Join us on Saturday 18 November for a talk connecting art and nature as we dig deeper into the current exhibition 

 by Hira Nabi and the latest issue of Foam Magazine #64: EXTREMES—

A still from Wild Encounters, 2023

Foam

Art and environment in the Anthropocene

Foam Magazine #64 Extremes - The Environmental Issue. Cover: Abundance, 2023

Foam Magazine #64 Extremes - The Environmental Issue Cover: Scarcity, 2023.

Image from the series Theatre of Authenticity

From the series Waste Identity Passport for Plastics & Bola Bola Living

"The portfolios and essays on this side address the growth, excess, overproduction, overconsumption, and greed that drive the Anthropogenic engine to continue grinding."

Presenting Foam Magazine #64: Waste Identity: Passport for Plastics & Bola Bola Living by Aàdesokan

Waste Identity: Passport for Plastics & Bola Bola Living

PORTFOLIO – Waste Identity: Passport for Plastics & Bola Bola Living by Aàdesokan

Presenting Foam Magazine #64: Crisis of Storytelling by Gem Fletcher

LONG READ – Crisis of Storytelling by Gem Fletcher

Presenting Foam Magazine #64: Theatre of Authenticity by Natacha de Mahieu

PORTFOLIO –  Theatre of Authenticity by Natacha de Mahieu

Page 144-145 in Foam Magazine #64: EXTREMES

From the series The Eyes of Earth

From the series Master Rock

"This side shows the impact, the disintegration, and the lack of connection to native knowledge, capturing the decrease in different ways."

Presenting Foam Magazine #64: Master Rock by Maria Fusco

PORTFOLIO –  Master Rock by Maria Fusco

Presenting Foam Magazine #64: Radical Inclusivity, Relationality and Indigenous Photography by Wanda Nanibush

LONG READ – Radical Inclusivity, Relationality and Indigenous Photography by Wanda Nanibush

Presenting Foam Magazine #64: The Eyes of Earth by Solmaz Daryani

PORTFOLIO –  The Eyes of Earth by Solmaz Daryani

Foam Magazine #64 Extremes - The Environmental Issue Cover: Abundance, 2023

EXTREMES – The Environmental Issue: New ways of visualising climate change in Foam Magazine

The West Desert, located on the western shore of the Great Salt Lake in Utah (USA), is the ancestral home of the indigenous Goshute people. Though officially public lands, managed by the Bureau of Land Management, this area is largely used for various privatised or military purposes, ranging from mining operations, testing grounds for weapons and improvised gun ranges.  

, Jaclyn Wright visited these cluttered sites, full of discarded targets and shattered clay pigeons. The bullet-holed remains, which she collected, photographed and filmed, are pieced together into performative installations, that reflect on the colonisation of ancient lands by bureaucratic systems.  

By inserting herself into the scene, wearing a skintight bodysuit made out of orange clay pigeons, Wright comments on the hyper-masculine culture of land dominance and cowboy fantasies. The synthetic orange colour becomes symbolic: used to enhance visibility, it signifies the strong opposition and rejection of its natural environment. 

Untitled (BLM arrows I)

From the series High Visibility (Blaze Orange)

Antelope Island (Utah) Buffalo Hunt photograph collection, Digital MSSC782, No. 6, Altered

L. Clyde Anderson photograph collection (1910- 1959), P0158, Box 1, Folder 27, Altered

Charles James Neal photograph collection (1900 - 1920s), P0694, Box 1, Folder 4, Altered

The West Desert is located on the western side of the Great Salt Lake [UT, United States]. Historically, this area has been documented through photography and land surveys, supporting the violent exploitation of the landscape. 

Archives, II

Untitled (grid)

Nearly one-third of the West Desert's 7.7 million acres are used as biological and chemical weapons testing grounds. The remaining areas of the West Desert are open to various uses, including improvised gun ranges.

Collected Targets

Collected Targets, from the series High Visibility (Blaze Orange)

L. Clyde Anderson photograph collection (1910- 1959), P0158, Box 1, Folder 6, Altered

Stansbury Island, the second largest island in the Great Salt Lake, echoes with gunfire and is littered with bullet holes, clay pigeons and improvised targets. The Bureau of Land Management refers to this detritus as "trigger trash".

