The artists nominated by
What attracts FOTODOK to the works of Sheng-Wen Lo and Tanja Engelberts is their absolute freedom of working with media: both employ not only photography, but also video, sound, words, and sculpture. In her latest work We exhale (2022-2023), Engelberts translates her images into sculptural planes made out of clay and finished with a glaze sourced from The Rhône river, while Lo , in her project Watch Out! (2022-2023) initiates a sort of jewellery treasure hunt game, based on the documentation of roadkills in the Camargue area. Both residents of The Rijksakademie, Amsterdam from 2019-2021, Lo and Engelberts have worked independently on subjects including ecology and non-human perspectives, while also often collaborating.
Yana Kononova started working on the project Radiations of War (2022) immediately after the Russian Federation began a full-scale military invasion of Ukraine on the 24th February 2022 – a new turn in a war that first broke out in 2014. Using a medium format camera, she captures pictures of war crimes, destroyed infrastructure, the activities of various Ukrainian services, the bodies of fallen warriors, and the victims among the civilian population. Once you have seen her images you can’t un-see them – monumental and powerful, they stay with the viewer.
Michelle Piergoelam and Sebastian Koudijzer both have roots in Surinam and investigate the traditions and rituals of their families and cultures. Piergoelam works with myths and tales and in her latest project Songs in a strange land (2022), she works with songs, and the colonial history they keep traces of. Koudijzer is interested in rituals and the search for community and belonging. In Kampong Tori (2021-ongoing), together with his brother, the artist spends time with their retired grandparents in the garden community of Beukhoeve, Rotterdam, cooking Javanese-Surinamese dishes together, and in time, the food becomes a starting point for conversation, evoking memories, and piecing familial narratives together.
What attracts FOTODOK to the works of Sheng-Wen Lo and Tanja Engelberts is their absolute freedom of working with media: both employ not only photography, but also video, sound, words, and sculpture. In her latest work We exhale (2022-2023), Engelberts translates her images into sculptural planes made out of clay and finished with a glaze sourced from The Rhône river, while Lo , in her project Watch Out! (2022-2023) initiates a sort of jewellery treasure hunt game, based on the documentation of roadkills in the Camargue area. Both residents of The Rijksakademie, Amsterdam from 2019-2021, Lo and Engelberts have worked independently on subjects including ecology and non-human perspectives, while also often collaborating.
Yana Kononova started working on the project Radiations of War (2022) immediately after the Russian Federation began a full-scale military invasion of Ukraine on the 24th February 2022 – a new turn in a war that first broke out in 2014. Using a medium format camera, she captures pictures of war crimes, destroyed infrastructure, the activities of various Ukrainian services, the bodies of fallen warriors, and the victims among the civilian population. Once you have seen her images you can’t un-see them – monumental and powerful, they stay with the viewer.
Michelle Piergoelam and Sebastian Koudijzer both have roots in Surinam and investigate the traditions and rituals of their families and cultures. Piergoelam works with myths and tales and in her latest project Songs in a strange land (2022), she works with songs, and the colonial history they keep traces of. Koudijzer is interested in rituals and the search for community and belonging. In Kampong Tori (2021-ongoing), together with his brother, the artist spends time with their retired grandparents in the garden community of Beukhoeve, Rotterdam, cooking Javanese-Surinamese dishes together, and in time, the food becomes a starting point for conversation, evoking memories, and piecing familial narratives together.
Michelle Piergoelam (b. 1997) is a photographer who studied at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague, the Netherlands. She creates visual stories based on dreams, memories, cultural myths and traditions. Despite her Surinamese background, Piergoelam knew little about this country; a curiosity to learn more prompted her to seek out new narratives. With her images, the artist stimulates the imagination and narrative culture – to keep their transmission alive. Her practice applies varied photographic techniques while using elements of the night; details become the subject when light strikes over them, and the smallest gestures speak loud and clear. In 2020, Piergolam’s The untangled tales project was nominated for both Blurring the Lines and the Kassel Dummy Award, and was awarded second prize at the Zilveren Camera Prize for Storytelling.
Sebastian Koudijzer (b. 1993) studied at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague, the Netherlands. Growing up as a child of different races – and surrounded by a large extended family on his Javanese side – he is interested in how identities are created. Using various techniques, he creates intimate stories that address themes of family, faith, identity, and their representations. Collaboration plays an important role in his projects; Koudijzer likes to give those he photographs space for their own voice. His work is an attempt to bring disappearing traditions, values and spirituality back into his own reality, with the camera becoming an exploratory tool.
Sheng-Wen Lo (b. 1987) was born in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, and lives and works in Leiden, the Netherlands. Lo's works investigate the relationships between non-humans and contemporary society through a range of media, including images, installations, and games. He is an alumnus of the Rijksakademie, Amsterdam, and received an MSc in Computer Science from National Taiwan University. His works have been shown at Foam and World Press Photo in the Netherlands; The International Center of Photography in the USA; MMCA in South Korea; The National Gallery of Victoria in Australia; and the Taiwan Biennial, Taiwan. He was selected as a Foam Talent in 2021, and has received fellowships from De Nederlandsche Bank and the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds/Prince Claus Fund. Lo is represented by Avocado Art Lab, Taipei.
Tanja Engelberts (b. 1987) lives and works in The Hague, the Netherlands. In recent years, Engelberts has worked on several projects related to the fossil fuel industry, focusing on the ways in which energy production shapes our landscapes. In 2021, she concluded a two-year residency at Amsterdam’s Rijksakademie. She has participated in further residency programmes at The Banff Center for Arts and Creativity (CA), The Ucross Foundation (USA), IK Foundation (NL) and Örö Residence (FI). Exhibited and published internationally, Engelberts’ works are also included in the collections of De Nederlandsche Bank (NL), De Brauw (NL) and Clifford Chance (UK). She is represented by Caroline O’Breen Gallery, Amsterdam.
Yana Kononova (b. 1977) has an academic background in social sciences, and holds a PhD in sociology. She was born on Pirallahi island in the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan – now an important site of oil extraction. During the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, her family emigrated to Ukraine. Having later relocated to the countryside of the Trachtemiriv peninsula, Kononova turned to photography. She graduated from the Photoschool of Viktor Marushchenko before following a photography course organised by the Image Threads Collective (USA). In 2019, Kononova won the Bird in Flight Prize in emerging Photography, and in 2022 was the recipient of the Hariban Award, presented by Benrido. Her works have been exhibited in Ukraine and abroad.
