Puneet Varma (Editor)

Foam Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam

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Type
  
Photography museum

Director
  
Marloes Krijnen

Province
  
North Holland

Visitors
  
210,000 (2011)

Established
  
13 December 2001

Phone
  
+31 20 551 6500

Foam Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam

Location
  
Keizersgracht 609 Amsterdam, Netherlands

President
  
Leontine van der Goes-Hijmans

Curator
  
Marcel FeilKim Knoppers Mirjam KooimanZippora Elders

Address
  
Keizersgracht 609, 1017 DS Amsterdam, Netherlands

Hours
  
Closed now Monday10AM–6PMTuesday10AM–6PMWednesday10AM–6PMThursday10AM–9PMFriday10AM–9PMSaturday10AM–6PMSunday10AM–6PM

Similar
  
Huis Marseille, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, EYE Film Institute Netherlands, Hermitage Amsterdam, Museum Van Loon

Profiles

Foam curator colette olof on joel sternfeld


Foam or Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam is a photography museum located at the Keizersgracht in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The museum has four different exhibitions at any given time in which different photographic genres are shown, such as documentary, art and fashion. Two notable shows were Henri Cartier-Bresson - A Retrospective, work by Henri Cartier-Bresson, and Richard Avedon - Photographs 1946 -2004, a major retrospective of Richard Avedon. In summer 2016 Foam will present a major Helmut Newton retrospective exhibition. Next to large exhibitions by well-known photographers, Foam also shows the work of young and upcoming photographers, in shorter running exhibitions. The museum contains a café, a library, a commercial gallery called FoamEditions and a bookshop.

Contents

The museum also publishes a quarterly photography magazine called Foam Magazine.

Out now foam magazine talent issue 2016


Building

The building on the Keizersgracht canal in which Foam is located has a history dating back to Carel Joseph Fodor (1801–1860). Fodor first bought Keizersgracht 611, and later also bought the adjacent warehouse and residential house at Keizersgracht 609. Fodor destined the warehouse in his testament as the exhibition space that should receive the name Museum Fodor. Between 1863 and 1994, Museum Fodor was open to the public. Between 1994 and 2001 the Nederlands Vormgevingsinstituut was located in these buildings.

History

Foam received permission in November 2001 from the city council for the start-up. On December 13, 2001, Foam opened its first exhibition Dutch Delight. More than 7000 people visited the exhibition in which Dutch light played a prominent or self-evident role.

After the opening exhibition the museum closed for renovation. Architects BenthemCrouwel turned three buildings at the Keizersgracht into a modern museum. The first exhibition in the new museum, was called Regie: Paul Huf, Paul Huf together with Eva Besnyö being the originator of the museum. The official opening took place on June 6, 2002. The exhibition was visited by approximately 8000 people.

Exhibition policy

Every year Foam organises four large exhibitions by particularly notable photographers, usually running for about three months. In conjunction about 16 shorter running exhibitions are organised by the museum, which can be very different in character: either the work of relatively young photographers, or a specific project, work that is currently relevant, small retrospectives or the presentation of new developments within the medium. Emphasis is generally on documentary photography, street photography, portrait and glamour photography, and young and upcoming talents.

Documentary photography exhibitions at Foam have included Avenue Patrice Lumumba by Guy Tillim, The Hyena & Other Men by Pieter Hugo, In the Shadow of Things by Leonie Purchas, and Calais - From Jungle to City by Henk Wildschut. Street photography exhibitions have included Helen Levitt's In the Street, a retrospective by Weegee and Tom Wood’s Photieman. Portrait or glamour exhibitions have included Photographs 1946-2004 by Richard Avedon, Chemises by Malick Sidibé, and People of the 20th Century by August Sander. Under the denominator Foam_3h small shows by young photographers are presented in the Foam library. Recent examples include Control by Emilie Hudig and A Place to Wash the Heart by Monieka Bielskyte.

Foam Paul Huf Award

Since 2007, Foam has been organising the Paul Huf Award, a prize that is awarded to a young, talented photographer under the age of 35. The award was at one time known as the KLM Paul Huf Award.

References

Foam Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam Wikipedia