No amateur football, no professional football, no Champions League, no UEFA Euro 2020, no champions this year. For over a century, football has brought people together. Now, ‘the most important side issue in life’ has come to a grinding halt. European Fields by Hans van der Meer, a project including a book and a travelling...

Our hearts go out to you during this unprecedented time of crisis. To everyone who has contributed to Paradox projects, our venue partners and sponsors, the photographers, filmmakers, writers, designers, editors, service providers, interns, staff and board members, and of course our audience. First and foremost we hope that you and your loved ones stay...

The Welkom Today books have made it to South Africa. An important aspect of the project was bringing Ad van Denderen’s 1990s photographs back to where they were taken – and never seen before. Equally as important – the books reaching the students of the three schools in Welkom and Thabong (Teto High, Welkom Gimnasium...

Happy to start the new year with an exciting announcement that our project N_O_W_H_E_R_E has been selected to receive support from the Creative Industries Fund NL under their Open Call for Exceptional Presentations! With this grant, the fund calls on presentation institutions, exhibition places, museums or new initiatives to come up with a proposal for...

Today Dutch farmers continue to protest against recent proposals to halve their livestock numbers to reduce nitrogen pollution. Farmers feel under-appreciated in their role of providing food for the nation and unfairly blamed for pollution, arguing that they have made substantial efforts to reduce their emissions. Below we share a relevant story from  photographer Hans...

Do we live in separate worlds? Can we accept segregation in our societies? These questions are central to Welkom Today Studio, taking place in the lobby of Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam on Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 September from 10.00 -12.00. Guided by photographer Lebohang Tlali, students from South African and Dutch schools will run a...

How do young people experience their connection or separation from other cultural groups in their neighbourhood and city? How accessible are institutes and cultural platforms to them? Who has access, who doesn’t and how can we break the boundaries? Join us for Kwaku Conversation, a discussion (in English) included in the Welkom Today @ Amsterdam Zuid(oost) programme this Saturday...

The three Welkom Today authors Lebohang Tlali, Ad van Denderen and Margalith Kleijwegt will present and discuss the book with Margriet van der Waal, Professor of South African literature, culture and history at UvA. Join us for the presentation at Zuid-Afrikahuis, Amsterdam on Wednesday July 10 at 19.30. 

Are we living on the same planet, but in different worlds? What does it mean to live in proximity to the centre of a city or on the margins of it? What kind of relationship do we form with our environment and the community of people living in it? These were the questions addressed during the...

From July 1 – 7 the opening of Les Rencontres d’Arles takes place, with international photography events all over the city. Paradox director Bas Vroege is one of the experts at Photo Folio Review and Ad van Denderen will be at the Kehrer Verlag pop-up bookstore (MRO Foundation, 18 Rue de la Calade) on Thursday July...

Welkom Today photographers Ad van Denderen and Lebohang Tlali, art blogger and moderator Stephanie Afrifa, Renzo Martens and Melle Smets will discuss whether Western artists can make accurate statements on the history of Africa, a continent that is not their own. The debate will take place at Eye Filmuseum in Amsterdam on 11 June at...

In collaboration with FotoFestival Naarden, Pf Magazine is organising a debate about a place for professional photography in the Netherlands: Platform Fotografie Nederland on June 12 at 15.00. The directors of seven photography institutions wish to address the Minister of Culture Ingrid van Engelshoven. In the recently issued advice from the Council for Culture, a place...

On the occasion of the exhibition Welkom Today and in collaboration with Paradox, the Stedelijk Museum is organizing a debate panel on the importance of manifold voices in contemporary documentary photography on May 19 between 15 and 17 hrs. Photographers Ad van Denderen, Lebohang Tlali, Susan Meiselas and Khalid Amakran will respond to Welkom Today...

Paradox is proud to announce that our production Notes from Aleppo has been nominated for one of three prizes for Digital Storytelling at this year’s World Press Photo Contest, and has received a nomination for the new headline award Interactive of the Year. The winners will be announced during the award ceremony on 11 April...

