How can documentary photography help create awareness or help us understand certain environments, communities, cultures or even the medium itself?

We take a look at projects by three artists that explore how photography can create artistic portrayels of social societies. Myriam Boulos (LB), a 2022 Foam Talent, shows a series of portraits of friends and strangers that have been affected by the blast and economy in Beirut. Rahim Fortune (US) uses documentary photography to ask fundamental questions about American identity. Lastly, Bieke Depoorter (BE) 

explores the complexities of the photographic enterprise, grappling with the relationship between photographer and subject.

The three artists are featured in the online talk 

Navigating the media industry - Photographer's Perspective

. For many photographers today, working on commissions and assignments within the media industry helps to build and contribute to a sustainable career. How can an artist navigate the territory between their own practice and the media industry at large?

From the series Tell The Trees To Smile

Myriam
Boulos

Tell the Trees to Smile

about

Rahim
Fortune

Brothers after wake from the series I can’t stand to see you cry

Father from the series I can’t stand to see you cry

City Finance from the series I can’t stand to see you cry

First Holidays from the series I can’t stand to see you cry

Kerosine lamp from the series I can’t stand to see you cry

ICSTSYC from the series I can’t stand to see you cry

Bieke
Depoorter

Agata, Paris, France, November 2, 2017

Agata, Germaine, Neuilly-Plaissance, France, September 4, 2018

Agata, Paris, France, November 12, 2017

Agata, Beirut, Lebanon, August 3, 2018

Bieke & Agata, Lebanon, August, 2018

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Moscow, 2016

Archive of Public Protests

Urmia salt lake, Iran

On Social Documentary Photography

&ldquo;There is no distance between me and what I photograph.&rdquo; - Nan Goldin

Each month Rialto presents Cracking the Frame, a programme&nbsp;featuring an international selection of critically acclaimed arts documentaries and artists&rsquo; films.&nbsp;Cracking the Frame focuses on the creative intersection between art and film through thought-provoking cinematic portraits of the life and work of established contemporary artists, photographers, filmmakers and global thinkers. This edition's film, Nan Goldin - I Remember Your Face, is introduced by Foam curator Mirjam Kooiman.
Wednesday 20 January 2016, Rialto Amsterdam, 19:30 hrs. NAN GOLDIN &ndash; I REMEMBER YOUR FACE Sabine Lidl&nbsp; Germany | 2013 | 61 min&nbsp; In English and German with English subs Dutch premiere
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pOVWTQnk_do" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
ABOUT&nbsp;THE DOCUMENTARY German director Sabine Lidl composes an intimate portrait of the New York charismatic photographer as she accompanies the artist on a nostalgic journey from Paris to Turin, Vienna and Berlin, where Nan Goldin lived for three years in the 90s and where she re-encounters some of her dearest friends and ex-lovers. As ruthlessly candid as the snapshots that have come to define Goldin as one of the most celebrated and controversial photographers of her generation, Lidl's deeply personal film intertwines slideshows of Goldin's photographs with intimate moments where the artist talks openly about her personal life, work, inspiration and obsessions.
ABOUT NAN GOLDIN In 1985 her ground-breaking series The Ballad of Sexual Dependency portrayed her extended family of artists, drug addicts and drag queens friends as they partied, got high, fought and had sex and, according to the New York Times, "forged a genre, with photography as influential as any in the last 20 years". Now in her sixties Goldin continues to amaze and shock with her transgressive slideshow presentations, exhibitions and books, still true to her motto that &ldquo;my photos originate from relations, not from observations.&rdquo;

<div class="sidebar__content">Première info 
Wednesday 20 January 2016 19.30 hrs. Rialto cinema, Amsterdam
&nbsp;
In English and German with English subtitles
&nbsp;
PRICE &euro;10, regular rate &euro;8,50, reduced rate</div>

Nan Goldin documentary première

Fotos Gratis

Studio Visit: Daniel Mebarek

“A historical archive allows us to know, understand, and verify the truth of events that form part of our collective memory.”