Found Clay Pigeons

Archives, V

Jaclyn Wright

from the series Las Flores Mueren Dos Veces

 is a personal exploration of loss, grief and reconciliation following the death of the artist’s father. Through various tools of digital creation and manipulation, Cristóbal Ascencio created a poetic exploration of his personal memories, altering family photos and recreating the last garden his father worked on.  

Fifteen years after his father passed away, Cristóbal Ascencio learned that his death had been a suicide. The last words of Margarito’s farewell letter stated: “Forgive me and communicate with me.” This new piece of information triggered Ascencio to revisit the images, places and memories connected to his family history.  

In an attempt to answer his father’s final request, he digitally recreated a collection of plants based on his father’s instructions as well as an immersive garden, where the plants function as a bridge between past and present. Using different digital techniques, such as ‘data bending’, photogrammetry and 3D modelling, Ascencio plays on the idea that our memories are manufactured, manipulated and corrupted over time.  

Margarito, from the series Las Flores Mueren Dos Veces. Data bending on archival photography.

Nacer, from the series Las Flores Mueren Dos Veces. Databending on archival photography.

Bromelia, from the series Las Flores Mueren Dos Veces. Digital photography and photogrammetry

Wedding, from the series Las Flores Mueren Dos Veces. Databending on archival photography.

Letter, from the series Las flores mueren dos veces

Monstera Deliciosa, from the series Las Flores Mueren Dos Veces. Digital photography and photogrammetry

Burial, from the series Las Flores Mueren Dos Veces. Data bending on archival photography.

Birthday, from the series Las Flores Mueren Dos Veces. Databending on archival photography.

Tagetes Erecta, from the series Las Flores Mueren Dos Veces. Digital photography and photogrammetry

Lucha Libre, from the series Las Flores Mueren Dos Veces. Databending on archival photography.

from the series Las floren mueren dos veces

Cristóbal Ascencio

Dream-like figures appear in dense forests, dancing and floating around smoke and fires like magical figures. For 

Cansu Yıldıran collaborated with fellow queer artists based in Turkey to create a fantastic world where they could feel safe and sheltered —a feeling that is often lacking in their daily life.

The dreamy visuals are fittingly accompanied by a fairytale, written by Yıldıran themselves, which tells about the heavy norms enforced on the queer community by society and how this collaborative project helped them to believe in another world, a deep mysterious realm within them.

 offers an escape: inspired by their dreams and childhood fairytales, Yıldıran’s images unravel a certain state of mind, a deeper meaning of what it means to be queer within a hostile environment. The photographs are all analogue—a technical yet vital element of the project. Not knowing anything about the visual outcome during the process, it allowed Cansu Yıldıran to approach each portrait intuitively and independent of the rest. 

From the series Fathom

Cansu Yıldıran

In 1947, when the British left India after 89 years of colonial rule, the land was divided into two countries: Pakistan and India. Known as the Partition of India, this enforced and hastily drawn line sparked a violent mass migration of fifteen million people, changing the course of history on the subcontinent for generations to come.  

, Aaryan Sinha documented his journey across five Indian states bordering with Pakistan. The photographs capture his travels in an intuitive and poetic way, and together investigate how historical events, like the partition, influence the Indian landscape and the identity of its people, including his own. 

At the core of the project lies Aaryan’s attempt to depict a version of India that is truer to his experience, one of similarity and connection, rather than division and opposition. Through this, his project also exposes the relationship between photography and colonialism—aiming to revoke the stereotypical perception of a poor, overpopulated nation held by many in the West. 

In a Sandstone Mine

A Dream from Childhood

Portrait of Time

From the series This Isn't Divide and Conquer

Stillness

Scars Run Deep

Escape

Reinforcement

Aaryan Sinha

 in 2004. The artwork is an analogue c-print and is displayed at 61 x 80 cm.

System 8, from the series Kosmos, 2011

visible in

is the main business district of Amsterdam, located south of the inner city. Starting in 2001, every year two to four photographers and visual artists received an assignment to capture this area and its rapidly changing environment. The ten works by Jasper Wiedeman that feature in 

 are a documentation of the garden that he created in the middle of the Zuidas.