In the early 1990s the Dutch photographer Ad van Denderen and journalist Margalith Kleijwegt travelled to Welkom, a small mining town in South Africa, to document the last days of apartheid. An email by South African photographer Lebohang Tlali, 25 years later, was the start of the multivocal project Welkom Today. The exhibition in Stedelijk...

Seasons greetings, photobook lovers! In 2019/2020, Paradox celebrates 25 years of documentary projects. Founded in 1993, our first four productions became visible in 1995. Starting with a film projection in the streets of Amsterdam, The Neighbor Next Door, by Shimon Attie, Paradox went on to produce extensive documentary projects. Remember Ad van Denderen’s early look...

The complete Ebifananyi series, I – VIII by Andrea Stultiens is now on sale for a limited time only. The publications are part of Stultiens’ long-term research project on the concept of ‘ebifananyi’, which means ‘likenesses’ in Luganda. In each book, she takes a certain Ugandan photographic collection as a starting point for a visual...

Our 2017 production Greetings from Aleppo, the precursor to Notes from Aleppo, has been acquired by the Institut du monde arabe in Paris. Greetings from Aleppo (2017) shows how the inhabitants of Aleppo try to continue their lives while the war is still raging in their city. The 17 minute movie was a collaboration between...

On Monday October 22, Paradox launches Notes From Aleppo, a new multimedia project by Syrian photographer Issa Touma. At Pakhuis de Zwijger, various artists, journalists and scholars will discuss the project and the current situation in Syria. In 2012, the civil war in Syria forced photographer Issa Touma to leave his home in Aleppo. Reluctant...

Now in its seventh edition, Unseen Amsterdam (20-23 September) showcases emerging talent and new developments in photography. With great joy Paradox once again participates in the Unseen Book Market, bringing you recent publications including Hans van der Meer’s Time to Change and Joana Choumali’s BITTER Chocolate Stories. If you’re interested in meeting the photographers and...

On 20 September, BITTER Chocolate Stories will open at the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam. Developed by Paradox in collaboration with photographer Joana Choumali, journalist Marijn Heemskerk and Tony’s Chocolonely, BITTER shows ‘the other side’ of the international chocolate industry. We associate chocolate with celebration, comfort, romance. But do we ever associate it with the farmers, and often...

From 14 September until 3 February, Paradox and Nationaal Archief (NA) present FACE TO FACE. The exhibition highlights 90 portraits from the Dutch national archives in thought-provoking combinations, paired with podcasts by Wilfried de Jong, Onias Landveld and AudioCollectief SCHIK. What do White House intern Monica Lewinsky and dancer Mata Hari have in common? What...

This May, Paradox and NOOR launched 48 Stories – Mapping the Palestinian Diaspora. Almost 200 people attended the debate at Pakhuis de Zwijger, with photographers, curators and researchers reflecting on the representation of the nakba. The collection of stories on 48stories.org has been growing ever since. 48 Stories documents the personal stories of Palestinians who...

From June 30 until October 28, the exhibition De koe, het grazen voorbij by Hans van der Meer is on show at Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar. For this project, Van der Meer looks at the changing world of the Dutch cow. In the past three years, he visited dairy farmers and innovators throughout the Netherlands. His work reflects...

On May 18, Paradox and NOOR launched 48 Stories – Mapping the Palestinian Diaspora at Pakhuis de Zwijger. At the occasion, photographers who contributed stories to the web app as well as curators and researchers reflected on the Nakba and its representation today. Now, the first three episodes of 48 Stories are available on 48stories.org. A new story will be added...

For Israelis, May 15, 1948 marks the creation of the State of Israel. For Palestinians, it marks the Nakba (‘catastrophe’), when more than 700.000 Palestinians were forced out of their homes. Today – exactly 70 years later – those 700.000 have exceeded six million. 48 Stories presents the personal stories of Palestinians who witnessed the...

On April 17, BITTER Chocolate Stories won a bronze ADCN Award for best editorial design. Many congratulations to the designers Kummer & Herrman, our partner Tony’s Chocolonely and the entire team!

On Monday 26 March, the Dutch Directors Guild awarded Greetings from Aleppo the DIRECTORSNL AWARD for best short movie.

