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Jaka Teršek (b. 1997, Slovenia) is a photographer and visual artist whose work explores themes of national identity, mythology, and the interplay between geography and human culture. He frequently combines photography with text, creating narratives that blur the boundaries between fact and fiction. He holds a BA in Photography from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design at the University of Ljubljana and an MFA from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, where he is currently engaged as an artistic researcher. His series OWL, FOX, HEDGEHOG, DEER was a finalist in the Blurring the Lines competition organized by Paris College of Art in 2022 and was shortlisted for the PhMuseum Photography Grant in 2023. Jaka has exhibited in numerous group and solo exhibitions, including at FOMU Antwerp, Gallery Artget Belgrade, Plečnik House Gallery, Gallery DobraVaga Ljubljana, and UGM Maribor. He is also a founding member of the collectives Fotosfera and Študio.
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Jaka Teršek
was nominated by
FOMU
in
2025
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Each year every member of the FUTURES European Photography Platform nominates a set of artists and projects to become part of the FUTURES network.
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Emilia Martin is a Polish artist and photographer based in The Hague, Netherlands, where in 2022 she graduated from Photography & Society Masters at the Royal Academy of the Art. Working with photography, writing, and sound, she explores how the stories we tell shape the realities we inhabit. She investigates mythologies and tales, and how they fluctuate and shift throughout histories. Through her work, she aims to complicate the binary understandings of fiction and truth and their established aesthetics. Her process is based on careful research and personal, often playful approaches, through which she questions dominant narratives.
The belief in storytelling is rooted in her upbringing, where she engaged with both rural mythologies and urban narratives. She grew up between two different realities: a remote farm belonging to her grandmother in rural Eastern Poland and a heavy industry coal mining urban region in the West of the country. The clash between these two realities, the narrative of extractivism against rural mythologies and the proximity of nature, formed a place that continues to ground her artistic practice. Her work is inspired and informed by her rural Polish ancestry and intersectional feminist approaches.
Top researches the topics of mass surveillance, privacy, data collection.In his practice, he layers a traditional approach to documentary research with a more experimental use of new technologies (such as facial recognition, movement analysis, and deepfakes). The artist uses these technologies to visualise and examine scenarios in which people can protect themselves and their rights by gaining knowledge and reclaiming control of surveillance tools.
Top’s projects addressing human rights, police misconduct and facial recognition during protests aim to contrast the abstract nature of the algorithmic mechanisms behind mass surveillance, by providing a concrete visualisation of the phenomenon and confronting the public with the extensive amount of surveillance societies are subjected to and the ethical risks deriving, finally offering theoretical solutions.
Jaka Teršek (b. 1997, Slovenia) is a photographer and visual artist whose work explores themes of national identity, mythology, and the interplay between geography and human culture. He frequently combines photography with text, creating narratives that blur the boundaries between fact and ction. He holds a BA in Photography from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design at the University of Ljubljana and an MFA from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, where he is currently engaged as an artistic researcher. His series OWL, FOX, HEDGEHOG, DEER was analist in the Blurring the Lines competition organized by Paris College of Art in 2022 and was shortlisted for the PhMuseum Photography Grant in 2023. Jaka has exhibited in numerous group and solo exhibitions, including at FOMU Antwerp, Gallery Artget Belgrade, Plečnik House Gallery, Gallery DobraVaga Ljubljana, and UGM Maribor. He is also a founding member of the collectives Fotosfera and Študio.
Anna Safiatou Touré (Bamako, Mali, born in 1996) is a Franco-Malian multidisciplinary artist based in Brussels. She graduated from the Nantes Saint-Nazaire School of Fine Arts and the ENSAV La Cambre in photography. Anna Safiatou was awarded the Médiatine Prize in 2022 and the Roger De Conynck Fund in 2023-24.
Her work explores the space that unites or separates the two sides of every migratory narrative. The journey through this personal, historical, and cultural blending fills for her empty or unanswered spaces. On her own scale, she wishes to materialize this absence by creating her own evidence to make history heard—rendering the absence visible to tell stories from these new bodies. Like a certain poetry of emptiness, couldn’t the world be told in reverse, like a stencil, from the edge?
Adi Tudose is an artist-photographer based in Budapest. After completing his studies at The National University of Theatre and Film, he further expanded his artistic vision through experiences in Milano. He is pursuing an MA in Photography at Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design, where his practice continues evolving. For him, the camera is far more than a tool—it is a medium through which he connects with the world around him. The streets become dynamic, ever-changing spaces where unpredictable encounters unfold. Immersing himself fully in these environments, Tudose approaches his subjects with empathy and sensitivity, capturing their lives with care and revealing emotional depth and vulnerability.
Tudose can transform fleeting, transient moments into cohesive compositions, bringing order and harmony to the everyday. Through this process, he taps into the
subconscious, offering viewers a sense of unity within the chaos. His seamless blending of form and content sets him apart, creating simple yet mysterious representations. His work is characterized by cohesive framing, a rich interplay of diverse elements, and tuned figure-to-ground relationships. Tudose’s work offers an invitation to reflect on what photography can reveal about the human condition. Each frame carries layers of emotional and sociological insight, capturing the essence of his subjects while creating space for the viewer to connect with them on a personal level. Each photograph becomes more than a visual representation; it transforms into a deeply felt emotional experience.
