠⁠

Maybe my eyes turned blue, 2021

Flying from Collected Poems by Chinua Achebe⁠⁠

Explore

How does a new generation of image-makers from Turkey use photography to reflect on the world around them? 

As part of the multi-year project Kısmet, this online group exhibition gives a snapshot of the emerging community of contemporary image-makers from Turkey. Kısmet is inspired by longstanding cultural, diplomatic and economic ties between Turkey and the Netherlands and delves into the diverse and intricate facets of Turkish visual culture, as seen through the lens of different generations of image-makers. Here, we present the work of four talented visual artists, born after 1990, whose voices will shape the vast visual landscape in Turkey, and beyond, in the upcoming years. 

Showing a diverse range of visual styles, what connects these four artists is the profound personal investment they put in their work. Their photography holds a personal dimension that goes beyond ‘merely’ having an affinity for the chosen subject matter. Rather, their practice and the resulting bodies of work reveal a deep connection to their perception of the world around them. What stands out are the distinct translations of their inner worlds, whether this is in the methodology, subject matter or aesthetics. 

For Oğulcan Arslan, the personal comes forward not only through the story he documents, but also through photographic techniques he uses. In 

, he intimately captures a friendship by adjusting light, exposure and composition to the emotions he experiences himself or from his friend. 

Alp Peker finds solace in their photographic practice to voice their protest against unspoken issues and social taboos they experience on a daily basis. Their photographs, shown here under the title 

, are an ode to the community Alp lives in, their goals, struggles, and weirdnesses.  

Kıvılcım S. Güngörün defines her work as autobiographical fiction. The collages in 

are a direct translation of her inner workings: intuitive visual responses to questions that pop into her mind, or new questions that arise during the process.  

, Cansu Yıldıran studies the power dynamics and gender inequality that they encountered in their ancestral village in Northern Turkey. Inspired by the personal stories of the women of their family, Cansu creates emotional atmospheres that investigate their own sense of identity, of belonging and the continuous search for a safe space.

analogue

Mahler IV

Sheung Yiu

Jaclyn Wright

Cansu Yıldıran

06.09.2004

System 8, from the series Kosmos

Maldoror #2

Untitled

Untitled

Untitled

Untitled

Untitled

Untitled

Scholengemeenschap Tabor I, Hoorn

Blood, from the series Fragile, 2010

Untitled (Resting), 2005

Exercise #03

Untitled (Smile, No Smile)

Maldoror #6, 2014

Codex from the series Parasomnia

Lilac from the series Flamboya

Hinde Haest talks about

Drew Nikonowicz in the exhibition On Earth

Polaroid Photography in Multiple Perspectives

Explore

Kısmet: New Perspectives. Four Contemporary Image-makers from Turkey