Foam Talent 2024-2025
Aaryan Sinha, Akshay Mahajan, Amin Yousefi, Andrea Orejarena & Caleb Stein, André Ramos-Woodard, Cansu Yıldıran, Cristóbal Ascencio, Eleonora Agostini, Florian Braakman, Issam Larkat, Jaclyn Wright, Marisol Mendez, MAryam Touzani, Rehab Eldalil, Ricardo Nagaoka, Sander Coers, Sheung Yiu, Shwe Wutt Hmon, Thero Makepe, and Xin Li are the twenty artists presented in the group exhibition Talent 2024 – 2025 in Foam, Amsterdam. The artists’ works signify a bold, new direction in photographic art, with pressing societal themes at its centre. Their practices act as a channel for reflection, challenging viewers to think the layered relationship between personal identity and the wider social narrative. From photography to installations, the works embody a dialogue between the past and present, with topics ranging from migration to the danger of internet algorithms, and from questioning gender roles to a reflection on the impact of colonialism.
The talents were selected during the biennial Foam Talent Call, for which 2.480 artists from over 106 countries submitted their work. The exhibition emphasizes the role of photography as a powerful medium for storytelling, cultural critique, and personal expression. In a time of increasing polarization, this year’s talents challenge the viewer to reflect on the viewpoints of others and invite empathy. Looking to broaden the medium of photography, this year’s talents present us with innovative approaches, from embroideries on photos and the use of photogrammetry to the use of Artificial Intelligence. The selection celebrates photographers who dare to push the boundaries of creative expression.
In addition to the physical exhibition, Talent 2024-2025 is accompanied by a digital exhibition on the online platform Foam Explore, as well as Foam Magazine #65 TALENT which is entirely devoted to this new generation of talents. In 2025, the exhibition will travel internationally. As part of the Talent program, the selected artists are invited to participate in various networking activities, mentoring, with the opportunity to have their work added to the prestigious collection of the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation.
Image from the series Broer, 2017 – present © Florian Braakman.
Untitled from the series A Study on Waitressing, 2023 © Eleonora Agostini.
Daughter of Elephants from the series People of Clay, 2023 © Akshay Mahajan.
Oma Praying from the series Maktub, 2022 © MAryam Touzani.
Joe from the series Autobiographies, 2020 © Ricardo Nagaoka.
POST No. 11 from the series POST, 2023 © Sander Coers.
authenticity (2 CHAINZ) from the series BLACK SNAFU, 2022 © André Ramos-Woodard.
A Ranked Amateur from the series To My Darling Love © Aaryan Sinha.
Re A Hlopela (Tombstone Unveiling) from the series We Didn’t Choose to be Born Here, 2019 © Thero Makepe.
Abraham Lincoln and Drone from the series American Glitch, 2021 © Andrea Orejarena and Caleb Stein / Courtesy of Palo Gallery in New York.
Image from the series Frantz Fanon, Me and The Question, 2022 © Issam Larkat.
Mayisa, uzaklar mi sana bakiyorsen mi uzaklara? from the series The Dispossessed, 2019 © Cansu Yıldıran.
Image from the series I Do Miss Hospital Visit, 2023 © Shwe Wutt Hmon.
Fortune in My Thirties from the series (Inter)Faces of Predictions, 2023 © Sheung Yiu.
Nadia from the series The Longing Of The Stranger Whose Path Has Been Broken, 2022 © Rehab Eldalil.
Image from the series Magic Wand Tool, 2022 © Xin Li.
Untitled from the series Eyes Dazzle as They Search for the Truth © Amin Yousefi / Source: Michel Setboun, Days of Revolution.
BURIAL from the series Las flores mueren dos veces, 2022 © Cristóbal Ascencio.
killa from the series Madre © Marisol Mendez.
Studio Targets, I from the series High Visibility Blaze Orange, 2021 © Jaclyn Wright.
Foam Talent 2024-2025 is on view at Foam, Amsterdam until 22 May 2024.