Empathy and vulnerability lie at the core of Tudose’s creative process, enabling him to
form deeper connections with his subjects and uncover meaningful relationships that
might otherwise remain hidden. His work seeks to evoke genuine emotions, delving into themes of social and gender representation while fostering a sense of belonging. In doing so, he transforms emotional disconnection into moments of peace and truth.
Sarah Stone (U.K., 1994) is a photographer and artist based in Antwerp, Belgium.
She received her master’s degree in photography at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp in 2022, winning the Photography Department prize. Her photographs have been published in .Tiff Magazine, Der Greif and Subbacultcha/Different Class and self-published books such as: 'La Vie De Camille' (2023), ‘ANNA’ (2022) and ‘The End of The Pipeline’ (2021). Her project '76 collages' was published by SO-RI in 2021 and a following series ‘98 collages’ is set to be published in 2025. In 2023 her image 'Whistle' from the project 'ANNA' was selected for ONBOARDSBiennale, an exhibition of art displayed on billboards throughout Antwerp. Her collage 'West Virginia Interior' was published in Karoo magazine in 2024. In 2024 Stone exhibited her work as part of the outside art trail "Out ofOffice" with BREEDBEELD in Gooik, Belgium and in 2023 with the FOMU(Photography Museum Antwerp) as part of .Tiff. Her collages were exhibited withStieglitz19 Gallery in the group show ‘Collage! Collage! Collage!’ with Vincent Delbrouck and Miriam Tolke (2021) as well as a pop-up in (2020). In 2025 she began her own TOT ZINES project, publishing local artists in the zine format.
Stone’s work is created around a strong signature of aesthetic, poetic and colourful images, conveying a powerful message. This is substantiated by her usage of analog photography, creating imagery that presents an open and honest reflection of her surroundings, details, friends or objects that she is drawn to. Shot on 35mm film, they reveal her inner life at a certain time, almost like a distant diary. Stone's series are often founded on human traces, whether that be in personal relationships, or relationships to objects and materiality. Each with its own angle of approach, but based on the beauty of life and it's details.
Her photographs illustrate and inspire people to embrace colour, texture, shape, and to see the world as a theatrical stage, full of props and characters. To capture the atmospheric variety of photographs, Stone uses various analogue cameras and experiments with making collages, using paint in her collages and works on paper.
Mikkel Hørlyck (b. 1990) is an independent photojournalist and visual artist based in Copenhagen, Denmark. Once a student at Fatamorgana The Danish School of Art Photography, he holds a BA in Photojournalism from the Danish School of Media and Journalism. Hørlyck’s career began as a photojournalist intern at Politiken, a Danish daily broadsheet. His work has since been recognised by a series of prizes – including Danish Picture Of The Year, Vilnius Photo Circle and World Report Award. In 2019, Hørlyck was named Discovery Of The Year at The Lucie Awards in New York.
Rosa Lacavalla (b. 1993) is an Italian photographer and visual artist based in Bologna. She holds a BA in Art Graphic and an MA in Photography from the Academy of Fine Arts Bologna, along with one-year studies in the BA in Photography program at Coventry University, UK, and an internship with the collective Cesura. Her work has been featured in several printed and online publications, and exhibited in festivals, collective and solo shows in Italy and abroad.
Lacavalla's visual narratives unfold as transformative journeys – whether it is a personal quest for emotional healing or an exploration of cultural intersections and migrations. Navigating the complexities of the human experience, her works invite viewers to reflect on the intricate paths of healing, transformation, and the blurred boundaries between reality and dream.
Jaka Teršek (b. 1997, Slovenia) is a photographer and visual artist whose work explores themes of national identity, mythology, and the interplay between geography and human culture. He frequently combines photography with text, creating narratives that blur the boundaries between fact and fiction. He holds a BA in Photography from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design at the University of Ljubljana and an MFA from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, where he is currently engaged as an artistic researcher. His series OWL, FOX, HEDGEHOG, DEER was a finalist in the Blurring the Lines competition organized by Paris College of Art in 2022 and was shortlisted for the PhMuseum Photography Grant in 2023. Jaka has exhibited in numerous group and solo exhibitions, including at FOMU Antwerp, Gallery Artget Belgrade, Plečnik House Gallery, Gallery DobraVaga Ljubljana, and UGM Maribor. He is also a founding member of the collectives Fotosfera and Študio.
Catherine Lemblé is a Belgian photographer based in Brussels. She received her MA in photography from Luca School of Arts Brussels. Her work has been exhibited at FOMU (Antwerp), De Brakke Grond (Amsterdam), Contretype (Brussels), Musée de la Photographie (Charleroi) and Helsinki Photo Festival, amongst others. She was selected for .tiff (FOMU, Antwerp) and FUTURES (European Photography Platform) in 2024. Her photographs have been featured in publications such as Stern, De Standaard, and Frankfurter Allgemeine Quarterly. She self-published her first book, Cabin Fever, in 2019. Her analog pictures examine the ever-changing relationship between man and the natural world.
