Live Portfolio Reviews

Heide Häusler

Heide Häusler is an art historian and curator specialising in photography and has been Managing Director and Artistic Director of the International Photoscene Cologne since 2013. She studied art history and philosophy in Bochum. She has worked as a curator and project manager for the Stadtmuseum in Düsseldorf, the Schirn Kunsthalle in Frankfurt/Main and the Museum Morsbroich in Leverkusen, among others. Here she most recently co-curated Next Generations – Contemporary Photography made in the Rhineland (2019) and curated the exhibition From A to B – Of Roads, Highways and Data Streams (2021). From 2009 to 2016, she was exhibition director of the photo festival in Mannheim, Ludwigshafen, Heidelberg (now Biennale für aktuelle Fotografie). Together with Alexander Hagmann (dieMotive) and Helena Melikow (Shift Books), she is on the board of the Image Section of the German Photographic Society.

Lotti Pronk

Lotti Pronk is an experienced, independent photo editor, producer of photography projects, and owner of One Wonders. Lotti has 20+ years working experience at photo agencies, media, and photography institutes. Amongst them are NOOR images, Volkskrant Magazine, Dutch National Portrait Gallery, and Amnesty International.  Currently she is the visual editor at ‘Wordt Vervolgd’ published by Amnesty, holds that same position at daily newspaper Trouw, and manages One Wonders; an online photo gallery selling original, exhibited pieces.

Fleurie Kloostra

Fleurie Kloostra is a curator at Melkweg Expo, an exhibition space and platform for young visual artists with a focus on innovative, contemporary photography situated in the heart of Amsterdam. Melkweg Expo is part of the Melkweg, a stage for pop culture. After obtaining her master’s degree in Art and Economics from HKU, she worked for 7 years as a curator for Vlaams Cultuurhuis de Brakke Grond. 

She is often much solicited as a jury member or portfolio reviewer, and teaches at art academies and shares her vision and work method with secondary school students. She feels it is her role as a curator to act as an intermediary between an artist and the audience.

Marc Prüst

Marc Prüst is a researcher and photography curator, based in Amsterdam. He has developed a method for creating photographic projects that enables photographers to develop their concepts, prepare the shoots, and edit and market their work. He published two books on this method, ‘Tell Your Story’, and ‘Edit Your Story’. Marc gives workshops and masterclasses, holds guest lectures and writes on photography. Marc teaches Visual Economy at the Photography MA of the Moholy Nagy University of Art and Design in Budapest. He is also member of the Cultural Committee of Photogallery ‘De Gang’ in Haarlem, for which he is in charge of the artistic direction.  

Rob van Hoesel

Rob van Hoesel is a Dutch graphic designer focusing on editorial and book design. In 2011 he founded The Eriskay Connection, an independent publisher focusing on contemporary storytelling at the intersection of photography, research and writing. His work is characterized by a conceptual approach, co-authorship, and the importance he gives to meaning and communication. Van Hoesel has been often awarded at Dutch and International book design competitions, such as: Best Dutch Book Designs, European Design Awards, Aperture/ParisPhoto Photobook Awards, Deutsche Fotobuchpreis and more. 

Lisanne van Happen & Justin Ugochukwu

Lisanne van Happen supports upcoming talent mainly working with the medium of photography within her work. She is a freelance curator, fundraiser and producer with a particular interest in social issues, specialized in the field of documentary photography. She strives to connect people and create collaborations that are greater than the sum of its parts. Lisanne has a BA in documentary photography from art academy St.Joost in Breda. She studied social-cultural work and attended courses in Sociology at Utrecht University. Over the past nine years she worked as a curator and producer for organizations such as: Critical Mass, Docking Station and Prospektor. Currently Lisanne works as an educator for St.Joost in Breda, is part of the steering committee of MINO LAB in Antwerp and is talent development lead at FOTODOK in Utrecht, The Netherlands where she develops programs with which she supports upcoming photographers conceptually and financially. As a presentation institution FOTODOK presents projects that vary in form: from mixed media to performance, from an installation to an intersection between still and moving image, from works produced through experimental printing techniques to screen-based presentations of digitally appropriated visuals. What is important for FOTODOK within the variety of all these artistic modes are two backbone elements: projects have to address the nature of the photographic medium and engage with society. 

Justin Ugochukwu (b. 1998, The Netherlands) is a lens-based artist, archivist and researcher. Currently studying (BA) Photography, Film and Digital arts at ST. Joost School of Arts and Design (Breda, The Netherlands). 
 
With an interest in topics such as polarization, transgenerational trauma, black identity and masculinity, Ugochukwu defines his artistic practice and curational research as a way to combat imperialistic ideology and post-colonial narratives. Visually sharpened to debate and debunk. In its core, Ugochukwu’s work can be categorized as documentary photography because of its anthropological and observative nature.  
 
