Dutch organisation Foam is known in the art photography world for celebrating the most exciting talent, both young and old. Current exhibitions in the Amsterdam gallery include a retrospective of American photographer Mike Disfarmer 's work on the Great Depression in Arkansas, a 10-year visual history of Calais – from jungle to city, and work by in-vogue contemporary photographer Roe Ethridge.
Every year, the gallery celebrates young photographic wunderkids with Foam Talent, laid out in a special issue of the print magazine. In 2016, London is lucky enough to host the exhibition featuring 21 photographers under 35, whose names will undoubtedly be on everyone's lips this coming year. Issue #42 serves as a catalogue for the show, and will be available to purchase during the exhibition (one for the coffee table.)
The display – which amounts to over 100 images varying from digital work, to colourful lightboxes, to analogue black and white prints, and several installations – showcases a new generation of inspiring photographers. The artists deploy their skills to address topics ranging from advertising and commercial influences, to reinterpreting the documentary qualities of the medium and its truth values.
The exhibition comes ahead of Photo London, a new festival in its second running year, which aims to join the pack of international photography festivals including Arles, Paris Photo, Unseen, Hyères and many more.
'Foam Talent: Shaping the future of contemporary photography' is free to attend and will show at Beaconsfield Gallery Vauxhall between 22 April and 22 May, 2016. Click through and take note of the 21 photographers featured.
Jean-Vincent Simonet
Born France, 1991
Maldoror, 2014
French artist Jean-Vincent Simonet's work is heavily inspired by 19th Century youth revolt, and the concept of dreams over reality as inspired by the 1869 poetic novel Les Chants de Maldoror by Comte de Lautreamont. With traditional gothic references and overly photoshopped fragments, his work shifts in an organised chaos between analogue and digital.
Maldoror, Chant Cinquième 2014 © Jean-Vincent Simonet, courtesy of the artist
Marton Perlaki
Born Hungary, 1982
Bird Bald Book Bubble Bucket Brick Potato, 2014 – ongoing
Hungarian photographer Marton Perlaki took to Facebook to find the subject for his latest series. Elemer's "sculptural and enigmatic, peculiar appearance" inspired the artist to focus solely on him, bringing in elements of still life. The picture tells us nothing about the individual, but instead positions him as a prop within the photographer's playful world, questioning the conventions of editorial and commercial photography.
Bird Bald Book Bubble Bucket Brick Potato © Márton Perlaki, courtesy of the artist, with thanks to Andrea Kozma and Elmér Szatmári
Aaron Blum
Born United States, 1983
Born and Raised, 2010-2014
As a proud eighth-generation Scots-Irish Appalachian, Aaron Blum explores ideas surrounding Appalachian culture. The Appalachian region of the United States covers the mid-east, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Ohio to name a few. Whilst the photo world has been saturated by attempts to capture this culture in documentary series, Blum's sensibility with his studies stands this body of work apart.
Born and Raised © Aaron Blum, courtesy of the artist
Naohiro Utagawa
Born Japan, 1981
Images, 2012
Japanese artist Utagawa works with photography in multiple layers. He challenges the popular late '00s 'diaristic' snapshots of young adulthood, now popular on sites like Tumblr, by ripping the hard copies and collaging combinations that clash and compliment, with style.
Images © Naohiro Utagawa, courtesy of the artist
David Favrod
Born Japan, 1982
Hikari, 2012-2015
Favrod's work is heavily inspired by his Japanese/Swiss roots. In
his series Hikari (Japanese for 'the light'), the artist explores memories passed on from his grandparents, mainly focused on the planes, explosions, and devastation of the Second World War. Through abstract references, he invites the viewer to create their own stories spurred by his pictures.
Almagellhorn from the series Hikari 2013 © David Favrod, courtesy of the artist
Danila Tkachenko
Born Russia, 1989
Restricted Areas, 2015
Reminiscent of Bernd and Hilla Becher's iconic typologies of water towers in the '80s, Russian artist Danila Tkachenko travelled across the former Soviet Union for his series Restricted Areas. The concept of utopian inventions and technology instead lead us to find bleak, desolate wastelands, where disintegrating lumps of steel lie amidst an unscalable landscape.
Restricted Areas © Danila Tkachenko, courtesy of the artist
Sjoerd Knibbeler
Born Netherlands, 1981
Current Studies, 2013
One of the more visually pleasing works of the selection comes from Dutch artist Sjoerd Knibbeler. The studio-based series looks at invisible natural forces and the movement of air. Climatological conditions such as clouds and wind are constructed using materials such as plastic and paper. One of the displays featured is a set of sixteen paper planes, folded by the artist and based on real planes found on the internet.
Current Studies 2013 © Sjoerd Knibbeler, courtesy of the artist and LhGWR, The Hague
Justin James Reed
Born United States, 1980
In heaven the darkness is quite beautiful, 2010-2012
Wonderfully named, Justin James Reed's work focuses on the everyday. A slick of tar swirling on asphalt or a circle of torn paper inside more torn paper, tightly cropped to let us in just an inch. These frame-filling, visually satisfying compositions are certainly landscapes, but without the normality of a horizon in sight.
In heaven the darkness is quite beautiful 2011 © Justin James Reed, courtesy of the artist
Dominic Hawgood
Born United Kingdom, 1980
Under the Influenc e, 2014
Previous winner of the BJP International Photography Award, British RCA graduate Dominic Hawgood has made waves with his work of recent years. Under The Influence looks at the practice of healings and exorcisms in African churches in London. In this, the images are not factual, but in their creation deal with the fine line between the real and the fake, ever prevalent in the photography world.
