FOAMing (at the mouth)
Written by duckrabbitI really think the people at FOAM need to get out more.
They’ve put up website called ‘What’s Next, a search into the future of photography’. The design of the website will no doubt win them a webby award in the most likely to make punters vomit category.
You can see comments from the usual mystic megs of the photography world.
The FOAM website also asks the question, ARE YOU NEXT?
‘If you would like to start a new discussion, submit your question here. You will be sent confirmation by email. Our editorial team will contact you if your question is accepted before uploading it to the site.’
Stan Banos did just that. He submitted this question:
‘When will we finally see people of color not only in front of the lens serving as ample, year round subject matter, but also as: photographers, judges, editors, gallery owners, workshop presenters and festival organizers in some representative proportion beyond mere tokenism?‘
But he got no response.
So he submitted it again.
Again no response.
So he wrote a blog post about it. Joerg followed it up.
FOAM decided to respond not by finally including the question, but by writing their own blog post putting up a post on their News Feed asking
‘Is racial equality in photography a valid What’s Next? question? Discuss the issue on this blog post.’
That blog post being Stan’s.
Silly.
In FOAM’s world photography gods that that aren’t white are probably
- A figment of someone’s imagination.
- Something done in photoshop.
I don’t blame them. You would think that, wouldn’t you, if you’d never met anyone in the business who isn’t white?
Like I say they need to get out more.
(please note the people listed above were asked to contribute to the website. If duckrabbit had been asked you would most certainly have seen our white faces up there too. It’s not who is on the list, it’s the voices that seem to often be missing that is worth noting )
Author — duckrabbit
duckrabbit is a production company formed by radio producer/journalist Benjamin Chesterton and photographer David White. We specialize in digital storytelling.
Discussion (18 Comments)
I’ve never been on a ‘wanted’ poster before 🙂 Can I just note that the gallery of contributors you’ve cut and paste here have a very, very loose association with Foam. In my case, they republished (with permission) a short post that had appeared previously.
Stan asked an essential question, and Foam should have posted it and encouraged the debate. I’m sure I’m not the only ‘contributor’ who thinks that.
Hi David,
I’ve added a note and I’m sure you are not alone. Joerg has been very vocal in raising questions about the ‘elephants’ in the room. I just can’t work out why FOAM were so dismissive of Stan?
Do you have a link to the FOAM blog post?
Hi Olivier,
its actually just a ‘news feed’, Clearly not worthy of a blog post! I’ve amended my post to reflect this and the link is here:
http://foam.org/whatsnext#9530 You have to click on NEWS FEED where it says ‘ Is Racial Equality in Photography a valid What’s Next Question?’
Then they say ask people to discuss the subject offsite.
The What’s Next event organized by Foam had people of colour. One of the people in the image above is actually turkish. I believe Foam has worked with many people of colour in its history.
The cause is a good one, but maybe the arrow is aimed in the wrong direction.
Erik, so you think they were right to dismiss the question?
I can imagine they didn’t recognize the importancy because it seems to be less of an issue in the Netherlands. It might be more of an issue in the United States, I do not know. It should be the topic of discussion wherever the issue is. Do you feel like this is an international issue? Because I’m not too sure about that.
‘I can imagine they didn’t recognize the importancy because it seems to be less of an issue in the Netherlands.’
This is the response I often hear. But does the arts world live in a vacuum? Are they completely oblivious to the rise in numbers of people voting for the far right, or of the massive statistical social inequalities between people from different backgrounds?
Are the people running FOAM really that ignorant that they have not heard of Geert Wilders? And is ignorance a defense?
Isn’t everything interconnected?
I just don’t understand why they would sideline a debate on the issue. If we have moved on, if it’s not an issue, great, let’s celebrate that fact.
Hello Duckrabbit,
Do you think there is the kind of tokenism and lack of representation for people of colour that you mention in the UK? I’ve never really thought that was the case I have to say, and in fact former LCC photography classmates of mine from India, Africa, China have all had success both here and overseas (on balance probably more so than their white ex-classmates) and as far as I’m aware have never complained about any barriers nor tokenism around opportunities they may have been offered.
Cheers
Hi Craig,
yes I do. I think we have to look at this in a cold light and dig down into the statistics. This isn’t really an issue of photography, but one of social inequality.
That’s not to say that I think color is a barrier once you have reached that stage you are talking about. Not at all. Nor that editors are selecting work from people for tokenistic reasons. I see no evidence of that.
Maybe things are shifting, but it is true that there is a lack of diversity in the bits of he industry we tend to hear the most about.
I’d say the art world is more left or liberal and more open to any race, gender or sexual preference than the average Dutch person. So the question seems to be, do we want to discuss a problem that is not related to the art world in a discussion about the future of photography? Is the What’s next website a platform for photography or social discussion? You have to draw a line somewhere.
Erik, I spent many years working for the BBC. I think the people working there were far more open then those I have met in the arts world, and certainly more left leaning. Perhaps a sign of this was the recognition that we were a long way from reaching an acceptable level of representation in the workforce of different people from different classes and ethnicity’s.
Many people spoke out about this including some of the UK’s biggest writers and entertainers.
Do you really think the arts world in Holland has reached the promised land?
Probably because no other minorities were up for these positions.
I’m currently graduating at an art academy and in my class I’ve had 3 people with an Indonesian background and 2 gay men which were both of colour. They’re all doing fine so far. Each having their own opportunities.
Past immigrant generations had bigger concerns than expressing themselves in the art world. Those times have changed. My art academy (with an emphasis on photography/styling/fashion) is as multi-cultural as pretty much any form of higher education. They are the new art world. Nothing’s stopping them.
Ah, now I’ve replied to something that isn’t there anymore.
Anyway. I think that people with different cultural backgrounds have different interests. I myself come from a more conservative background and nobody in my family has ever thought of becoming an artist. I can imagine that a Moroccan youngster right now won’t get much support from his friends and family if he wants to become an artist. You don’t care about making it in the art world when it’s hard enough to bring food to the table. It’s Maslow’s hierarchy of needs basically.
That reminds me actually. Foam has a project location in the “Nieuw-West” neighbourhood. It’s an area with over 50% of the inhabitants being non-western immigrants or descendants. http://www.foam.org/foam-amsterdam/activiteiten/tours-workshops/westsidestories See for yourself.
Oh, Erik sorry about that!
I think it can be very dangerous to pick out individual cases. Harder evidence is called for. I think you’ll find though that poverty is not a total barrier to artistic expression, just as not wanting for anything financially is not a total barrier either.
I really don’t need to see for myself that FOAM are carrying out these activities. But I would say it is hypocrisy on the one hand to be taking arts funding to work specifically with disadvantaged communities and then on the other hand dismiss questions about when we will see greater representation of those people at the top table.
It’s an important discussion and one in which FOAM could take a lead.
Exactly, that’s why I mentioned another case. Maybe my more positive experiences are a thing of generations. If that’s true, then the future seems brighter than the current situation based on your experiences.
Erik, I do believe you may be right, 1 of 14 spots- but these “token, maybe” situations are no substitute for real diversity, for women or people of color. And the way they’ve responded and (mis)handled the situation would be funny, if it weren’t so sadly reminiscent of certain history from our past century.
I think this is probably the tip of the iceberg. The effect if you will of an industry that is very difficult to get into without support of friends/family and money? From University to equipment etc.