On 2 August, Foam brings together the shared theme of two exhibitions in Gender Bender, an event to mark the occasion of Pride Amsterdam.

ATTENTION: this event is sold out
Drawing on Structures of Identity - Photography from the Walther Collection and the exhibition Y&rsquo;all better Quiet Down by JeanPaul Paula &amp; Florian Joahn, Gender Bender explores the visual idiom regarding gender identities, with reference to the portraits concurrently on display in the museum. Also, the role that the concept of gender plays in contemporary society will be addressed. The programme features the following speakers: PROGRAMME AND SPEAKERS:
<ul>
<li>Foam curator Kim Knoppers will discuss the visual idiom regarding gender and identities in the exhibition Structures of Identity, in relationship to contemporary mass media. How are norms endorsed and criticised? How can photographic representations reinforce, undermine or unsettle social stereotypes?</li>
<li>Artist duo JeanPaul Paula and Florian Joahn will give an Artist Talk that sheds more light on how the images in the exhibition were created.</li>
<li>Independent scholar Tjalling Vald&eacute;s Olmos will offer an analysis of the (audio-) visual art by Reina Gossett/ Tourmaline (a young queer and transactivist), and the specific political role that she plays in contemporary society where the lives, stories and histories of queers and trans-individuals of colour often go unseen and/or remain unheard.</li>
</ul>
<a href="/book-a-visit/public/gender-bender/02-08-2018">&gt; Sign up now</a>
ABOUT THE EXHIBITIONS <a href="/museum/programme/structures-of-identity">Structures of Identity - Photography from The Walther Collection</a> examines how photographers from different periods and cultures used the power of the portrait to either confirm or critically examine stereotypical ideas on status, race, nationality and gender. Part of the exhibition explicitly explores gender identity and shows how photography can contribute to expanding gender identities and to questioning sexual conventions. It demonstrates how photography can help to make representations of gender and sexuality more fluid.
<a href="/museum/programme/structures-of-identity">&gt; Learn more</a> The exhibition <a href="/museum/programme/jeanpaul-paula-florian-joahn">Y&rsquo;all Better Quiet Down</a> is entirely devoted to gender identity. For this exhibition, Paula and Joahn portrayed (among others) various individuals from the LGBTQ community of S&atilde;o Paulo, whom they styled and then photographed. Each of the models represents their identity in a unique and powerful way, against the background of a country that celebrates the world&rsquo;s largest Pride festival, but also where the largest number of LGHBTQ individuals is violently killed every year. Besides the portraits of the people in Brazil, the artist duo also made portraits inspired by key figures from the worldwide Pride movement.
<a href="/museum/programme/jeanpaul-paula-florian-joahn">&gt; Learn more</a>
Foam is supported by the BankGiro Loterij, De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek, Gemeente Amsterdam, Olympus and the VandenEnde Foundation.

<div class="sidebar__content">EVENT INFO 
Thursday 2 August 2018 6.30pm - 9pm doors open at 6pm &gt;&gt; FULL &lt;&lt; PRICE &euro;7,00* regular rate &euro;5,00&nbsp;<a href="/about/memberships" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Foam Fan</a>/<a href="/about/memberships" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Club</a>/<a href="/about/foam-fund" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fund</a> 
LANGUAGE English *excluding&nbsp;<a href="/museum/visitor-information">museum admission</a></div>

Gender Bender

Page 144-145 in Foam Magazine #64: EXTREMES.

Page 138-139 in Foam Magazine #64: EXTREMES

Page 142-143 in Foam Magazine #64: EXTREMES

Presenting Foam Magazine #64: EXTREMES—The Environmental Issue

Time to change perspective.

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

On Transience – The Ebb & The Flow

Jannat for Not What You Saw

Kavitha for Not What You Saw

Bhumika for Not What You Saw

Aishu for Not What You Saw

“For me, strength is the ability to move through fear and doubt rather than be held back by them. It’s not just about endurance or resilience, it's about having the courage to question yourself, to confront uncertainty, and to keep going anyway.” 

Feature: Spotlight on Keerthana Kunnath & Exhibition Announcement 

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

Front cover of What Lee Wore

Book Club: Gisela Torres - What Lee Wore

Lisetta Carmi

Hailun Ma

Martin Parr

Julia Kochetova - War is Personal

Event Template

Nadav Kander

Myriam Boulos 

Foam presents the first museum exhibition of London based photographer Keerthana Kunnath, who uses the camera as a tool to address socio-cultural issues. 

Kunnath documented female bodybuilders in Kerela, Southern India, to break conventional stereotypes and reshape the cultural constructs of gender and beauty in the region. 

The images, exuding both strength and softness, invite the viewer to question preconceptions of what a woman should look like - and look again. 

