Hope to see you at the next FOTODOK Book Talks in Tivoli Vredenburg Utrecht. The FOTODOK Book Talks is the platform for the stories behind photo books. In this live talk show, together with Giya Makondo-Wills, I interview visual storytellers, photographers, designers and publishers.

In this edition, Viviane Sassen with her retrospective work Phosphor. Through vividly coloured portraits, landscapes, still lifes and abstract compositions, Sassen explores a range of themes and topics such as identity, gender, body, race, fashion and environment. Hristina Tasheva with Far Away From Home. Born and raised in communist Bulgaria, Hristina has lived in the Netherlands for 21 years. Yet she still struggles with finding her place in society: do locals see me as a communist? Sandra Minten with her book 90 eggs and one omelette about Leen, a homeless, to drugs resident of a small community, the City Nomads. And Kristof Titeca with his research project on Nasser Road in Uganda, a mythical place known for its print trade and as a hotbed for fraud. In Nassar Road, Titeca draws attention to one of its main products: posters and calendars depicting politicians and well-known personalities as superheroes.

If you cannot attend the live talkshow in Utrecht, discounted tickets are also available for a live stream of this event.

Hope to see you at the next FOTODOK Book Club in Tivoli Vredenburg Utrecht. The FOTODOK Book Club is the platform for the stories behind photo books. In this live talk show, together with Giya Makondo-Wills, I interview the story makers – photographers, designers and publishers.

Sebastián Bruno will speak about his books The Dynamic and Ta-Ra. In How shall we greet the sun, Thana Faroq explores the personal stories and complex emotional lives of a small group of young female refugees living in the Netherlands, including Thana herself. Peter Pflügler takes us on an intimate journey through the labyrinth of a family secret in Now is not the right time. Finally, Tanya Habjouqa will be present by video link to talk about her book Occupied Pleasures (2012/2013).

The next edition of the FOTODOK Book Talks, which I curate and co-host together with Giya Makondo-Wills, will take place on 6 April 2023 from 8 - 9:30 pm at TivoliVredenburg Utrecht. Vanessa Winship will talk about Snow (Dead Beat Club, 2022), Karine Versluis about her new book Debaltsevo, Where Are You? (The Eriskay Connection, 2023) and Mashid Mohadjerin about Freedom is Not Free (Royal Academy Fine Arts, Antwerp, 2021). You can order single tickets via this link. Students can get a discount by using the code FOTOSTUDENT23 at checkout. Also group discounts are possible. Please contact FOTODOK for that.

Yes we did it again! Together with co-host Giya Makondo-Wills and FOTODOK, we have managed to put together a wonderful program for the upcoming FOTODOK Book Talks in TivoliVredenburg Utrecht. Renowned Magnum photographer Susan Meiselas will talk about her Carnival Strippers (Steidl, 2022), first published in 1976 and now in its third printing already sold out! Very possibly we still might have a remaining copy for sale. Zahra Reijs will talk about her first photo book Dear Future (self-published, 2023), full of colorful portraits of Generation Z and Belgian photographer Vincen Beeckman will talk about La Devinière (delpire & co, 2022), a book he made together with residents of a psychotherapy center. Our new booksellers De Utrechtse Boekenbar will come and talk about their favorite photobooks and we are proud to launch the latest edition of the amazing Trigger Magazine. And all in just an hour and a half on Thursday, Feb. 9, from 8-9:30 pm. Get your tickets now!

Hope to see you at the next FOTODOK Book Talks with our new co-host in Tivoli Vredenburg Utrecht. Our guests and books on Wednesday December 8, 2022, starting at 8 pm, are Youqine Lefèvre with The Land of Promises, Laia Abril with On Rape, Friso Keuris with TiTo, we talk with the new Dutch ‘Fotograaf des Vaderlands’ Marwan Magroun about his favourite photo books and much more in just an hour and a half!

Hope to see you at the next FOTODOK Book Club that I am presenting together with Sterre Sprengers in Tivoli Vredenburg Utrecht. Our guests and books on Wednesday October 12, 2022 are Prins de Vos with Boys do Cry, Valentina Piccinni and Jean-Marc Caimi with Fastidiosa, Ed Kashi with Abandoned moments, a love letter to photography and Gabriella Angotti-Jones with I Just Wanna Surf.