06.09.2004

 in 2018. The artwork is an ice photogram digitally printed on glass, and is displayed at 33 x 40 cm.

In an attempt to minimize the devastating effect of global warming on the glaciers of the Swiss Alps, each summer they are covered with geotextile blankets that are designed to keep the ice cool. Douglas Mandry journeyed his native country, intrigued by this desperate attempt to prevent the receding glaciers from further melting. The artist collected disused pieces of geotextile from the mountains, and later processed them as a base for found photographs of early twentieth-century alpinism in the region. Mandry also took bits of broken ice from the glacier with him in a cool box. In the darkroom, he put the ice in the enlarger, where it started to melt and drip onto the photo paper, creating a colourful aura of the glacier. Mandry then reproduced these photograms on glass plates. 

could be considered an index of the vanishing glaciers of Switzerland: frozen time, captured in an instant by the principles of photography.

Monuments, Aletsch #2, 2018

Foam Magazine is an international award-winning photography publication.

Front cover: Faceless, 2023. Image from the series (Inter)Faces of Predictions

Cover image: Sunil and Sulbha Dhiwar, with Tanmay, Tejasvi, Sourabh, Prachi and Vivek from the Goody family archive, 2002. Image from the series Eat with Great Delight

Cover image: Untitled / After Courbet (L’origine du monde), 2004. Colour photograph, 46x55cm. Photograph: David Rych.

Foam Magazine 61 Talent. Image: Paintings, Dreams and Love © Yushi Li

Foam Magazine #60 Glyphs – The Image + Text Issue

Image from the series EIGHTEEN NINETY 2020 installation detail from the exhibition In Plain Sight

Foam Magazine is published two times a year. Each issue is dedicated to a specific theme that is explored through work by both world-renowned image makers and newer, emerging talents. Accompanying essays, interviews and opinions by experts in the field come together to shape an in-depth and critical conversation.

Crafted with distinct editorial choices, Foam Magazine has been the recipient of several awards for its high-grade graphic design and quality of content.

Phone showing Foam magazine

Image from the series Playing with Visual Fragments

Title

Foam Magazine #59: Histories - The Archival Issue, 2021 

Image from the series After Hours

title

Image from the series Collection of Unjust Enrichment

Image from the series Where We ve Been, Where We re Going Why

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Magazine

Created by Lucas Foglia in 2015. The artwork is a pigment print on Archival Epson Premium Semimatte paper and displayed at 86.4 x 111.8 cm.

Waves from the Web, 2009

Visible in

How important is nature for human health? In his series 

, photographer Lucas Foglia examines the relationship between humans and the natural wilderness. He for instance follows a group of neuroscientists who are studying the soothing effects of being immersed in nature. The image of a sitting woman, clutching her knees, surrounded by an awe-inspiring landscape, while hooked up to a computer via electrodes in her head, create a science fiction-like atmosphere. This person is in fact participating in an actual study conducted by the University of Utah (US), in which researchers measure the participants’ brain activity while being exposed to different natural environments. The contrast between the high-tech equipment to which participant Kate is attached and the vast wilderness in the background create a visual tension. Perhaps Foglia wants to emphasise how far-removed humans have become from their natural environment?

Kate in an EEG Study of Cognition in the Wild, Strayer Lab, University of Utah, Utah 2015 from the series Human Nature

Kate in an EEG Study of Cognition in the Wild, Strayer Lab, University of Utah, Utah 2015

, photographer Lucas Foglia examines the relationship between humans and the natural wilderness, starting from the observation that the average American spends 93% of time indoors, while climate change is severely impacting our life environment and food security. As extreme weather conditions are forcing farmers to protect their crops, this photograph shows a brightly coloured orange, surrounded by luscious green, all covered in ice. It is an almost surrealistic image, since growing oranges is generally associated with a warm and sunny climate. Using ice is however a tried and tested method applied by farmers in California to protect their oranges against the cold – however paradoxical that may seem. 

Ice to Protect Orange Trees from the Cold, California, 2015 from the series Human Nature

Ice to Protect Orange Trees from the Cold, California 2015

Ice to Protect Orange Trees from the Cold, California, 2015

Created by Pieter Hugo in 2005. The artwork is a digital c-print and displayed at 152.4 x 152.4 cm.