Pride Photo x Foam presents: Archivo de la Memoria Trans Argentina

Foam Talent: Farren van Wyk

Foam Talent: Paola Jiménez Quispe

Foam Talent: Sasha Velichko

Foam Talent: Sean Cham

Foam Talent: Chen Yiding

Foam Talent: Ramona Jingru Wang

Foam Talent: Liubov Durakova

Foam Talent: Daniel Mebarek

Foam Talent: Adam Rouhana 

Foam Talent: Nad E Ali

Foam Talent: Sara De Brito Faustino

Foam Talent: Nazanin Hafez

Foam Talent: Ammar Yassir

Foam Talent Runner-up: Ali Zaraay 

Foam Talent Runner-up: Byron Mohammad Hamzah

Foam Talent Runner-up: Hady Barry

Foam Talent Runner-up:  Mahmoud Abu Hamda

Foam Talent Runner-up:  Manuel Bayo Gisbert

Still from Northern Winds with Jonathas de Andrade - Ammodo Docs

With my art projects, I approach people that historically experience oppression in many different ways. But still, their culture, their tradition, their way of keeping knowledge alive: they represent resistance in many ways.,

Still from the documentary Northern Winds with Jonathas de Andrade

Northern Winds: Artist Jonathas de Andrade’ Fascination with Jangadeiros | Ammodo Docs

watch the documentary

see more

Northern Winds: Jonathas de Andrade’ Fascination with Jangadeiros

Aby Fulani

"Every age has its great loss – for modernism, it was the coherence of the self; for postmodernism, the stability of master narratives – and now, in the 21st century, there is an increasing pressure on the notion of a shared reality."

Mugshots.com, N8, from the series Obscurity, 2016

Mugshots.com, N, from the series Obscurity, 2016

Mugshots.com, N2, from the series Obscurity, 2016

”There is a new way of understanding our times.. a new wave of realism, a new wave of artists who are engaged in political issues. “Evidential Realism” is the realism of today… “

Liz Johnson Artur - of life of love of sex of movement of hope, 2021

Paolo Cirio: Artist of the Post-Panopticon Era

From the series What's Ours © Myriam Boulos

From the series Revolution © Myriam Boulos

From the series Tell The Trees To Smile © Myriam Boulos

From the series Sexual Fantasies © Myriam Boulos

From the series Ongoing War © Myriam Boulos

From the series Post Explosion © Myriam Boulos

Foam Talent now: Myriam Boulous

Pretend There Is Water

The New Waterworks

Pretend There Is Water (2026)

De jongens op de palen

In Conversation: Bebe Blanco Agterberg and Mirjam Kooiman 

Telex Iran

Telex Iran by Gilles Peress

Family 2023

Test of Time: Family by Sabrina Tirvengadum

Before Freedom

The birth of a new photographic canon in the WANA region

Self-Portrait / Nursing 2004

Self-Portrait / Cutting 1993

Bo, 1994

Catherine, Melanie & Sadie Rain, New York, New York 1998

Oliver in a Tutu 2004

Joanne, Betsy, & Olivia, Bayside, New York 1998

Self Portrait 1970 2008

Mary Ellen, Ann, Gunner, Zoe, & Nora, New York, New York 1998

Miggi & Ilene, Los Angeles, California 1995

Jesse, 1995

Guillermo & Joaquin, 2013

Mother’s Day 2026

Lisetta Carmi

Julia Kochetova - War is Personal

Event Template

Keerthana Kunnath

Martin Parr

Hailun Ma

Nadav Kander

Foam presents the exhibition of Myriam Boulos (1992, Lebanon), the 19th winner of the Foam Paul Huf Award. Across her work, Boulos consistently transforms a deeply personal exploration into politically resonant visual narratives, while also reshaping our understanding of documentary photography itself. Her photography gives visibilty to those living outside dominant norms, capturing moments of connection and tenderness within a context that often seeks to silence them. 