Image from the series Not What You Saw

Foam

Keerthana Kunnath

Annegret Soltau, With Myself, 1975/2022

On Our Radar: Annegret Soltau

A Parliament of Empty Gestures, 2025

Kiss Exam, 2015 ©

On Our Radar: A Parliament of Empty Gestures by Mark Duffy

American Gothic, Washington, D.C., 1942. Gordon Parks, Courtesy of the Gordon Parks Foundation

Test of Time: Deborah Willis

Ricardo Nagaoka presents a series of intimate portraits that addresses the prevailing societal ideas on what makes a man a man. Born in Paraguay to Japanese parents, Ricardo found himself stuck between the macho culture of Latin America and the strict patriarchal norms of his family.  

The photographs, all black and white, vary in crop and position: sometimes up close, cutting off certain body parts and revealing others, whilst others zoom out and show the portrayed head to toe. All images carry a quiet, timeless atmosphere, yet they express a distinct softness. Together, they call for a more inclusive understanding of gender, away from masculine stereotypes—largely based on Ricardo Nagaoka’s own experiences and desires. 

Nagaoka’s projects are not only about breaking down the ruling ideas on masculinity, but more so about building up what this term can include in the future.  

Kitchen, 2022

Aprétame (Justin), 2022

Wrestlers (Self), 2022

Daniel, 2022

Touching (Self), 2022

Brit II, 2023

El Mundo (Rose), 2023

Breaking (John & Timme), 2021

Ivan, 2022

John, 2022

Ricardo Nagaoka

Credo, from the series MADRE

challenges the binary opposition between the ‘good girl’ and the ‘bad girl’ deeply rooted in the Catholic traditions within Bolivian society. Closely collaborating with the sitters of her portraits, Marisol Mendez counters the simplified, sinner-versus-saint, vision on femininity. 

‘Madre’ in this case signifies much more than just a mother figure. It connects to the complex and multi-layered female goddesses traditionally worshipped in indigenous cultures and points to the rich, complex and varied experiences of 

Mendez deliberately uses the alternative spelling to, also linguistically, rid herself from limiting definitions of femininity. 

The portraits play with traditional symbolism associated with the stereotypical female: fragile, devout and proper stand next to rebellious and sexual. By doing so, the photographs show the contradiction experienced by many womxn between rebelling against and adopting these expected gender roles. 

Llorona, from the series Madre

Durazno, from the series Madre

Killa, from the series Madre

El marido sin cabeza, from the series MADRE

Huevo, from the series Madre

Our Lady of Plaster, from the series Madre

Pliegues, from the series Madre

Efigie, from the series Madre

Dolorosa, from the series Madre

Pared, from the series Madre

Estampita, from the series Madre

Quinceañera, from the series Madre

Virgen Andina, from the series MADRE

Soft, from the series Madre

Dual, from the series Madre

Marisol Mendez

Hiền Hoàng - Garden of Entanglement

Hajar Benjida - Atlanta Made Us Famous

Jasmijn Vermeeren - You Don't Look Sick

Martin Parr - Very Modern and Rather Ugly

Foam Talent 2026

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

see more

Verena Blok - Love Shit 

Created by Ilona Szwarc in 2015. The artwork is an inkjet print on Hahnemuhle gloss baryta warmtone inkjet paper and displayed at 90 x 115 cm.

Untitled from the series Bible, 2008-2014

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

visible in

How well do you know yourself and do you express your identity? Inspired by the make-up tutorials from the theatre world, Ilona Szwarc models her own face on the back of another person’s head, who is also her lookalike. As a result, this photograph hovers halfway between a portrait and a self-portrait, and it remains unclear exactly who is who. Ilona Szwarc likes to play with the idea of identity and how we present ourselves to the outside world, but also with how women tend to be depicted and how gender is a social construct. She stresses how much we are often strangers to ourselves. The result is an absurdist image that may call to mind some scene from a scary movie.  

Untitled #21, 2015 from the series I am a woman and I cast no shadow, 2015

Untitled #21 from the series I am a woman and I cast no shadow

Created by Momo Okabe in 2008-2014. The artwork is an inkjet print on semi-glossy paper, matt quality, and displayed at 25.4 x 20.3 cm.

 describes the various romantic relationships of photographer Momo Okabe over a period of seven years. Among others, the series tracks the gender confirmation surgery of her lover Yoko, who had her uterus and breasts removed in Thailand. The title of the series refers to an object that is easy to buy and to use, but also represents something that some transgenders may feel they can never truly possess. This portrait in a domestic setting provides an intimate glimpse into Okabe’s private life. The surroundings are bathed in a warm, pinkish glow that characterizes the entire series. Bringing to mind historic images from old photo albums, this colour tone evokes a sense of nostalgia. By documenting her personal story in her work, Okabe manages to evoke universal feelings about sex, transsexuality and love. 