The young man in the image, Mallam Mantari Lamal, is part of a group of traveling troubadours in Nigeria known as the 'Hyena men'. In addition to taming and performing with hyenas, they sell traditional medicines as they tour the country. The heavy chain and sturdy muzzle covering the hyena's mouth reveal the strength of the predator at the end of the leash. However, Mallam strikes a confident pose as he stands next to the calmly reclining hyena.  

Pieter Hugo’s photographs are a blend of documentary and portrait photography. They not only portray the people he encounters, but also introduce their culture, lifestyle and environment. Through this series, Hugo highlights the paradoxical relationship between the men and their animals: both caring and cruel.  

(The portrait of Mallam Mantari Lamal with the hyena, Mainasara, is part of Pieter Hugo’s larger series

, a project for which he was awarded the 

Mallam Mantari Lamal with Mainasara,  Nigeria, 2005 from the series The Hyena & Other Men

Mallam Mantari Lamal with Mainasara, Nigeria, 2005 

Created by Daniëlle van Ark in 2005-2007. The artwork is a c-print on aluminum and displayed at 60 x 75 cm.

What happened a minute before this photo was taken? Did a loud ringtone disturb the quiet art space? A woman has taken a step back from the group to take a call, unaware of the annoyed look by one of the other visitors. 

 is part of Daniëlle van Ark’s series, 

, in which she captures the upper classes of New York society as they visit gallery openings. Chelsea is a bustling neighbourhood in New York City, located on the far end of Manhattan's West Side. Although it only covers 6 blocks, this neighbourhood is home to over 300 art galleries. The gallery’s sterile environment forms a stage for the comic scene that takes place in front of van Ark’s lens. The only touches of colour come from the painting on the wall and the bright pink skirt. As a sociologist, van Ark likes to observe people’s behaviour, subtly capturing how they interact in theatrical scenes. 

Untitled (Pink Skirt vs. Brown Pants) from the series For Art's Sake

Untitled (Pink Skirt vs. Brown Pants)

Created by Vincent Zedelius in 2004. The artwork is a c-print mounted on MDF coated with epoxy and displayed at 90 x 70 cm.

As the title suggests, the images for this series served as a training exercise for Vincent Zedelius, enabling him to improve his photographic eye. 

 shows the interior of an old carpentry and furniture school. The rectangular shapes on the ground and the wall, in combination with the desk and piece of paper create a pleasant geometry. However, the clean surfaces and the centred lighting also add a slightly mysterious feel. The peel of the tangerine disturbs the scene and enhances the uncanniness. Aside from the peel, there is little to suggest the building is still in use. 

Throughout his work, Zedelius displays an interest in environments where only traces of human presence can be found and the tension this creates. In 2006, Zedelius’s series 

Exercise #03 from the series Exercise

Exercise #03

Created by Cuny Janssen in 2008. The artwork is a c-print and displayed at 36 x 29 cm.

How does the scarred history of Native Americans relate to the world of their youngest generation? This question led photographer Cuny Janssen to travel to Bartlesville, Oklahoma (USA), home to the Turtle clan from the matriarchal Delaware tribe. For her project, 

, Janssen photographed children with Native American roots and the environments in which they grow up, trying to capture the connection between the two. Critical of the stereotyped representation of Native Americans in popular media, Janssen portrayed the children and their environments in an uninhibited way.  

This resulted in a series of intimate portraits, such as the one of William Scott Burks, exploring the relationship between culture, society and upbringing. 

William Scott Burks from the series My Grandma was a Turtle

Bartlesville, OK, USA, 2008, William Scott Burks

William Scott Burks

Opening of recommended Olympus Fellowship at Foam

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Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation & Foam Talent

recommended Olympus Fellowship

Opening of Now You See Me Moria at Foam

Image from the series Flash Points

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Created by Guillaume Simoneau in 2015. The artwork is a pigment print. It explores themes as environment, ecosystems and science.

