AMSTERDAM.- Following the award-winning first edition of 2020, Foam presents a brand new online exhibition: Foam Talent 2021 | Digital. This multi-media platform showcases the work of 20 artists that were selected through the annual Foam Talent Call. Their projects are translated into the digital realm, supported by audio, video and interactive elements. Liberating the photographs from their frames and taking them beyond the museum walls, the exhibition pushes the boundaries of the medium and explores the outlines of its future form. It connects facets of the extensive Foam Talent programme, offering podcasts, Zoom talks, limited Editions and more. The visitor is invited to explore and immerse themselves in the endless possibilities and perspectives that contemporary photography has to offer.

Foam Talent 2021

The fifteenth edition of Foam Talent presents a selection of 20 outstanding artists, each in their own way feeling the pulse of our times. In spite of the many challenges humankind was confronted with in 2020, Foam counted the highest number of submissions for the annual Talent call yet: 1803 entries, from 75 countries – each of which presents a message in a bottle from different parts of the world.

This year’s Talents present a close, sharp look at one of the most important subjects today: the human condition. While several of the submissions were born out of the Covid-19 pandemic, they offer beautiful, hopeful and refreshing statements on the power of photography to share our experience and – possibly – to effect a shift in perspective. Many of the bodies of work are concerned with provenance, migration, lineage, displacement and diaspora. The steady focus on social, political and environmental concerns is most often expressed in a quest for belonging, be it on an individual or a collective level. Obviously – and thankfully – there is not one, unique photographic approach. A fluid use of visual techniques characterises this new generation of image-makers, who are blurring the boundaries between (analogue) photography, digital renderings, performance and moving imagery.

The selected photographers for Foam Talent 2021 are: Heather Agyepong (UK), Kwabena Sekyi Appiah-nti (BE/GH), Delali Ayivi (TG/DE), Hajar Benjida (NL/MA), Daniel Castro Garcia (UK/ES), Solène Gün (FR), Tommy Kha (US), Billy H.C. Kwok (HKG), Simon Lehner (AUT), Pat Martin (US), Plantation (NG), Sarker Protick (BD), Silvia Rosi (IT/TG), Joey Solomon (US), Leonard Suryajaya (US), Lisandro Suriel (MF), Igor Tereshkov (RU), Ana Vallejo (CO), Sheng-Wen Lo (TW) and Bowei Yang (CN).

Foam Talent

The annual Foam Talent Call is a search for exceptionally talented photographers aged between 18 and 40, from all across the world. The submissions form an intriguing barometer of current developments in contemporary photography.

Selected artists receive a number of career-building opportunities, including publication in the annual Talent issue of Foam Magazine, presentation of their work as part of the (online) Talent exhibition, participation in a professional mentorship programme and exposure through public programmes and events. Each year one of the body of works of the Talents is acquired by Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation, funding partner of the Talent Programme, for the prestigious Art Collection Deutsche Börse.