‘BLOMMERS & SCHUMM – MID-AIR’ A delicate balance between fashion, art and illusion at FOAM Amsterdam
The Dutch photographer duo Blommers & Schumm present their new exhibition Mid-Air at FOAM Amsterdam -– a captivating exploration of balance, gravity and perception. With poetic and precisely constructed images that hover between fashion and art, the duo continue to redefine the boundaries of photographic illusion.
Their photographic approach is rooted in their early background as still life photographers – a refined sensitivity to form, balance and materiality that continues to inform their work today. By focusing as much on the object as on the subject, they subtly challenge the conventions of fashion photography and have carved out a space uniquely their own – somewhere between fashion and art, suspended in mid-air.
What at first appears to be a conventional still life often reveals itself as a carefully staged illusion: a glass frozen mid-fall, a model defying gravity, a face assembled from everyday objects. Perspective and proportions are constantly toyed with, and within each photograph lies a deliberate, beautiful surprise – a fragile equilibrium that feels on the verge of collapse.
Mid-Air offers an intimate glimpse into the intricate world of Blommers & Schumm- one that seamlessly moves between fashion, art, and visual experimentation. The duo favor a personal, unconventional approach; rather than relying on famous faces or glossy perfection, their images disorient, provoke and fascinate.
The exhibition brings together highlights from over two decades of collaboration – including iconic photographs featured in Fantastic Man, The Gentlewoman, Dazed & Confused, Self Service, Purple, AnOther Magazine, and The New York Times Magazine.
Blommers & Schumm began working together shortly after graduating from the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in 1997. Their first solo exhibition, Delusions, was presented at The Ravestijn Gallery in Amsterdam in 2013, which continues to represent the duo today. They were also part of Foam’s traveling exhibition Still/Life: Dutch Contemporary Photography (2011) and have exhibited internationally at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Groninger Museum, Museum Winterthur (Zurich), Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Maison Européenne de la Photographie Paris, Institut Néerlandais Paris, Institute of Contemporary Art Boston, and Deichtorhallen Hamburg.
Coinciding with the exhibition, a new monograph will be published in autumn 2025 – nearly two decades after their debut book Anita and 124 other portraits (Valiz, 2006).
Blommers & Schumm – Mid-Air
Foam Photography Museum Amsterdam
20 September 2025 – 23 February 2026
Keizersgracht 609, 1017 DS Amsterdam
www.foam.org
CREDITS
Artist Josefina wearing Bless, styling Georgia Pendlebury for Exhibition Magazine, 2018 © Blommers & Schumm
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