She is currently working on her second photo book, Only Barely Still. The project challenges conventional ideas about the Arctic and highlights the underrepresented presence of women in Svalbard. It explores the relationship between women, nature, and the role language plays in shaping our perception of our environment.
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All professionalsEmese Mucsi is a Hungarian-born curator, and art critic. Emese curates exhibitions where photography is interpreted in the context of contemporary art and works with artists who have an expanded idea of photography and produce photo-based works. Her projects bring together artists and photographers with photojournalists, writers, editors, and other thinkers to experiment with new approaches to photography. She graduated from the Faculty of Contemporary Art Theory and Curatorial Studies at the Hungarian University of Fine Arts in 2013, and from the Faculty of Hungarian Literature and Linguistics at the University of Szeged in 2017. She is a member of the curators’ collective BÜRO imaginaire since 2012. Since 2013, she ran projects as a freelance curator. From 2014 to 2018, she was the Editor-in-Chief of Artmagazin Online. Emese is a curator of the Robert Capa Contemporary Photography Center, Budapest since 2018. She is the member of Global Photographies Network since 2020. She founded DOXA exhibition space and editorial den in 2022. She is doing her PhD in the Film, Media, and Contemporary Culture PhD program at Eötvös Loránd University. Emese is a guest lecturer at the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design (2023) and the University of Szeged (2024).
Ángel Luis González Fernández is a designer, artist, and curator supporting engaging visual arts practices, winner of Business to Arts David Manley Emerging Entrepreneur Awards 2011.
His work manifests through PhotoIreland, which he founded in 2010 to stimulate a critical dialogue on Photography. He devises curatorial projects placing conversations in the public realm around visual culture, critical thinking. These include events (PhotoIreland Festival, Halftone Print Fair, arts residency How to Flatten a Mountain, and New Irish Works), a cultural hub (The Library Project: Ireland’s Art bookshop, host to a unique resource library of photobooks and a productive arts programme), publishing projects that distribute inexpensive access to local practices, research projects (Critical Academy: examining contemporary art practices). He works collaboratively with a growing network of organisations, noticeably through ambitious Creative Europe partnerships.
During the Summer 2020 lockdown he launched the critical publication OVER Journal, now distributed globally. He received the Arts Council of Ireland’s Visual Arts Bursary to deepen research on the broad historical and specific artistic context of Photography in Ireland, to curate an ambitious survey exhibition in PhotoIreland Festival 2022 and to publish a series of publications on the matter. He regularly contributes to publications such as the forthcoming The Routledge Companion to Global Photographies, edited by Lucy Soutter, Duncan Wooldridge.
See some of his Graphic and Web Design work in the 100 Design Archive.
Julia Gelezova is a Cultural Producer and Curator, specialising in contemporary lens-based practices. She is General and Project Manager for PhotoIreland, producing events throughout the year like the annual PhotoIreland Festival and Critical Academy, while collaborating on ambitious projects like Creative Europe Photography Platforms—Parallel and Futures. Julia is co-editor of OVER Journal: The Critical Journal of Photography and Visual Culture for the 21st Century. In 2024, she has founded vicinities.network - a peer network for Visual Arts curators and professionals based in Ireland.
She has ample experience in producing exhibitions and events, including curatorial work and project management, has vast and successful experience in personal and collective application writing for bodies like the Arts Council of Ireland and local councils. She has participated in portfolio reviews, acted as visiting lecturer, and also worked in an editorial capacity and translation for artists and other arts professionals, including work for The Routledge Guide to Photography and Visual Culture. Most recently, she curated the 2021 edition of PhotoIreland Festival and was the Centre Culturel Irlandais cultural producer resident 2022. She is a member of the AICA International Association of Art Critics.
Iveta Gabaliņa (1979) is a curator, artist and educator. She has studied photography at the studio of Andrejs Grants, at Bournemouth Art Institute, and in the MA programme at Alto University in Helsinki. Her work has been exhibited in Latvia and internationally, including at C/O (Berlin, Germany), GESTE (Paris), and Williams Tower Gallery (Houston, USA). Gabaliņa has participated in photography festivals in Singapore, Hanover, and elsewhere. Her work is included in the collections of the Victoria & Albert Museum, Geste Paris, and the Deutsche Börse Art Collection.
Since 2008 she has been part of ISSP team, responsible for numerous educational and curatorial projects. In 2018 she founded ISSP Gallery - an exhibition space dedicated to contemporary photography.
I’ve always loved photography, even if it sounds like a cliche. The first photos I took, I did without knowing how to do that, without paying any attention to framing, subject or composition. After a while, I began to understand what is happening in the space between me as a photographer and the subject I was photographing. And many years later, I also understood why I love to photograph. To communicate. A message, a concept, an emotion.