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23/9/2010

Two exhibitions

Foam Photography Museum, Amsterdam

Jim Goldberg: Open See
24 September - 21 November 2010

Open See, the latest project by Magnum photographer Jim Goldberg (b. US, 1953) opens at Foam_Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam on 24 September. Goldberg’s work is characterised by a powerful sense of involvement with individuals on the margins of society. In his work, Goldberg explores complex social problems often using text as an essential part of his compositions. Open See records experiences of people who have left the war-torn social and economic chaos of their native country in the hope of building a better life in Europe. These 'New Europeans’, originally from Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and the Middle East often find themselves confronting a new kind of aggression and cruelty, yet continue to believe in a brighter future. Open See, the title, refers to the absence of borders on the open sea, in contrast to the national frontiers that still divide Europe, despite its so-called unification.

Goldberg examines different aspects of this complex subject using various mediums, such as Polaroids, video, diary fragments, objects and medium and large-format photos. Many of the photos are written on, coloured-in or scratched by the person portrayed. Together, the words and pictures form an intimate, fascinating story of the life of these people. The portraits are interspersed with landscapes of the countries from which they originate.

Jim Goldberg began his 'New Europeans’ project in 2004, commissioned by Magnum Photo collective. This followed the Greek Olympic Games, when Goldberg explored the daily life of immigrants in Greece who had fled war, disease and poverty in their homeland.
In 2007, Goldberg won the Henri Cartier-Bresson Award. This enabled him to finance trips to the countries that the migrants had left and to view the circumstances that had prompted them to make their journey. That is how Open See came about, in which Goldberg expands his focus to look at immigration and human trafficking in other European countries.

In the tradition of documentary photographers such as Walker Evans and Robert Frank, Goldberg seeks to photograph people and their social position. He began experimenting with combinations of words and pictures in his now classic series Rich and Poor (1977–1985), which looks at the differences in America’s class system. In Raised by Wolves (1985–1995) Goldberg documented a group of homeless boys in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Goldberg’s work has appeared in numerous venues, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum in New York and the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, the Photographers’ Gallery in London and Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson in Paris. Goldberg has received many prizes and awards, including the 2007 HVB Award, the Aftermath Project Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Hasselblad Award. Goldberg lives in San Francisco and teaches at California College of Arts and Crafts. He is also known for his editorials in New York Times Magazine, Esquire, Dazed and Confused. Goldberg is represented by de Pace/McGill Gallery in New York and Stephen Wirtz Gallery in San Francisco.

This exhibition was made possible by Fondation HCB, Groupe Wendel and Magnum Photos. With thanks to Stichting Sem Presser Archief and NCDO.

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Johan van der Keuken: Pictorial Narratives
24 September – 8 December 2010

One of best known photos by Johan van der Keuken (1938-2001) is a dance scene on the Ile Saint-Louis in Paris, taken during the 'Quatorze Juillet’ [Bastille Day] celebration in 1958. This photo was first published in the book Paris Mortel (1964). Another 32 negatives were found in Van der Keuken’s archives, taken on the same day and the same spot. These never-before-published photos form the basis of the exhibition Johan van der Keuken – Pictorial Narratives. The series shows the history of how the well-known photo came to be created and elucidates Van der Keuken’s perception and way of working. The compilers of the exhibition (Noshka van der Lely and Willem van Zoetendaal) have also selected a number of Van der Keuken’s other series, some of which have never previously been exhibited. Van der Keuken’s films will be shown as well. In addition, the book Johan van der Keuken – Quatorze Juillet will accompany the exhibition.

'The young photographer strolls through the city; it is 14 July, the most important holiday of the year in Paris. He walks along the Seine and happens upon a small square where a group of people have gathered. A stage has been set up for the musicians. This provides the perfect vantage point for photographing the people dancing. We see a variety of people of different ages and backgrounds come together, attracted by the music. They are dressed in the fashions of the day; they have come to celebrate. If we look at the photos “chronologically”, we first see the people coming into view: young women with flowered skirts and scarves in their hair, older married couples, men from northern Africa, small children with their parents. The people assemble around the dance floor, the music starts. People start talking to each other, minor characters take on leading roles, a man with a ladder walks through the scene, a car comes around the corner. Then people begin to dance, while some look on from the sidelines. We see friends dancing with each other, older couples and children too. New groups form from people just passing by.’
(Noshka van der Lely in Johan van der Keuken - Quatorze Juillet)

By showing a carefully considered selection of images from that day, viewer are given insight into the way the photographer worked and how he ultimately chose that one well-known image. As a special touch, Foam’s historic Fodorzaal will be adapted to recreate the atmosphere of a dancehall, where Van der Keuken’s images will appear to dance around the visitors.
Since the start of his career, Johan van der Keuken – then principally a photographer – was interested in making movement visible in still images. He experimented with series of photos, which he linked so that an 'image story’ was created. He also coupled out-of-focus shots of movement with stationary, sharply focused images. He thus discovered how a photo montage could speed up the movement contained in the images or give them another meaning.

The publication Johan van der Keuken - Quatorze Juillet has been published to accompany the exhibition. The Japanese-style bound book which gave rise to the exhibition includes never-before-published photos from the photographer/filmmaker’s early period (€ 30,-).

The exhibition has been made possible in part by Pixum, European online photoservice. Further thanks to Fotovaklaboratorium De Verbeelding, Purmerend.


Image: Jim Goldberg, Man at a recruitment center, Bangladesh, 2007 © Jim Goldberg, Magnum Photos

For more information and to request images, please contact Merel Kappelhoff (communications), e-mail merel@foam.nl or telephone +31 20 551 6500

Foam_Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam
Keizersgracht 609 - 1017 DS Amsterdam
Open daily from 10.00-18.00, Thursday/Friday from 10.00-21.00.
Admission: € 8,00

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