Rise up and you are free from the series Under Influence 2014 © Dominic Hawgood, courtesy of the artist
Alessandro Calabrese
Born Italy, 1983
A Failed Entertainment, 2015
Reverse-image search is a wonderful thing – the Google algorithm that allows us to search for 'visually similar' images. Italian artist Alessandro Calabrese uses the tool to upload his photographs taken on the streets of Milan, and layers the 'visually similar' results, printing them on acetate to conceal the original in the centre.
Mina from the series A Failed Entertainment © Alessandro Calabrese, courtesy of the artist
Manon Wertenbroek
Born Switzerland, 1991
Tandem, 2014
Commanding the cover of Foam #42 - The Talent Issue is an image by Swiss artist Manon Wertenbroek. She works with her subjects in a playful manner, dressing them up in paint, circles, blocks – giving a new viewpoint into modern portraiture. The young man in the images is Wertenbroek's brother, whom she reconnected with in the making of this work
Tandem 2014 © Manon Wertenbroek, courtesy of the artist
Abel Minnee
Born Netherlands, 1988
Line Study (I) & (II), in cooperation with Bram Spaan, 2015.
Abel Minnee's experience in commercial product photography has informed his latest series, using objects from everyday life and picking them apart to a point where we don't know what we're looking at, but we like it.
Line Study I © Abel Minnée, courtesy of the artist
Christian Vium
Born Denmark, 1980
The Wake, 2014-2016
Christian Vium created his series The Wake based around the photographs about Aboriginal life by Spencer and Gillen between 1875 and 1912. Vium aims to create conversation between the two eras of study, 100 years apart. As an anthropologist himself, he is fully aware of his role as the 'outsider looking in', and spent a considerable amount of time in Central Australia with the local people, many of whom descend from the original works by Spencer and Gillen.
The Wake © Christian Vium, courtesy of the artist
Johan Rosenmunthe
Born Denmark, 1982
Tectonic, 2014
Johan's childhood fascination with rocks and minerals informed his recent series Tectonic. The sometimes scientific nature of the series plays between physical geographical themes and the more fantastical, which make us appreciate the beauty in natural substances.
Subtle Stress from the series Tectonic 2014 © Johan Rosemunthe, courtesy of the artist
Guo Peng
Born China, 1982
That's It, 2012
Guo Peng's practice focuses on one item, photographed from different angles and printed several times on a small scale. These humbling prints are like a poem, and we want to see more.
Untitled 2011 © Guo Peng, Courtesy of the artist
Constantin Schlachter
Born France, 1992
Une Trajectoire, 2011-2015
In his series Une Trajectoire, Constantin Schlachter focuses on the
natural world, such as constellations in the night sky. He photographs his subjects mostly around the Alsace region of France, where he grew up. Schlachter then manipulates those images, to blur the lines between reality and imaginary.
Trajectoire © Constantin Schlachter, courtesy of the artist
Heikki Kaski
Born Finland, 1987
Tranquillity, 2014
This series was formed when the artist Heikki Kaski impulsively decided to visit the small Californian town of Tranquillity, encouraged by its imaginative name. What he found was a place not like its name. The documentary focus emerged organically, talking to people and uncovering the town's history.
Tranquillity 2014 © Heikki Kaski, courtesy of the artist
Mariam Medvedeva
Born France, 1985
When you are dead, the pose you take doesn't matter anymore, 2013-2015
The morbid subject of this series is contrasted by beautiful resurrections of various animals, hung elegantly with string. Mariam Medvedeva joined hunters in France for two seasons, experiencing the series of events between alive and dead before she prepared them to be photographed, tackling themes of death between faith and science.
When you are dead, the pose you take doesn’t matter anymore © Mariam Medvedeva, courtesy of the artist
Tom Callemin
Born Belgium, 1991
Untitled, 2010-2015
Each subject from Tom Callemin's work in this series emerges from complete darkness. The images capture a moment only fleetingly frozen by startling light, with the before and after completely unknown to both artist and subject. His images are all meticulously planned, started with sketches of which only few come to realisation.
Untitled 2014 © Tom Callemin, courtesy of the artist
Matthew Leifheit
Born United States,1988
Cynthia Talmadge
Born United States,1989
Untitled Collaborative Work, 2014-2015
The photographs in this body of work are from two halves, by Matthew Leifheit and Cynthia Talmadge. The scene of a lamp, a bloody phone and a wedding picture of Roman Polanski and his wife, is a recreation of a supposed police photo of Sharon Tate's bedside table from the morning after her murder, that they found on Pinterest.
www.matthewleifheit.com / @cynthia_talmadge
Untitled Collaborative Work © Matthew Leifheit and Cynthia Talmadge, courtesy of the artists
Sara Cwynar
Born Canada, 1985
FLAT DEATH, 2013-2014
Sara Cwynar's practice includes found imagery – scans from magazines, books or encyclopedias. The pictures go through several rounds of digital and analogue photo processes before they are re-printed. FLAT DEATH is a comment on image culture on the internet today; use, re-use and alter.
Woman I from the series FLAT DEATH and other pictures © Sara Cwynar and Foxy Production, New York, and Cooper Cole Gallery TorontoLike what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
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