On 12 April, the next edition of the FOTODOK Book Club will take place in TivoliVredenburg. The Russian invasion in Ukraine dominates the programme for this evening. British photographer Mark Neville will be present in connection with his new book Stop Tanks With Books. Four days before the start of the war in Ukraine, 750 copies of the book were delivered to politicians, diplomats, celebrities, international media, and negotiators, all those, in short, who we feel have it in their power to support Ukraine’s continuing fight for independence. Magnum photographer Jérôme Sessini will be present - live or via Skype from Ukraine - to talk about his book Inner Disorder: Ukraine 2014 - 2017, which was published last year. And Nicole Segers about Blood and Honey, a book she made together with writer Irene van der Linde. And there is more. Book your ticket (in TivoliVredenburg or online screening) via this link.

On Monday 21 February, the next edition of live talkshow FOTODOK Book Club will take place in TivoliVredenburg Utrecht, presented by Sterre Sprengers and me. We have curated a fantastic line-up for the evening. Mohamed Bourouissa comes by train from Paris to talk about his great project Périphérique, which was recently newly released by Loose Joints. Jan Banning presents his new The Verdict. Eva Roefs talks about Studio Trompettersteeg, Henk Wildschut about Afstand and more to be announced! According to current calculations - due to Corona restrictions - about 100 people will be allowed to join us IRL, so be quick to book your ticket.

On Friday 12 November, between 6 and 7:30 pm, I present the live talk show FOTODOK Book Club - Paris Photo Edition, just a few steps away from Grand Palais. With amazing guests, including two nominees for the Paris Photo Aperture PhotoBook Award: Rahim Fortune (I can’t stand to see you cry) and Bieke Depoorter (Agata). I also talk to Rafal Milach about his brand new book Strajk and the vibrant protest movement in Poland. And young talent Michelle Piergoelam who’s work The Untangled Tales is exhibited at the place where this edition of the FOTODOK Book Club takes place: Atelier Néerlandais, 121 Rue de Lille, 75007 Paris.⁠
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Afterwards books will be sold and signed, including my own brand new The Naval Base, the latest publication within The Europeans 2020 - 2030.⁠
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If you want to attend, order your ticket ASAP for €14.30 via www.fotodok.org. Due to corona measures the number of seats for this event is limited. For a reduced rate you can also watch the talk show live from your couch at home.⁠

On Wednesday, 13 October in Tivoli Vredenburg, together with Sterre Sprengers, I will present the next FOTODOK Book Club (finally again with live audience!). Guests that evening are Bertien van Manen, Mafalda Rakos and Raimond Wouda. If you don’t have the opportunity to be present in TivoliVredenburg, you can also follow the talkshow online. Tickets for (both in the hall and online) can be ordered through the website of FOTODOK.

After again several postponements due to the Corona pandemic, the next edition of the FOTODOK Book Club will take place on Wednesday, May 12 from 8 - 9:30 pm in TivoliVredenburg Utrecht. This episode can be viewed online only, anywhere in the world and from the comfort of your couch. You can purchase an access ticket for 5 euro via the link below. Language is English.

On December 3, during the FOTODOK Book Club, I spoke out a column with a retrospective on cancel issues in 2020 and a message for 2021: “Let’s put the hard rhetoric behind and make 2021 the year of a renewed openness to critical reflection, to nuance, to shades of grey, and also to forgiveness, to empathy for people who make mistakes. And especially to building a beautiful, diverse, inclusive art world together. With everyone. Also with people who make mistakes and want to do better.” Click on the link for a Dutch translation of the column on the website of FOTODOK. English version can be sent on request.

After several postponements due to the Corona pandemic, the 22nd edition of the FOTODOK Book Club will take place next Thursday, December 3 from 8 - 9:30 pm in TivoliVredenburg Utrecht. Only 30 persons are allowed to be physically present (annual subscribers only). But.., this edition can also be viewed live online, anywhere in the world and from the comfort of your couch. You can purchase an access ticket for 5 euro via the link below. Language is English

Some brilliant books have appeared in the Netherlands in recent months. That is why we have titled this edition The Dutch Edition (ok, also a bit for corona reasons:). The spotlights will be on Paris Photo–Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Award nominee Hoarder Order by Thomas Kuijpers, Tree and Soil by Antoinette de Jong & Robert Knoth and the brand new Horse by Heleen Peters. Also in this brimming evening Marvel Harris’ first book Inner Journey, a column by Delphine Bedel, Louisiana van Onna designed a book with photos by Ed van der Elsken and of course favourite books of 2020!

