Fotokafeine (editie 4 - 10)

What is Fotokafeine? Fotokafeine is a surprise evening. What is certain is that an image maker is invited and that we eat together. This is followed by a ‘story’. But how this story takes shape is determined by the photographer. For the first three editions see blog #46 Fotokafeine.

In early February 2023, Mischa Keijser was the main character. He started by darkening the glass facade. Visitors found a place at the table through tea lights. The darkness evoked associations with being outside. Keijser's story was therefore about his work outside: his photos of landscapes and the sea, of floods and climate change. "I want to feel that I have a body, I want to feel cold, feel my muscles, be tired." Suffering is part of it. His uncomfortable photos of people are in a different category. He prefers to portray people unflatteringly, as a parody of stock photos.

In April 2023, it was Arjan de Nooy's turn. He was interviewed by Jan Dijkshoorn based on statements in his new book Photology. "Photology is actually a game, in which photos gain meaning through the context I give them." We slowly got a picture of a photographer who mainly plays with other people's photos. The original meaning of a photo does not interest him, he gives an image a new meaning. 

In October 2023, Paul Bogaers arrived. Bogaers shares 25 years with Pennings. During Pennings' gallery time, he regularly exhibited there. He talked about his practice, from the combination of his own images with 'found' images to the extensions of his photos with papier mâché. When he had to leave his studio in Tilburg (a 'jungle' with his own work and African masks), he moved to Amsterdam, where he always had a temporary studio. Now he does without. Because the inspiration has run out. That makes you restless, because will it come back? Does it make sense to keep making more of the same? Do you have to take a new path, but which one? And with which media? You have to get enthusiastic about something again. By making himself vulnerable, he questioned the romanticization of being an artist. This was followed by a discussion with the audience, during which he received advice from other artists.

Wiesje Peels took the invitation for Fotokafeine (end of February 2024) to give a workshop. First she talked about her DOKAR, a darkroom on wheels, with which she cycled through the  Peel in the footsteps of Martien Coppens, for a project of the Beeldmix. What was good and what was bad? This was followed by a workshop in which the visitors were divided into pairs. A questionnaire not only provided insight into their own thoughts and actions, but also into those of the other. It is a creative process that can also be used in other groups to get to know each other better.

In May 2024, photographer Gemma van Linden and artist-philosopher Sarai van de Boel arrived. They have known each other since their academy days. The central questions were: What does an artist give away of himself? What does an artist give away of another in a photo? Do we see a soul or just an 'imprint' of being? What does a photo or other work of art have to tell us about ourselves? The starting point was Van de Poel's book 'Derailing. Art and philosophy as a trigger for system change'.

Early October 2024, Anaïs López came to Fotokafeine to give an insight into ‘how her mind works as an artist’. She took us along in her creative process, based on the premise that reality is always stranger than any story you could come up with yourself. If you are open to it and let yourself be carried away, you will come across the most beautiful stories in the most ordinary places. Research is part of that process. She showed the film ‘BloodTies’, for which she did research on her family members. “Research makes you milder. People make choices that they think are best at that moment.” A visitor noted that this film will help many people to discuss their family secret.

Early March 2025, Paulien Oltheten came to talk about her Lourdes project. Coincidence or not, she had just walked a long way that day, like a kind of pilgrim. The meal already put us in the mood, because it was religiously tinged, with salty biscuits in the shape of hosts and Esau soup, lentil soup. She showed the film ‘Lourdes-TV’, a selection from recordings of the 24/7 live stream of the ‘Cave of Apparitions’ in Lourdes. You automatically see ‘rituals’ emerge from daily, weekly and monthly activities that only have to do with maintenance and essentially provide a sober view of ‘the mystery’. Through Oltheten’s spoken text it slowly became clear what this research into the mystical meant to her personally.

On Thursday, April 17, 2025, Anaïs López will be a guest at Fotokafeine again with her story 'The Turtle and the Monk'.