Maldoror #6, 2014

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

In the genre of documentary photography, it is quite common to produce work in series: multiple photographs that together tell a certain story. Each individual image contributes in a certain way to the bigger story, and it is the photographer who determines how and in which form. For example, in the documentary series 

 the photographer Guillaume Simoneau follows a group of scientists studying the impact of climate change and human interventions on nature, in the so-called ‘Experimental Lake Area’ in Canada. 

 is a close-up of a pair of hands repairing a net. How does this photo relate to the other images in the series, such as 

On Earth – Imaging, Technology and the Natural World

. In this exhibition, 27 contemporary artists reflected on the relationship between humans, technology and nature. 

Mending net, on location ELA, Canada, 2015 from the series Experimental Lake

Mending, on location ELA, Canada, 2015

Created by Guillaume Simoneau in 2015. The artwork is a digital pigment print and displayed at 40 x 31 cm. It explores themes as environment, ecosystems and science.

Just as scientific researchers meticulously record their observations, the Canadian photographer Guillaume Simoneau meticulously observes the paradoxical relationship between humans and nature. His series 

 documents how a group of scientists perform ecological experiments at remote lakes in the vast wilderness of North-west Ontario, Canada. These experiments are part of their study into the impact of human activities on vulnerable ecosystems, for example through pollution and climate change. 

 offers an inside view of the mundane aspects of important scientific research, in which ordinary items such as a bucket, kitchen towel and plastic camping table play a useful role. Guillaume Simoneau’s series 

Location lab two from the series Experimental Lake

Location lab two, on location ELA, Canada, 2015

Created by Guillaume Simoneau in 2014. The artwork is a pigment print and displayed at 40.5 x 30.5 cm. It explores themes as environment, ecosystems and science.

Everything in the world, including humans, consists of atoms; they are the tiny building blocks of life. In this photograph, atoms are represented as black, white and red spheres and combined to form molecules. In his series 

, photographer Guilaume Simoneau follows the daily activities of a group of scientists investigating the human impact on nature. The cool blue hue in the image appears well chosen to reflect the sterile, scientific atmosphere of a laboratory. At the same time, the playful molecule model, dangling from the ceiling like an improvised star constellation, contrasts unexpectedly with the professionalism and serious nature of the scientific research taking place here. Guillaume Simoneau’s series 

Mobile, ELA field station, Canada, 2014 from the series Experimental Lake

Mobile, ELA field station, Canada, 2014

 in 2015. The artwork is a digital pigment print. It explores themes as 

Experimental Lake is set around a world-class research facility looking into human impact on nature. It is situated within the pristine natural environment of the Experimental Lakes Area (ELA) in north-west Ontario, Canada. 58 lakes comprise a natural laboratory where a community of international scientists test the effect of new chemical substances and other human inventions on the environment. Their daily activities are monitored by Simoneau as a complex ecosystem in its own right, much like a scientist studies his specimen. Results from case-studies done in the ELA inform environmental policies worldwide. Similarly, Simoneau’s small observations speak of a universal interconnectedness between man and nature, as increasingly mediated through science – and photography. 

Location lab one, on location ELA, Canada, 2015 from the series Experimental Lake

Location lab one, on location ELA, Canada, 2015

 in 2018. The artwork is a digital pigment print and displayed at 41 x 55 cm. It explores themes as 

Lightning Storm Flare from the series Experimental Lake

Lightning Storm Flare

Mayflies by D. McLeod, on location ELA, Canada from the series Experimental Lake

Mayflies by D. McLeod, on location ELA, Canada

 in 2010. Using c-print as the medium, the artwork is displayed at 60 x 40 cm.

Paper Girl 2, from the series World, 2010

A frail and twisted female body dissimulated behind pieces of paper: profoundly influenced by fashion and design, Ina Jang’s images are unconventional and light. She creates a complex and multidimensional world in which reality and fiction are intertwined using different surfaces and layers.

The base of Jang’s work is her experimental curiosity. Many of her images start with drawings or figures, which become obscured in surreal, hyper-stimulated environments. Jang’s goal is to find new perspectives in photography: "Coming up with something that completely breaks the boundaries might be impossible, but I think it’s always nice to try to break personal boundaries." With her conceptually and aesthetically playful approach to photography, Jang crafts her own visual language and creates light-hearted and poetic work.

environment

Art and environment inthe Anthropocene