Ugochukwu uses mediums such as: photography, text and print making resulting in installations, sculptural pieces or publications.

Willemijn van der Zwaan

Willemijn van der Zwaan (NL, 1989) has served as Curator of Photography at Fotomuseum and Kunstmuseum Den Haag since 2019. She studied Art History at the University of Utrecht, the Netherlands, where she specialised in photography during her masters in Modern and Contemporary Art. After graduating in 2012, she worked as a gallery manager, independent writer, editor and researcher. She has contributed to multiple photobooks, including Sanne Sannes: Copyright/Archief (2015), Popel Coumou: Paper and Light (2020), Rob Hornstra: Ordinary People (2023) and Laura Hospes: Antidote (2024).

Eva Langerak is a curator, researcher, writer and a creative producer. Coming from an interdisciplinary background, she uses different methods in curating, writing, and programming. Her interests revolve around the practice of transhistorical curating; she is interested in excavating past(s) and memories through visual or archival material and connecting themes with present-day reality. Other fields of interests include: memory studies, archival studies, lens-based art and the poetics of everyday reality. She has worked for among others Stedelijk Museum, International Film Festival Rotterdam, St Joost School of Arts and Grote Kerk Breda. She currently works in the exhibition team of the Eye Filmmuseum.  

Hanneke Mantel

Hanneke Mantel is Head of Exhibitions and Collection at Fenix. She is responsible for both the
permanent and temporary exhibitions, as well as for Fenix’s collection and publications. As a curator,
Hanneke focusses on the medium of photography. She is currently curating a large exhibition, which
will be permanently on view from the moment the doors of Fenix open, bringing together
documentary photography from all over the world. Previously, Hanneke worked as a curator at
Fotomuseum Den Haag.

Omar Victor Diop

Regarded as one of the most important Senegalese photographers of his generation, Omar Victor Diop was born in Dakar in 1980 and was brought up there. He now divides his time between his birthplace and Paris. 

From a very early age, Diop cultivated his vivid imagination as much through photography as through literature and history, leading him to hone his talent in several art forms, from collage and creative writing to fashion and textile design. His influences include the major African portrait artists Mama Casset, Seydou Keïta and Malick Sidibé, the French creator Jean-Paul Goude, as well as Flemish and Spanish painters of the Renaissance. 

His work connects the history and modernity of African societies: “It has been more than ten years since I picked up a camera with the intention of showing the struggle of my people, their moments of pride, their altruism, their incredible diversity and their capacity to adapt.” 

Sayuri Ichida

Sayuri Ichida is a Margate, UK-based artist specializing in photography.  Born in Fukuoka, Japan, in 1985, her work explores themes of self-identity, personal memories, and life experiences.  Ichida’s exhibitions include solo shows at PhMuseum Lab (Bologna), IBASHO Gallery (Antwerp), Unseen Amsterdam, and InCadaques International Photography Festival (Cadaques). Her work was also presented at Art Paris and the SPARK Art Fair in Vienna. Her artworks are in the collections of Museum Voorlinden.  Her book ‘Absentee’ was named one of the ten best photobooks by the Prix Nadar Prize in 2022. She was an artist-in-residence with Light Work in 2023, and her work ‘Ctrl Shift +J’ was shortlisted for the Grand Prix Images Vevey 2023/2024. Ichida graduated from Tokyo Visual Arts College and completed an MA in Photography Arts from the University of Westminster. 

Anaïs López

Photographer Anaïs López is first and foremost a storyteller. She creates long-term multimedia projects that are at the intersection of fiction and documentary. She is considered a pioneer in her field and has won several awards. Her work has been exhibited in museums and festivals worldwide. 

Katherine Oktober Matthews 

Katherine Oktober Matthews is an American artist, author, editor and publisher based in The Netherlands. She is the author of Unique: Making Photographs in the Age of Ubiquity (2018), I Love Animals (2017), and Elsewhere (forthcoming 2025). She has edited numerous periodicals, including her creation of limited series Milk art journal (2023) and in her former role as Chief Editor of GUP Magazine. She is the founder of indie publisher House of Oktober, as well as the online platforms Riding the Dragon and Useful. Learn more: oktobernight.com 

Mira Matić

Mira Matić is an experienced and passionate curator and spatial designer. 20 years of work in the Dutch Photography Museum has taught her to connect the conceptual realm of the artist with the practical world of exhibitions and interiors.

She has worked with people from diverse artistic backgrounds and photographers like Alfredo Jaar, Sebastio Salgado, Bruce Davidson, Martin Schuler and Jacqueline Hassing.

Working with these artists has opened her eyes to the magic of integrating photography and art in spatial design. She thoroughly enjoys translating conceptual ideas into space, material and colour and has the technological knowledge and hands-on mentality to get things done.