“In photography, there is a reality so subtle that it becomes more real than reality,” said Alfred Stieglitz, his sentiments now finding their reflection within the space of Foam Museum in Amsterdam. Twenty brilliant artists from every corner of the globe adjust their lenses to reveal deeper truths at the Foam Talent 2024-2025 group exhibition, affirming photography as a crucial and profound medium for storytelling, cultural critique and personal expression.
This year’s talents, including emerging artists Ricardo Nagaoka, Sheung Yiu, Aaryan Si urge viewers to ponder the perspectives of others and embrace them with empathy. The topics are vast and varied, exploring everything from the nuances of migration and the dangers posed by internet algorithms, to the interrogation of gender roles and critical reflection on colonial impacts. As sundry as they are profound, these themes are explored through innovative approaches, applying Artificial Intelligence, embroidery on photos, and photogrammetry.
If Amsterdam is beyond your reach, the physical exhibition is accompanied by a digital one, curated on the online platform Foam Explore, as well as Foam Magazine #65 Talent – both of which are entirely devoted to this new wave of talents. You’ll be pleased to know that come 2025, the exhibition will expand beyond its local confines and venture internationally, with details on locations still to come.
The Talent programme offers its selected artists participation in various networking activities and mentorship, alongside the potential for their work to be included in the prestigious collection of the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation. You too can lend your support by visiting Foam, with the exhibition available until May 22nd, 2024.
Abraham Lincoln and Drone from the series American Glitch, 2021 © Andrea Orejarena and Caleb Stein / Courtesy of Palo Gallery in New York.
BURIAL from the series Las flores mueren dos veces, 2022 © Cristóbal Ascencio.
Image from the series Frantz Fanon, Me and The Question, 2022 © Issam Larkat.
Mayisa, uzaklar mi sana bakiyorsen mi uzaklara? from the series The Dispossessed, 2019 © Cansu Yıldıran.
Studio Targets, I from the series High Visibility Blaze Orange, 2021 © Jaclyn Wright.