In the run-up to the upcoming edition of the FOTODOK Book Club next Thursday, Nynke van Spiegel has interviewed me for Utrecht UIT magazine (in Dutch). In two days will be the first time that you can watch comfortably in your couch anywhere in the world. The FOTODOK Book Club is a live event (also online) and you can purchase an access ticket for 5 euro via fotodok.org. The evening is in English.

And the three guests/books for the upcoming FOTODOK Book Club on 5 February 2020 are: Jack Latham with Parliaments of Owls, Marine Caneve with Are they rocks or clouds? and Paolo Woods with State.

Jack Latham can not be missed during this edition, as I had chosen his book as the best photo book of 2019. Marina Caneve’s book also ranked high on the same list. She graduated in 2018 with the eponymous project in dummy form that immediately won prizes. The final book came out more than a year later. And although Paolo Woods’ book is a bit older, I’ve wanted him in the FOTODOK Book Club already for a long time because of his unconventional ideas regarding reaching audiences. Last but not least, also Koen Suidgeest is coming to explain how he sold more than 6000 copies of his first photo book Why I Cry On Airplanes.

It’s listmas time again in the world of photobooks! The time of year when everyone feels the need to share what his or her favourite photo book of the past year was. I love photo books and I love lists, so I can’t resist publishing my own list. My favorite of favorites 2019 can be found at photoeye.com and the complete list is now available at photobookstore.co.uk magazine.

Note: Lucas Leffler, author of one of my favorite books, will be a guest at the FOTODOK Book Club in TivoliVredenburg on Thursday night. Besides other great bookmakers including Cristina DeMiddel (Afronauts!). Buy your ticket now using the link below.

On Thursday October 3, 2019, the 19th edition of the FOTODOK Book Club will take place in Tivoli Vredenburg in Utrecht. In this edition the focus is mainly on the African continent. I am very proud that one of Central Africa’s leading contemporary artists, photographer Samuel Fosso, is with us to talk about his upcoming publication Autoportrait, that’s going to be published by Steidl. Photographer Lebohang Tlali will talk about the project that originated after he discovered the photobook Welcome in South Africa (1991) in which Dutch photographer Ad van Denderen and writer Margalith Kleijwegt documented the last days of apartheid. Our own Utrecht Ilvy Njiokiktjien talks about her book Born Free about young people who were born after the end of apartheid in South Africa. And Ben Krewinkel will tell something about Africa in the Photobook. We also have Theo Derksen as our guest with his new book Disneyfication and Csilla Klenyánszki, whose book Pillars of Home is nominated for the prestigious Aperture Paris Photo First Book Award. So much in an hour and a half live talk show!

Here we go again! The fifth season of the FOTODOK Book Club kicks off with The Power Edition and contains conversations with an amazing trio of photobook makers. Spanish Laia Abril comes to talk about her book On Abortion, recently winner of the prestigious Paris Photo/Aperture Foundation’s Photobook of the Year Award. I’ll talk to Guy Martin about The Parallel State, a story about power, authoritarianism, and the theatrics of politics. And Jonas Bendiksen comes to tell more about his latest book The Last Testament, for which he traveled all over the world to meet and photograph 7 men that believe they are the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

A single ticket for a Book Club costs €11.00 (students €5.50) and can be purchased via the website of TivoliVredenburg. For €32.50 you become a member for a year, meaning you are guaranteed a seat in all four episodes and you receive 10% discount on the books on the table and of course, you support the FOTODOK Book Club. More information via FOTODOK.

It was somewhat foreseeable, but this last edition of the fourth season of the FOTODOK Book Club sold out in a few days. If you would like to be considered for the waiting list, please contact FOTDOK (not me). The photographers participating in this 16th edition are Dana Lixenberg with her new publication Tupac Biggie, Bryan Schutmaat with Good Goddamn and Martin Parr with Beach Therapy.