From March 9th until May 27th the exhibition Why Work? is on display at Fotodok in Utrecht. The group show addresses the importance of work, for ourselves, for our society and for the future. The pace at which our daily work environment changes is unrivaled. Technological developments, geopolitical developments and free-market thinking make that the...

Fifty The Hague residents were portrayed on 16 and 17 September at the Humanity House by renowned photographer Robin de Puy. The portraits were already on show in the Humanity House in October. From 20 December you can see (a selection of) the intriguing black and white pictures at the Spuiplein in The Hague. The aim of the exhibition is to...

We are happy to announce the Mondriaan Fund is to continue its support to Paradox in the upcoming two years, among fourteen other presentation institutes. The fund recognizes the distinct position the organisation – as a not-for-profit producer of documentary projects – has in the field of presentation institutes. Kudos from Mondriaan also for the...

The making of Studio Aleppo [Berlin]! Four photographers of the German Ostkreuz Agency portrayed 50 citizens of the metropole on 14 and 15 September. All portraits are on show from 21 – 27 October at the industrial Kühlhaus Berlin and later on on our website studioaleppo.eu together with all the portraits from earlier Studio Aleppo’s. By organizing the...

Studio Aleppo [Helsinki] won the award for ‘Production of the year’ at the Art and Culture Professionals’ Trade Union TAKU. TAKU wants to highlight the makers that create new meanings and interesting content on the field of art and culture in Finland. Congratulations to producer Ceyda Berk-Söderblom, the National Museum of Finland and their team! Jury...

We associate chocolate with celebration, comfort, romance. But do we ever associate it with the farmers – and often children – who literally make the product possible? More than 2 million child labourers work on cocoa plantations in Ghana and the Ivory Coast alone. Who are these children and why do they do this work?

The renowned Dutch photographer Ad van Denderen will exhibit from 2 October until 5 November in the small miners town of Welkom, South Africa. Together with Tlali, Van Denderen will lead several workshops for students from three different schools: a white, a black and mixed one. The work of the 130 pupils – themed ‘Who am...

For the very first time, the complete Ebifananyi-series by Andrea Stultiens will be on show. From 27 October 2017 - 18 February 2018 the photo collections based on several Ugandan archives are presented at FOMU in Antwerp (BE).

We can’t change the past – instead we can change the future. On 10 August, the monumental portrait gallery Studio Aleppo [Helsinki] opened at the National Museum of Finland. Renowned photographer Juuso Westerlund (FI) portrayed 46 families living in Finland, presenting a new and equal culture. In just a couple of days, the photographers were taken, printed...

Film by Issa Touma, Floor van der Meulen and Thomas Vroege selected for a L'OR Gouden Kalf in the category 'Short Documentary'

Three new Studio Aleppo pop-up photo studios are emerging in Europe this summer. After a succesful start of Studio Aleppo [Amsterdam] last year, Helsinki, The Hague and Berlin will grab the baton. Photographer Juuso Westerlund (FI) will portrait old and new residents of Helsinki. All portraits will be shot on 5 and 6 August and exhibited from 10 – 17 August...

Greetings from Aleppo, the latest film by Issa Touma, Floor van der Meulen and Thomas Vroege, is awarded for the very first time with a DIG Award 2017. Greetings from Aleppo was among the three nominees in the category ‘Reportage Medium’. The award is reserved for journalistic reportage video, edited or unedited, of maximum duration 27 minutes. The...

The seventh book in the Ebifananyi-series by Andrea Stultiens is out now. Ebifananyi VII – Staying Alive considers photographs that were a tool in medical practices and research, and the documentation of the history of the Uganda Cancer Institute. In a place where death is often around the corner, photographs freeze time, but also could be...

We are happy to announce that on March 28, the Mondriaan Fund revised its report regarding Paradox’ plans for 2017-2018. The continued support implies that we will be able to continue producing meaningful projects through 2017 for you. Despite the turn, both the initial and the current report reveal the growing tension between contemporary documentary practice and...