Untitled, 2008-2014 from the series Dildo, 2008-2014

Untitled from the series Dildo 2

 describes the various romantic relationships of photographer Momo Okabe over a period of seven years. Among other things, the series tracks the gender confirmation surgery of her lover Yoko, who had her uterus and breasts removed in Thailand. The intimate portraits that Okabe creates reflect the challenges and vulnerabilities that transgender people must cope with, in the face of the often discriminatory and conservative views that exist in Japanese culture. In terms of form and lighting, this portrait appears to be a spur-of-the-moment shot, but at the same time it shows a strong, determined person. By documenting her personal story in her work, Okabe manages to evoke universal feelings about sex, transsexuality and love. 

Untitled from the series Dildo 1

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

more from the series

 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

From the Archive: Shenasnameh by Amak Mahmoodian

For more information and visual material, login to access the press kit of this exhibition.




more at Foam

Foam Talent 2024

Foam in 2025

Foam Talent 2024-2025

A self-portrait of an algorithm no.89, 2023

Vistas #22, 2020

Untitled, from the series In Their Own Image of God, They Created Them

Variations of an Erosion op. 1, 2023

The ability for machines to 'see' and 'create' has improved tremendously over the past decades, meaning that computers have been trained, by humans, to recognise and generate images that come shockingly close to a photorealistic image.

From Innovation to Art: The History of AI Images in Foam Magazine #66: Missing Mirror

Ctrl.Alt.Img

It has become increasingly difficult to distinguish between a human-made photograph and an image created with AI, which threatens to shatter the foundation of photography: its claim to truth.

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The Zizi Show (202)

The Zizi Show (2020)

The Zizi Project (2019 – ongoing) — Jake Elwes

Spread from Morehshin Allahyari's portfolio in Foam Magazine #66

Moon-faced ماه طلعت, Video (color, sound) 2048 × 3712 pixels 2 minutes 5 seconds

Moon-faced ماه طلعت,

ماه طلعت Moon-faced — Morehshin Allahyari

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

Visit the museum

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Foam Talent 2024 | Frankfurt

From the series Inner Journey

Foam produced a series of podcasts on the occasion of Foam Talent 2022. In this first episode, host and curator of this year's Foam Talent exhibition Mirelva Berghout speaks with Foam Talent Marvel Harris and special guest Hélène Selam Kleih.

Podcast

The Feast Inside, from the series Paintings Dreams and Love

Talent Talks 2022 with Marvel Harris & Hélène Selam Kleih

gender

Gender Bender

On Transience – Theme Text Foam Magazine #64: EXTREMES–The Environmental Issue

Not What You Saw by Keerthana Kunnath

The birth of a new photographic canon in the WANA region

Virgin Mary fucked up the image of motherhood

What Lee Wore by Gisela Torres

Keerthana Kunnath
Not What You Saw

With Myself by Annegret Soltau

A Parliament of Empty Gestures by Mark Duffy

Test of Time: American Gothic by Gordon Parks

Ricardo Nagaoka

Marisol Mendez

Verena Blok - Love Shit

Untitled #21

Untitled from the series Dildo

Untitled from the series Dildo

Untitled from the series Bible

Untitled from the series Bible

Untitled from the series Bible

Shenasnameh by Amak Mahmoodian

Foam Talent 2024

Foam Talent 2024-2025

Photography Through the Lens of AI

Foam Talent 2024 | Frankfurt

Talent Talks 2022 with Marvel Harris & Hélène Selam Kleih

gender

Gender Bender

On Transience – Theme Text Foam Magazine #64: EXTREMES–The Environmental Issue

Not What You Saw by Keerthana Kunnath

The birth of a new photographic canon in the WANA region

Virgin Mary fucked up the image of motherhood

What Lee Wore by Gisela Torres

Keerthana Kunnath Not What You Saw

With Myself by Annegret Soltau

A Parliament of Empty Gestures by Mark Duffy

Test of Time: American Gothic by Gordon Parks

Ricardo Nagaoka

Marisol Mendez

Verena Blok - Love Shit

Untitled #21

Untitled from the series Dildo

Untitled from the series Dildo

Untitled from the series Bible

Untitled from the series Bible

Untitled from the series Bible

Shenasnameh by Amak Mahmoodian

Foam Talent 2024

Foam Talent 2024-2025

Photography Through the Lens of AI

Foam Talent 2024 | Frankfurt

Talent Talks 2022 with Marvel Harris & Hélène Selam Kleih

Keerthana Kunnath
Not What You Saw