De FOTODOK Book Club is a live talk show in which interviews with makers of photo books are interluded with extraordinary trivia and tips for lovers and collectors. Since its inception in a dark basement four years ago, FOTODOK’s Book Club has relocated several times and grown into crowded evenings for a broad audience in Tivoli Vredenburg.

FOTODOK Book Club 16th Edition
Thursday December 6, 2018 from 8 until 9:30 pm
Tivoli Vredenburg Utrecht

The 15th edition of the FOTODOK Book Club will feature amazing and in some cases controversial books and makers like The Sweating Subject by Jan Banning, Shadows of the State by Lewis Bush and Robert F. Kennedy Funeral Train - The People’s View by Rein Jelle Terpstra. Laura Cnossen, who told about her graduation dummy Love Klink in an earlier edition, explains why her dummy recently has been published by the English publisher Here Press.

De FOTODOK Book Club is a live talk show in which interviews with makers of photo books are interluded with extraordinary trivia and tips for lovers and collectors. Since its inception in a dark basement four years ago, FOTODOK’s Book Club has relocated several times and grown into crowded evenings for a broad audience in Tivoli Vredenburg.

FOTODOK Book Club 15th Edition
Thursday October 4, 2018 from 8 until 9:30 pm
Tivoli Vredenburg Utrecht

After an intense day of serious roaming, searching, browsing and chatting, we’re there! The guests for FOTODOK’s Book Club - The Special Edition at Unseen Amsterdam are: Todd Hido, Rafal Milach and Ania Nalecka, Mafalda Rakos and Wendy Marijnissen. Better be on time. The number of seats is limited, and available on first come first served basis. Start today at 13:45. Follow link for more information.

During Unseen Amsterdam there will be a Special Edition of the FOTODOK Book Club in the intimate ‘Annex - Leidinghuis’ for a limited number of people. This edition will take place on Saturday 22 September 2018 from 13:45 - 15:00. The guests will be announced one evening in advance via Instagram accounts of FOTODOK, Unseen Amsterdam and myself. Seats are available on first come first served basis. 

On Thursday October 4th and December 6th, the next editions of the FOTODOK Book Club will take place in Tivoli Vredenburg. If you want to know more about books and guests to expect or to buy a ticket, please click on the link below. Confirmed guests on October 4th are Jan Banning and Lewis Bush. More soon.

Very much looking forward to the 14th edition of the FOTODOK Book Club, starting at 8 pm on April 5, 2018 in Tivoli Vredenburg Utrecht. It promises to be an exciting evening with fabulous books made by Andrew Phelps & Paul Kranzler (The Drake Equation), Christian van der Kooij (Anastasiia) and Robin de Puy (Randy). Tivoli Vredenburg is located next to Utrecht Central Station. Buy your ticket via the link below.

There we go again! On February 1,2018 at 8 pm, the thirteenth edition of the FOTODOK Book Club takes place with wonderful guests AND we have moved again! In order to make the Book Club more accessible - also for visitors from outside Utrecht - we have decided to move to Tivoli/Vredenburg, a stone’s throw away from Utrecht Central Station. (Feels like a kind of coming home to me as I worked there for ten years as a bartender / host to finance my Photography studies and the start of my professional career.)

The books in this edition of the Book Club are about the aftermath of a conflict: The Egyptian Revolution in 2011 (As It May Be by Bieke Depoorter), The Bosnian War in the early nineties (Lost Takes by Tobias Bijl) and the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict (Stone by Ad van Denderen). Of course, all books are available for viewing or buying and authors are there to sign your new acquisitions.

The next of the FOTODOK Book Club is on Thursday December 14th from 8 - 9:30 pm. For once, the location of the Book Club is the Centraal Museum in Utrecht, allowing visitors to also see my new exhibition Man Next Door between 7 and 8 pm (for free).
I am thrilled about the excellent line-up in this twelfth edition: Simon Roberts (UK) about a decade of British landscape photography in Merrie Albion, Mathieu Asselin (FR) about his Paris Photo First Book Award winning on Monsanto and Esther Hovers (NL) about intelligent surveillance systems in her promising first book False Positives. Jan Banning (Utereg) will introduce us to his new book Red Utopia in the returning item ‘Van Eigen Bodem’.