From 227,222 visitors in 2015 to 723,814 visitors in 2016: the total number of visitors of Paradox projects almost tripled over the last year. We would like to thank our partners worldwide for the many fruitful collaborations!

In February Ad van Denderen, Lebohang Tlali and a small team, Margalith Kleijwegt (writer), Sjors Swierstra (filmmaker) and Heleen Peeters (Paradox project manager) travelled to South Africa to research the possibilities for the project Welkom Today.   Upon returning to the middle town 25 years since the launch of van Denderen’s publication Welkom in Suid-Afrika...

After several wanderings, Turtle 1 will be on show again. The first African car made from scratch is part of the group show AutoPhoto at Fondation Cartier (Paris) from 20 April – 31 October, an exhibition dedicated to photography’s relationship to the automobile. The story of the Turtle is translated to a dense presentation, including photos of the...

Welcome back, back to Welkom. Photographer Ad van Denderen is returning to the middle town of Welkom (South-Africa). A town he photographed 25 years ago to document the nearing end of the racial segregation of apartheid. It led to his first photo book Welkom in Suid-Afrika. Together with photographer/entrepeneur Lebohang Tlali, Paradox project manager Heleen Peeters, filmmaker...

Exhibition on the moving image including Ad Nuis' Oil & Paradise at Fondazione MAST, Bologna

We’re honored to tell you that a teaser of Greetings from Aleppo, film by Issa Touma, Thomas Vroege and Floor van der Meulen, will be shown at the exclusive official opening of the International Film Festival Rotterdam on Wednesday 25 February. The teaser, including new material shot by Issa in December 2016, will be presented as a homage...

In September 2016 Paradox launched Studio Aleppo [Amsterdam] in collaboration with Koos Breukel and Issa Touma. Studio Aleppo is a project of pop-up studios, in which residents of a city and refugees who have recently arrived there are invited to have their portrait taken by a prominent photographer. As an act of hospitality and solidarity...

From 7 November 2016 till 5 March 2017 the exhibition Women We has Not Lost Yet is on show at the Konstcentrum in Gävle, a medium size Swedish city, situated 170 km north of Stockholm. Eva Asp, director of the Gävle Konstcentrum shares her thoughts on engaged art. Where does the Konstcentrum stand for? ‘Gävle...

Tokyo Symphony is an audiovisual installation that photographer Ed van der Elsken never completed during his lifetime. The photographs that Van der Elsken produced explicitly for this installation form a strong and colourful portfolio covering various aspects of life and culture in Tokyo and his love for and fascination with Japan. Tokyo Symphony is part...

Wow! We are honored to tell you that Greetings from Aleppo, the new film by Issa Touma, Thomas Vroege and Floor van der Meulen, will have its world première at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR). Greetings from Aleppo will be screened four times during the festival. Greetings from Aleppo: a homage to the resilience of the Aleppian...

Incredible news! 9 Days – From My Window In Aleppo wins the Short Movie Award at the European Film Awards 2016! The cherry on the cake after an amazing year. Issa Touma, Floor van der Meulen and Thomas Vroege: congratulations! The European Film Awards, presented jointly by the European Film Academy and EFA Productions, honour...

We couldn’t be more happy with our completely redesigned website! After almost ten years, we said goodbye to our old digital home and moved to a new one. Project manager Vian Paashuis took care of the project, together with our designers, developers, advisors and part of the team. She tells you all about the making...

From 7 December until 5 March 2017, Women We Have Not Lost Yet is on show at Konstcentrum Gävle! It’s the first time the project is being exhibited in Scandinavia. The Swedish city of Gävle decided in 2015 to become a member in the International Cities of Refugee Network (ICORN). Participating towns are linked by this independent organization...

Since 2014, photographer Issa Touma travels back to his hometown Aleppo on a regular basis. He meets his friends and relatives, visits his gallery and films the everyday life in the city. Together with the Dutch film makers Floor van der Meulen and Thomas Vroege, he made the short film Greetings from Aleppo, a homage...

