Foam Talks

Known for his iconic black and white images of Istanbul, Ara Güler was a multi-talented photo legend from Turkey known for his reportages documenting the world. In this episode of Foam Talks, Foam moderator Yasemin Bağcı speaks about Ara Güler’s extraordinary oeuvre with curator Claartje van Dijk and exhibition manager of the Ara Güler Museum, Tuana Pulak. Together they explore the lifework of Ara Güler, spanning over 70 years, why he identified as a visual historian, his gigantic archive and his surprising personal work that is shown to the public for the first time. The episode ends with a ‘Photo Recipe’: a feature of our podcast where, in the spirit of Ara Güler, Tuana Pulak and Claartje van Dijk share a photographic instruction based on his practice for all the (aspiring) photographers who are listening.  Visit the exhibition Ara Güler: A Play of Light and Shadow at Foam Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam until 8 November 2023 or read about his work on our digital platform Foam Explore. Claartje van Dijk is head of exhibitions and curator at Foam Photography Museum in Amsterdam. She has curated various exhibitions including Ara Güler: A Play of Light and Shadow, Mous Lamrabat - Blessings from Mousganistan, Bebe Blanco Agterberg – Theatre of Broken Memories, Vivian Maier – Works in Color, among many others. Previously, Claartje worked at the International Center of Photography (ICP) in New York as Assistant Curator, Collections. Over time Claartje has been jury of different awards, including PDN: The Curator Award, Critical Mass, and the Lucie Scholarship Program for The Lucie Foundation. Tuana Pulak (Ankara, Turkey, 1993) is the Project Development and Exhibitions Manager at the Ara Güler Museum in Istanbul. She received her B.A in Design and Management from Parsons the New School for Design, with a concentration on photography history. Tuana began her career assisting and working for leading figures in the image making industry, such as Karla Otto, Karl Templer and Fabien Baron. Upon her return to Turkey in 2017, she worked for contemporary art galleries and arts and culture platforms, leading and executing numerous exhibitions and projects. Additionally, Tuana works as a freelance writer and researcher specialising in photography. She has been a writer for Holden Luntz Gallery since 2021 and is currently based in Istanbul. Edit & Mixing: Irene Cassarini

Do you hear the whispers of the lost statue, the ancient glacier lake and the mysterious fig tree? In this episode of Foam Talks, Foam moderator Yasemin Bağcı and artists Ece Gökalp and Larissa Araz dive deeper into the concept of “non-human witnesses”. They discuss how animals, artefacts and places in nature can unveil stories of exploitation, violence and war, uncovering layers of history and memory like detectives. Both artists share how this inspires them and how they support each other in their artistic practice. The episode ends with a ‘Photo Recipe’: a feature of our podcast where Ece Gökalp and Larissa Araz share a photographic instruction based on their practice for all the (aspiring) photographers who are listening. Visit the exhibition After Anahit by Ece Gökalp at Foam Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam until 17 September 2023 or read about her work on our digital platform Foam Explore. Ece Gökalp (Istanbul, 1988) is a visual artist. In her research-based practice, she experiments with different media to explore diverse possibilities inherent to photography. In doing so, she specifically employs photography as a means of perceiving geographies in different contexts. As such her works about different places and landscapes, do not only help to better understand herself, but also unveil layers of (invisible) meanings and information. Gökalp is also interested in tapping into the controversy surrounding photography, the photographic gaze and the indexicality of photography. Larissa Araz (Istanbul, 1990) is an artist and founder of Poşe, an artist run space in Istanbul. Araz focuses on alternative histories, non-human witnesses and denied evidence and the construction of dominant ideologies through institutional knowledge production. Through personal narratives, she researches documents, archives, belongings, ruins, silences, traces, and memories that are not included in, or kept hidden from social memory. Between reality and fiction, she tries to discuss possible futures and unrevealed pasts using mythology and rituals. She uses different mediums in her practice but mainly focuses on text and image-making.

How do trends influence our ideals of beauty, fashion and style? In this episode of Foam Talks, curator Mirjam Kooiman discusses the rapid succession of (internet) trends, the historical rise of consumerism and commercialisation of images with artist Sara Cwynar and trend forecaster Agustina Panzoni. Together, they dive into the world of Pamcore, metacringe and continuously changing beauty standards. The episode ends with a ‘Photo Recipe’: a new feature of our podcast where Sara Cwynar shares a photographic instruction based on her practice for all the (aspiring) photographers who are listening. Visit the exhibition S/S 23 by Sara Cwynar at Foam Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam until 27 September 2023 or read about her work on our digital platform Foam Explore. Sara Cwynar is a New York-based contemporary artist, who seeks to make sense of our current visual culture through photography, essayistic video works, collages, installations and books. In her studio, she collects and documents images and objects to identify the ways that these everyday materials shape our lives as we consume them. In this way, she captures the prevailing ideals and ideologies of an era. Agustina Panzoni is a cultural researcher and trend forecaster. She has made a following by uncovering cultural narratives behind trends in the visual, fashion and technology realms through weekly video reports. While she's currently Head of Trends at the media company Death To Stock (DTS), she has also collaborated with brands such as Depop, TED, IG, Lyst and, most recently, Klarna. She also runs a popular TikTok account under the alias @ thealgorythm.

Foam produces this special series of podcasts on the occasion of Foam Talent 2022. Each episode focusses on one artist aiming to evoke a conversation around their approach and contextualizing it within the photography field while not forgetting the personal stories behind it. Each conversation features a special guest that offers an insight into the discourses surrounding a specific project. The series is hosted by Mirelva Berghout, curator of this year's Foam Talent exhibition. Shailoh Phillips (1979, USA) is an artist, activist, researcher, educator, hacker, and community organizer. She approaches theory as an embodied practice and teaching as a form of art. She is part of the artist group Tools for Action and currently working on a practice-based PhD on the intersections between protest, performance and photography. Originally trained in philosophy and cultural anthropology, she abandoned an academic career to work in the cultural sector, mainly for museums, public television, artist-run spaces and online platforms. Kata Geibl (1989, Budapest) is a photographer living and working in Budapest, Hungary. Her work is mainly focused on global issues, capitalism, the Anthropocene, and the ambiguities of the photographic medium. Coming from a background in Liberal Arts has informed the way she creates her projects. Drawing concepts from Philosophy and Cultural Studies, Geibl steps in with metaphorical images to fill in the gaps where words fall short. Geibl’s long-standing interest in photography’s ambiguity — how we are trained to treat photographs as evidence while also approaching them with intense suspicion – is palpable throughout her practice. Harnessing this tension, she presents us with the implications of a very real phenomenon without adhering to straight documentary methods that habitually signal truth. Instead, she mixes genres to produce her visual universe — a commentary on our relationship to photography as much as the implications of capitalism. Concept: Amelie Schüle & Mirelva Berghout Production: Nordin Janssen Mastering & Mixing: Andersen Audio Productions