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.

Untitled from the series Dildo, 2008 © Momo Okabe, courtesy of the artist

Untitled from the series Dildo, 2008 C Momo Okabe, courtesy of the artist

Untitled from the series Bible 2013 © Momo Okabe

Untitled from the series Bible 2013 C Momo Okabe

Untitled from the series Dildo 2007 C Momo Okabe

Untitled from the series Dildo 2008 © Momo Okabe

Untitled from the series Dildo 2009 © Momo Okabe

Untitled from the series Dildo 2009 C Momo Okabe

view the works in the Foam Collection

A conversation with Momo Okabe: transmuting life into a beautifully coloured world

A conversation with Momo Okabe

Momo Okabe

Foam proudly presents Bible and Dildo, an exhibition of the work of Momo Okabe (Tokyo, 1981). Okabe was chosen by an international jury as the winner of the Foam Paul Huf Award 2015. She won the prize for her two remarkable projects about Japanese society and her intimate relationships with two transgender lovers, whom she followed during their processes of transition.

Bible and Dildo revolves around the struggles of Momo Okabe's lovers and friends, who are outsiders in Japanese society. Experiencing Japanese society as overly systematic, constantly imposing its restrictive views on every aspect of their lives, they are severely impacted by this environment. The people captured in the photographs in these two series suffer from consequences stemming from drug overdoses or the difficulties of achieving acceptance in society. Bible and Dildo portray their complicated and courageous lives in this harsh environment.
Along with nude images, Bible and Dildo also includes photographs of chaos and destruction. For example, the Bible series includes pictures taken in Miyagi after the Fukushima earthquake struck Japan in 2011. These photographs are shown alongside the documented struggles of Okabe's lovers and friends. For Okabe, destruction and devastating feelings are related. She avoids making photographs in a conceptual way, instead always aiming to make work about her actual experiences, and her feelings of loss and sadness.
FOAM PAUL HUF AWARD The Foam Paul Huf Award, which is awarded annually to talented international photographers under the age of 35, includes a cash prize of &euro;20,000 and an exhibition at Foam Photography Museum Amsterdam. The jury has chosen Momo Okabe as the winner out of 100 nominees from 26 countries. Previous winners include Taryn Simon (2007), Alex Prager (2012) and Daniel Gordon (2014).
<a href="/talent/foam-paul-huf-award">&gt; Read more</a>
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION At first, both Bible and Dildo appear to be primarily documentary photography. Dildo begins with images of Okabe's relationship with Kaori, a woman with gender dysphoria. After her break-up with Kaori, Okabe followed the relationship with her new lover, Yoko, which eventually resulted in documenting Yoko's trip to Thailand for sex reassignment surgery, during which Yoko&rsquo;s uterus was removed. The series title, Dildo, refers to how, for some transgender people, a dildo can represent a body part transgender people may or may not ever actually have. In addition, the Bible series comprises a selection of images that, for Okabe, functions as a very final and definitive body of work, as reflected in the title.
However, beyond their documentary aspect, these photographs depict universal stories of sex and death for Okabe. She blends tenderness with a raw intimacy, which becomes visible through her specific use of color, the diversity of her topics and the sensitive manner in which she addresses the important and complex social issue of transsexuality. Working within a wider context of the internationally very highly regarded Japanese photographic tradition, Okabe creates an aesthetic that is uniquely her own.
The Foam Paul Huf Award and this exhibition are made possible by JTI.&nbsp;The prints in the exhibition are produced by Kleurgamma.
Foam is supported by the BankGiro Loterij, De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek, Delta Lloyd, Gemeente Amsterdam, Olympus and the VandenEnde Foundation.

<div class="sidebar__content"> Conversation with Momo 
Learn more about the artist's practice, life and exhibition.</div>

John Edmonds - A Sidelong Glance, 2022

Award prize

Selection criteria

Winner Foam Paul Huf Award 2023

Felipe Romero Beltrán

Dialect, 2020

Jury 2023

In his Dialect series, Romero Beltrán works with young people who have illegally crossed the maritime border between Morocco and Spain and are waiting for their migratory status to be resolved in Seville. The photographs are explorations of these young people's experiences, in which the body engages in dialogue with their memories and the time spent waiting in the migratory centre. 

Most recent exhibitions

All winners

About Paul Huf

Foam Talent Call

Foam 3h

back to the overview

Other talent inititatives

Foam Paul Huf Award

 between 2008 - 2014. Using inkjet print on semi-glossy paper as the medium, the artwork is displayed at 190 x 150 cm.

Untitled from the series Bible, 2008-2014

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

more from the series

visible in

 expresses the complexity of the lives of her friends and lovers struggling with issues of gender identity, several of whom have already undergone gender reassignment surgery. Okabe juxtaposes images of underground Tokyo nightlife and the emotional quakes of her and her friends with the destruction wrought by the heavy earthquake and the subsequent tsunami in 2011. Both Okabe’s loved ones and their surroundings are connected in their struggle to overcome the long and difficult struggle out of their traumatic past, in order to (re)construct an identity for themselves.

Untitled from the series Bible 3

Untitled from the series Bible 2

Untitled from the series Bible 1

In conjunction with Pride Amsterdam 2019, Foam presents the work of Momo Okabe (1981, Japan) from the museum's collection.

The photos are a selection from the series Bible and Dildo, which tell the story of Okabe&rsquo;s lovers and their struggles with gender dysphoria, identity disorders and social isolation. In Dildo, Okabe documents relationships with Kaori, a woman with gender dysphoria, and Yoko, a lover she followed to Thailand during gender reassignment surgery. The series title, Dildo, refers to how, for some transgender people, a dildo can represent a body part transgender people may or may not ever actually have.
<img src="https://a.storyblok.com/f/113697/595x753/8ec3328fc1/momo-okabe-bible-pride-amsterdam-foam-595.jpg" alt="" width="596" height="753" /> Untitled, from the series Bible, 2008-2014 &copy; Momo Okabe
Bible expresses impressions of the complexity of the lives of Okabe&rsquo;s friends and lovers dealing with issues of gender identity and social isolation. Okabe juxtaposes images of underground Tokyo nightlife and her own community&rsquo;s vulnerability, with the destruction wrought by the heavy earthquake and subsequent tsunami in 2011.
ABOUT MOMO OKABE Momo Okabe received a BFA in Photography from Nihon University of Art in 2004. In 1999 her work was selected by Nobuyoshi Araki for the prestigious New Cosmos of Photography Award and in 2015 she won the <a href="/talent/foam-paul-huf-award" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Foam Paul Huf Award</a>. The same year, the solo exhibition <a href="/museum/programme/momo-okabe">Bible and Dildo</a> was presented at Foam and works from the series became part of the museum&rsquo;s collection. Her photobooks Dildo and Bible are published by Session Press. Raised in France, she lives and works in Tokyo.
Visit and revisit&nbsp;Momo Okabe - Bible and Dildo,&nbsp;other <a href="/museum/programme/exhibitions">exhibitions</a> and&nbsp;<a href="/nl/museum/programma/voor-leden">events</a>&nbsp;as a&nbsp;<a href="/nl/over-ons/lidmaatschappen">Foam Member</a>.
Foam is supported by the BankGiro Loterij, De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek, City of Amsterdam, Foam Members, Olympus and the VandenEnde Foundation.