The Foam Paul Huf Award is an internationally acclaimed photography prize aiming to support generational talents and provide a platform for photographers from across the world.
The Foam Paul Huf Award is organised by Foam since 2007. This yearly prize is awarded to a generational talent that has created an independent body of work that demonstrates a personal visual language and style. The award is open to photographers working in all photographic genres including documentary, applied, journalistic and fashion photography. The artist should have been active in the field for less than 20 years and gained national or international recognition through at least one exhibition and/or publication. The winner receives a cash prize of € 20.000 and a solo exhibition at Foam. The exhibition will be developed with a Foam curator aiming to show an overview of the artists most recent bodies of work.
Winner Foam Paul Huf Award 2021: John Edmonds
The Villain, 2018 © John Edmonds, courtesy of the artist.
John Edmonds is the fifteenth winner of the Foam Paul Huf Award. The jury report states: “John Edmonds’ work impressed the jury with its very articulate, distinctive style and clarity of vision. With the seemingly simple but in essence culturally complex nature of his body of work he questions issues of identity and power from an African-American perspective. Edmonds’ work stems from a deep understanding of the medium of photography and taps into its modernist history.”
The jury of 2021 consists of:
Joachim Naudts (chair, artistic coordinator Kunsthal Extra City, Belgium), Osei Bonsu (curator, International Art, United Kingdom), Alessia Glaviano (visual director of Vogue Italia and director of Photo Vogue Festival, Italy), Gwen Lee (co-founder Singapore International Photography Festival and DECK, Singapore) and Alona Pardo (curator Barbican Art Gallery, United Kingdom).
Nominations
To produce an internationally representative selection Foam annually approaches around twenty nominators from various parts of the world. Specialists and experts in the field of photography are each asked to select a number of talented photographers in their own region. The prize can be awarded for any type of photography: from documentary or applied photography, to journalistic or independent work. The winner’s work must exhibit a clear visual language and distinguish itself in both form and content.
Previous winners
2020 - Laia Abril (1986, Spain)
2019 - Eric Gyamfi (1990, Ghana)
2018 - Daniel Shea (1985, United States)
2017 - Romain Mader (1988, Switzerland)
2016 - Daisuke Yokota (1983, Japan)
2015 - Momo Okabe (1981, Japan)
2014 - Daniel Gordon (1980, United States)
2013 - Taiyo Onorato & Nico Krebs (1979, Switzerland)
2012 - Alex Prager (1979, United States)
2011 - Raphaël Dallaporta (1980, France)
2010 - Alexander Gronsky (1980, Estonia)
2009 - Leonie Hampton (1978, United Kingdom)
2008 - Pieter Hugo (1976, South Africa)
2007 - Mikhael Subotzky (1981, South Africa) and Taryn Simon (1975, United States)
About Paul Huf
The Dutch photographer Paul Huf (1924-2002) was known for his innovative photographic technique and was an important ambassador for the establishment of Foam Fotografiemuseum, Amsterdam in 2001. To honour this special relationship, the Foam Paul Huf Award was created in 2007 in order to stimulate and support photographers on a global scale.
The Foam Paul Huf Award was made possible in part by the generous support of Mentha Capital.
Foam is supported by the BankGiro Loterij, De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek, City of Amsterdam, Foam Members, Olympus and the VandenEnde Foundation.
In 2021 Foam receives additional support from Kickstart Cultuurfonds and the Mondriaan Fund.
