Fotografie Forum Frankfurt
Braubachstraße 30-32, 60311 Frankfurt am Main
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Master Class Workshop
MAX PINCKERS“SPECULATIVE DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHY”
“SPECULATIVE DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHY”
Friday, September 25 – Monday, September 28, 10 am–5 pm
Subjects
Documentary photography, speculative approaches, realism, authenticity, staging, performativity
Workshop programme
The workshop will begin with an introduction to Speculative Documentary Photography, looking at examples of various documentary modes. Participants will then each be invited to pose a burning question they have on photography, which will create a guideline of thought.
We will begin each following day with a collective morning conversation with Max about his work and process and end each day with an open group discussion on the questions raised throughout the workshop.
Preparation
please prepare your work/portfolio presentations focusing on the further development of a work in progress rather than on completed projects and please formulate a burning question that you have about photography and want answered.
Equipment
camera (any kind), flash/lighting equipment if possible
Location
Fotografie Forum Frankfurt
Braubachstraße 30–32
60311 Frankfurt am Main
Max Pinckers, 2021, © Thomas Nolf, 2026
Language: English
Price members: 650 EUR
Price non members: 800 EUR
Number of participants: Min. 8 / max. 10
Registration deadline: August 27, 2026
Duration: 4 days and 1 public lecture
How can documentary photography convincingly engage with the world while at the same time recognize its own shortcomings and blind spots? How can we be inspired by the paradox of attempting to approach reality with a documentary attitude while it continuously mutates and evaporates? And how can we define a shared sense of realism in a hyper-individual and confusing era of post-truth, fake news, and AI-generated images, in which there is no longer a consensus about what is real, half-truth, fiction or entertainment?
The aim of this workshop is to critically engage with documentary photography’s claim to authenticity and truth by attempting to rethink the documentary attitude conceptually, formally and methodologically. How is photographic realism shaped and conditioned by conventions, formal signifiers, and tropes? What is “real,” what is “constructed,” and how much does the medium itself shape that perception?
This workshop will explore various artistic methods to develop creative freedom in documentary approaches – from self-reflexive to performative and theatrical modes – that go beyond superficial notions of authenticity, in order to gain a deeper understanding of photography’s ability to engage with truths in a more profound way than merely a literal one.
Max Pinckers will talk about his work and projects, from conceptualizing documentary projects to self-publishing and exhibition design. Participants will be assigned playful tasks and a potential exercise to work through as the workshop develops. There will be time to talk with Max Pinckers one-on-one about your own ongoing projects and get individual feedback from him.
Max Pinckers: She Will Use the Birds, from the series »The Fourth Wall«, 2012; From the series State of Emergency - Harakati za Mau Mau kwa Haki, Usawa na Ardhi Yetu (2014-ongoing), 2019; People Exiting the Metro at Yonggwang Station, Pyongyang, North Korea, 2017; Performance #1, from the series Margins of Excess, 2018, © Max Pinckers, 2026 / © Max Pinckers/MMWVA, 2026
Max Pinckers (*1988, Belgium) grew up in Indonesia, India, Australia and Singapore, and is currently based in Brussels, where he was born. His work challenges the conventions of documentary photography by exploring theatricality, performativity and collaboration within documentary and photojournalism, made visible through the explicit use of cinematic lighting and staging in a documentary context. Photography, for Pinckers, is a speculative gesture that involves more than the mere representation of external realities. His approach to reality and truth is plural and malleable, open to articulation in different ways. His works take shape as self-published artist books and exhibition installations such as The Fourth Wall (2012), Will They Sing Like Raindrops or Leave Me Thirsty (2014), Margins of Excess (2018), Red Ink (2018) and State of Emergency (2024). Amongst the international awards received by Pinckers are the Edward Steichen Award Luxembourg 2015 and the Leica Oskar Barnack Award 2018. He has had solo-exhibitions at FOMU Antwerp, Palazzo Madama in Torino, Belfast Exposed, and BOZAR in Brussels, among others, and has participated in over 130 group exhibitions since 2008. He is co-founder of the independent publishing imprint Lyre Press and The School of SpeculativeDocumentary. Pinckers is a Doctor in the Arts and a guest lecturer at the School of Arts/KASK in Ghent, and is represented by Gallery Sofie Van de Velde in Antwerp and Tristan Lund in London.
Sign up here for workshop with Max Pinckers
Please note that for this event the access is limited and a previous registration is necessary.
After the submission of your data we will send you a confirmation by e-mail. This e-mail also includes the bank information for the transfer of the workshop fee. Your payment should reach our account fourteen days before the start of the workshop and is necessary for the participation. In the event of your absence without prior notice of at least 14 days we can unfortunately not refund the fee of the workshop.
With your registration you will confirm that you have read and understood the PRIVACY POLICY of Fotografie Forum Frankfurt.
Do not hesitate to contact us by e-mail at anmeldung@fffrankfurt.org or telephone at +49 (0) 69 291726 if you have any questions regarding workshop schedule, registration or payment.
Thank you for your registration. We will contact you shortly.
FOTOGRAFIE FORUM FRANKFURT
The Fotografie Forum Frankfurt (FFF) is one of the leading centres of photography in Europe. As an exhibition space, institution and event forum the FFF deals with all types and aspects of photography. Since its founding in 1984 it has presented more than 300 exhibitions with historic and contemporary artists. Additionally, the programme of the FFF comprises of regular workshops, talks and discussions with internationally renowned photographers, artists and experts.