Whats Ours, 2019

Foam

What's Ours, 2019

Myriam Boulos 

From the series Sea Beach

From the series After Rana Plaza

From the series The People Who Feed The United States

Ismail Ferdous: the Shared Pulse of Image and Sound 

The Fairmont Victim, 2021, from the series 'This Image Did Not Leave Me For Days' by Malak El Sawi, commissioned by Al Hayya Magazine #1. Styling by Ahmed Srour.

On Our Radar: Malak El Sawi

Foam Talent 2026

Verena Blok - Love Shit 

Hajar Benjida - Atlanta Made Us Famous

Jasmijn Vermeeren - You Don't Look Sick

Martin Parr - Very Modern and Rather Ugly

Nadav Kander - The Edge Of Things

For information and visual material please check www.foam.org/press or contact the press office of Foam on +31 (0)20 5516500 / pressoffice@foam.org

Note to editors

Hiền Hoàng - Garden of Entanglement

documentary

On Social Documentary Photography

Nan Goldin documentary première

MPB x Foam Talent Studio Visit: Daniel Mebarek

Pride Photo x Foam presents:
Archivo de la Memoria Trans Argentina

Nazanin Hafez
Spectators

Liubov Durakova
The Quiet Sound of War. A Sound That Can’t Be Turned Off

Daniel Mebarek
Fotos Gratis

Ammar Yassir
I will never find home

Ali Zaraay
An Archive on the Move

Byron Mohammad Hamzah
Yang Ting gal Hanya Kita
(All That Is Left Is Us)

Hady Barry
i am (not) your mother

Mahmoud Abu Hamda
The Life of the Displaced During the War

Manuel Bayo Gisbert
A Solid Home

Northern Winds: Jonathas de Andrade’s Fascination with Jangadeiros

Paolo Cirio
Artist of the Post-Panopticon Era

Myriam Boulos: Foam Paul Huf Award Winner 2025

On the Dutch choreography of water

Are we seeing the full picture?

Which images will stand the test of time, and why?

The birth of a new photographic canon in the WANA region

Virgin Mary fucked up the image of motherhood

Myriam Boulos

Ismail Ferdous: The Shared Pulse of Image and Sound

The Fairmont Victim by Malak El Sawi

Hiền Hoàng - Garden of Entanglement

documentary

On Social Documentary Photography

Nan Goldin documentary première

MPB x Foam Talent Studio Visit: Daniel Mebarek

Pride Photo x Foam presents:Archivo de la Memoria Trans Argentina

Nazanin HafezSpectators

Liubov DurakovaThe Quiet Sound of War. A Sound That Can’t Be Turned Off

Daniel MebarekFotos Gratis

Ammar YassirI will never find home

Ali ZaraayAn Archive on the Move

Byron Mohammad Hamzah Yang Ting gal Hanya Kita (All That Is Left Is Us)

Hady Barryi am (not) your mother

Mahmoud Abu HamdaThe Life of the Displaced During the War

Manuel Bayo GisbertA Solid Home

Northern Winds: Jonathas de Andrade’s Fascination with Jangadeiros

Paolo CirioArtist of the Post-Panopticon Era

Myriam Boulos: Foam Paul Huf Award Winner 2025

On the Dutch choreography of water

Are we seeing the full picture?

Which images will stand the test of time, and why?

The birth of a new photographic canon in the WANA region

Virgin Mary fucked up the image of motherhood

Myriam Boulos

Ismail Ferdous: The Shared Pulse of Image and Sound

The Fairmont Victim by Malak El Sawi

Hiền Hoàng - Garden of Entanglement

Pride Photo x Foam presents:
Archivo de la Memoria Trans Argentina

Nazanin Hafez
Spectators

Liubov Durakova
The Quiet Sound of War. A Sound That Can’t Be Turned Off

Daniel Mebarek
Fotos Gratis

Ammar Yassir
I will never find home

Ali Zaraay
An Archive on the Move

Byron Mohammad Hamzah
Yang Ting gal Hanya Kita
(All That Is Left Is Us)

Hady Barry
i am (not) your mother

Mahmoud Abu Hamda
The Life of the Displaced During the War 

Manuel Bayo Gisbert
A Solid Home

Paolo Cirio
Artist of the Post-Panopticon Era