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.
Polaroid
Photography
in Multiple
Perspectives
Dedicated to the captivating world of the medium, Foam and Polaroid joined forces to host a series of artist talks and student workshops. As the originator of instant photography, Polaroid withstands the test of time. While conventional photography has changed dramatically in the past few years where digital cameras provide more room for practicality and perfection, Polaroid continues to be a phenomenon. In a world of digital perfection, every Polaroid picture is beautifully imperfect and artistically unique. With the charm of tangible prints that photographers can see develop in front of their eyes, Polaroid remains to be a cherished and meaningful form of artistic expression. Foam embodies its pioneering spirit through education, talent development, participatory projects, and public programming by linking emerging artists to the professional industry at an early stage. This is the starting point for the series of collaborative workshops between Foam and Polaroid: when emerging and established talents collaborate, they learn to look better, think sharper, and create more consciously.
Eva-Lotte van Rossen
PORTRAITURE AND THE PHYSICAL PHOTOGRAPH
Alongside artist Rhiannon Adam, the participants examined the interplay between subject and medium, within the context of contemporary portrait photography. This first chapter of the workshop series, set the focus on Polaroid as an artistic photographic tool, embracing the intimacy and immediacy of the medium itself. All images were shot with the Polaroid I-2 camera.
Eva-Lotte van Rossen
Mayte Breed & Loes de Boer
About the artist
Rhiannon Adam (Irish, 1985) is one of the most knowledgeable experts on Polaroid film, and a key figure in the instant photography community. Her practice is characterized by research-based, long-term social documentary projects that make use of analogue photographic processes and archive material. In 2022 Adam spent several months at the archives of MIT and Harvard University and wrote Polaroid: The Missing Manual, which was published by Thames and Hudson.
Joshua Abebrese
Densley Annastatia
Fianna Miltenburg & Jenna Bijmoer
Fion McGinley
Angelica Venturini & Stella Gocheva
Julia Maria Wlazlowska
Carlijn Treep
Mirte Bos & Veerle Wallenburg
Foam x Polaroid talk series: Rhiannon Adam
POLAROID AS AN ARTISTIC MEDIUM
Part I
Hand Studies on
Yellow Chrome 8x10
Ellen Carey and John Reuter are two luminaries in the Polaroid story who have been integral to the company's journey. Their dedication to the art of instant film made them pioneers in this photographic medium, a commitment that continues to this day. They gave valuable insights about what it means to be working with Polaroid now and then. During their workshop at Foam, depicting and abstracting body parts on special 8x10 Yellow Duo Chrome Polaroids, the students benefited from the artists extensive experience with the medium.
About the artists
Ellen Carrey (American, 1952) is an educator, guest curator, independent scholar, and lens-based artist whose unique experimental work spans several decades. She started her practice examining the object-subject relation. Now her focus has shifted to the interplay of light and shadow, and white minimalism while changing colour into a kaleidoscope of abstraction.
John Reuter (American, 1953), employed by the former Polaroid Corporation’s Artists program, was entrusted with running the 20X24 Studio in New York in 1980. In this role, he collaborated with Ellen Carrey and a range of other remarkable artists, which contributed to elevating the status of photography to the realms of fine art.
Beerend Honing, Adèle Bournazeau, Jan Ryt, Philine Oort, Loes de Boer
Beerend Honing, Adèle Bournazeau, Jan Ryt, Philine Oort, Loes de Boer
Beerend Honing, Adèle Bournazeau, Jan Ryt
Beerend Honing, Adèle Bournazeau, Jan Ryt
Stella Gocheva
Stella Gocheva
Sarah Mannee & Yosiera Bakx
Sarah Mannee & Yosiera Bakx
From left to right © Beerend Honing, Adèle Bournazeau, Jan Ryt, Philine Oort, Loes de Boer, Stella Gocheva, Sarah Mannee & Yosiera Bakx
POLAROID AS AN ARTISTIC MEDIUM
Part II
Emulsion Lifts
Loes de Boer
The third workshop, guided by the Ece Gökalp, centred around the mesmerizing technique of emulsion lifting. Attendees discovered the alchemy of transforming Polaroid prints into delicate works of art, lifting the emulsion from the originals plastic surface, to create ethereal compositions with the Polarid Now camera.
Mirte Bos
Jenna Bijmoer
About the artist
Working with different forms of media, Gökalp (Turkish, 1988) focuses on the diverse possibilities of lens-based media in her artistic practise. In doing so, the artist specifically employs photography as a means of perceiving geographies in different contexts.
Stella Gocheva
Veerle Wallenburg
Veerle Wallenburg
Loes de Boer
Foam x Polaroid talk series: Ellen Carey & John Reuter
Philine Oort
Ivan Stanic
CAPTURING REAL LIFE
The workshop given by Marcel Veldman offered students to explore subculture of the skateboarding community. Attendees used their skills in capturing the essence of real unfiltered life, through the lens of a Polaroid I-2 camera.
Lucas
Yosiera Bakx
Marcel Veldman
About the artist
Marcel Veldman (Dutch) has collected more than thirty Polaroid cameras, which he has been using since 1999 to capture portraits of skateboarding legends and document raw, genuine moments of life of the community.
Morris
Ivan
Sem
Sarah
Yuri
Foam x Polaroid talk series: Marcel Veldman
© Adèle Bournazeau, Angelica Venturini, Annabelle Beers, Beerend Honing, Belita Ongemba, Benedicta Bibuku, Brechtje Peucker, Carlijn Treep, Dana van der Veen, Danielle Hoogboom, Densley Annastatia, Denzell Menso, Ellie Sparacio-Warner, Esmir Ekhart, Evalotte Van Rossen, Feline Deurloo, Fianna Miltenburg, Fionn Mcginley, Iivari Mikkonen, Isa Rosenthal, Ivan Stanić, Jan Ryt, Jasmijn Vermeeren, Jenna Bijmoer, Jip Schalkx, Joe Bronk, Joonas Lumpeinen, Joshua Abebrese, Julia Wlazłowska, Julie Jansen, Julika Bussemaker, Laura Dunwoody, Liv ter Haar Romeny, Loeloe Ekkel, Loes de Boer, Maja Elders Mayte Breed, Mirte Bos, Philine Oort, Pien Stekelenburg, Rixt De Bruin, Rosa Schouten, Sarah Mannee, Seel Zijlstra, Simaa Alsaig, Soyinka Gudin, Stella Gocheva, Sterre Baks, Veerle Wallenburg, Yosiera Bakx.