We’re delighted to welcome Veronica Daltri to our team! Veronica, student of the curatorial master programme of Fondazione Fotografia in Modena (IT), is currently doing her internship at Paradox. After her graduation in Photojournalism and Reportage from the Scuola Romana di Fotografia Veronica worked as a photographer. Now, she’s curating and writing about photography on...

Great news: the short documentary 9 Days – From My Window in Aleppo won two international awards in one weekend! On Saturday 15 October, Issa Touma, Thomas Vroege and Floor van der Meulen had the honour to receive the Best Short Film Award at the British Film Institute Festival in London. On Sunday 16 October,...

Last weekend, on 8 and 9 October, the very first Liège Photobook Festival took place. The event, that took place in a friendly and festive atmosphere, brought together the best of the current independent photographic publishing world. The programme included a book market with 30 international independent publishers; projections; talks and debates with specialists from...

Congratulations to Issa Touma, Thomas Vroege and Floor van der Meulen! 9 Days – From My Window in Aleppo is among the 15 nominees for the European Short Film Award 2016! At each of the 15 participating film festivals, an independent jury presented one European short film in competition with a nomination in the short film category of the...

Studio Aleppo [Amsterdam] by Koos Breukel is fully booked for Dutch participants! An overwhelming reaction to our call for participants! In just a few days, around 60 citizens from Amsterdam registered. Thanks so much! Refugees are still welcome to enroll for Studio Aleppo [Amsterdam]. Want to stay up to date and have the chance to...

Participate in this project and become part of an (online) portrait gallery of the new Amsterdam. And engage in a conversation! Register now at www.studioaleppo.eu 01. Why participate? ‘Old and ‘new’ Amsterdam residents will be portrayed in a portrait studio under the same conditions. Statements of all participants will be gathered by asking short questions. The...

We are proud to present three new projects: Mono Men, The Last Water War and Time for change. In the course of 2016 and 2016, we'll be working on multiple ways to present these projects: by app, exhibition and website.

9 Days - From My Window In Aleppo continues its international tour! The next two months, the short documentary by Issa Touma, Floor van der Meulen and Thomas Vroege will be shown at film festivals all around the globe.

From 15.07 - 25.09.2016 the exhibition 'Poppy - Trails of Afghan Heroin' is on show at c/o Berlin, Germany. On July 15, the festive opening took place.

From July 4 until July 10 the opening of Les Rencontres d’Arles takes place, with international photography events in parts of the city. Paradox is at Arles to present the latest publications and projects. We’d love to meet you there!

On June 8, we show solidarity with our fellow human beings suffering. The Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra plays ‘A Concert for the Refugees’ at the Thessaoliniki Concert Hall. The orchestra plays the symphonic works of Mahler and Chausson. The music is accompanied by a selection of photographs and videos of Borders Kill, a project by...

The majority of the world lives in a do-it-yourself environment. Intrigued by the functioning of these communal spaces, artist Melle Smets and sociologist Joost van Onna travelled to Suame Magazine (Ghana) where cars are disassembled and their parts traded. They collaborated with local artisans and organisations to create a truly African car in only 12...

In this book Andrea Stultiens delves into the archive of M.W. Wambwa, an engineer and amateur photographer from a small community in eastern Uganda. The fifth volume from the Ebifananyi series is now available.

Great festival news: 9 Days – From My Window in Aleppo continues its international tour in 2016. After its launch 9 Days had successful screenings at DOK festival in Leipzig and at Winterthur Kurzfilmtage where it was the press opening film. Now the documentary is selected for the International Film Festival Rotterdam and the International...

Tuesday February 9th, 8-9.30pm Humanity House, The Hague Debate about the media war in Syria The war in Syria is the first socially mediated war. More than ever before, rapportage about and communication during this conflict are happening via online platforms. How do social media function in an authoritarian regime? How does Syrian photographer Issa...

After a succesful period – in 2014 alone exhibitions by Paradox or including Paradox productions received 191.000 visitors worldwide – we are happy to announce that the Mondriaan Fund continues its support to Paradox. As an organisation working in a field that is constantly developing, Paradox strives to maintain an examining attitude towards social-political aspects...