There seems to be only one minor downside: As far as I know the tickets already SOLD OUT. Bummer. Please send an email to FOTODOK for information and ticket requests.

We have a great line up for the tenth edition of the FOTODOK Book Club, next Thursday, June 1 at 8 pm. Join us for exciting conversations with some of world’s best photobook makers and cold beers in the shadow of the Dom tower in Utrecht.
Magnum photographer Peter van Agtmael (Skype) talks about his new book Buzzing at the Sil, a sequel to Disco Night Sept. 11 that was shortlisted for the Paris Photo/Aperture Book Award and was named a Book of the Year by The New York Times Magazine, Time, Vogue and American Photo amongst others.
Awoïska van der Molen (NL) will talk about her new book Blanco, which is the successor of her previous and successful photo book Sequester. Van der Molen is nominated for this years prestigious Deutsche Börse Photography Prize.
Designer and publisher Rob van Hoesel will talk about the challenges of combining designing and publishing books. Van Hoesel founded his publishing house The Eriskay Connection in 2011. Their books have consistently earned a spot on ‘Best of the Year’ lists photo book collectors like so much.

I am very proud to announce our third guest for the FOTODOK Book Club: Kirill Golovchenko. He is the eastern European answer to Martin Parr, a master in bright visual strategies and a dedicated and productive self-publisher. Come and get inspired by this extremely active and talented Ukrainian photographer. Take your English, German and Russian dictionary with you. Also in this Book Club: Henk Wildschut and Mariken Wessels.

I am very happy to announce the presence of Henk Wildschut and Mariken Wessels at the next FOTODOK Book Club on Thursday March 30, 3017. Henk will talk about his super fresh book Ville de Calais, on the growth and decline of an informal village in the French dunes. Mariken Wessels will talk about her brilliant Taking Off. Henry My Neighbour, a book on her neighbor’s obsession with amateur nude art. After multiple nominations and winning the Arles 2016 Book Award, the book got recently nominated for the Dutch Photobook Award. Third guest will be announced soon.

Thank you all for attending the 8th edition of the FOTODOK Book Club and a special thank you to our guests Jack Latham, Laura Cnossen, Laia Abril (on Skype) and Jan Rosseel. Never want to be too late for a ticket next year? Annual subscription for four editions of the Book Club 2017 are now for sale via FOTODOK. Please check out sales information and dates via link below.

Today I am preparing the eighth edition of the FOTODOK Book Club. Two years ago I started this initiative in an effort to interest a broader audience for photobooks. Tonight, again, the venue sold out. One of the books in this edition is the wonderful Sugar Paper Theories of Jack Latham. The historical story about two murders in 1974 in Iceland not only tells a lot about the functioning of a scarcely populated country, but also touches on universal police investigation issues such as confessions under coercion, mass hysteria and scapegoating. A great book and not only for the small introverted photobook community. Signed copies are for sale tonight at FOTODOK.

On October 6, 2016 at 8pm, I will present the 7th edition of the FOTODOK Book Club in Utrecht. In addition to previously announced Nicoló Degiorgis, also Florian van Roekel, Xiaoxiao Xu and Rinske Former will talk about their latest books a.o. about why men build ornithopters in an attempt to fly. If you do not want to miss FOTODOK’s Book Club, please consider buying an annual subscription (as regular sold out).

Very happy that Nicolò Degiorgis is finally coming to the next FOTODOK Book Club on Thursday October 6 in Utrecht. I met Nicolò for the first time in 2014 at Vienna PhotoBook Festival. He rented a table to sell his fantastic debut book Hidden Islam. There was another book Oasis Hotel on the table. I asked about it and with a smile on his face, he explained that it would look so lean selling only one book. During the next FOTODOK Book Club we will talk about the success and impact of Hidden Islam, but also about his role as a publisher and curator of the latest book by Daisuke Yokota and Max Pinckers.

Many thanks to Edmund Clark and Aperture’s Lesley Martin for their contributions to the FOTODOK Book Club, my live talk show about books in Utrecht. Negative Publicity: Artefacts of Extraordinary Rendition is without a doubt one of the most impressive books of 2016. It shows how our Western societies violates basic human rights on a large scale and in a coordinated manner.