AMSTERDAM.- Foam announced that the 19th Foam Paul Huf Award goes to Myriam Boulos (1992, Lebanon). Boulos consistently elevates personal searching into something universally resonant, within the pressing context of war and political conflict within her home country of Lebanon. Her work shows how people who live outside dominant norms still manage to find one another within a social system that would rather render them invisible. As the winner of the award, she represents a new generation of visual storytellers who understand that the political is deeply personal—and that photography is far from a neutral observer; it is a vital, lived tool for resistance, reflection, and the visible claiming of the right to exist in all forms of identity.

A jury of five industry specialists reviewed the submissions of 95 artists, who had been brought forward by 24 international nominators. Myriam Boulos, nominated by nominated by both Munem Wasif (artist, curator at the Chobimela International Festival of Photography, and educator based in Bangladesh) and Lea Vene (cultural anthropologist and curator at Organ Vida, Croatia). Boulos is the first artist from the Middle East to receive the Foam Paul Huf Award.

The jury report states: “Myriam Boulos’ work is a powerful statement of personal agency and freedom amidst political tension, revolution and war. Her work speaks to the imagination of personal power and presence, reclaiming the image and redirecting repressive gazes toward the strength of inner desires and resistance.

We feel her presence in these images, where gentle interactions and encounters of vulnerability burst into power. We sense her deep connection to those she photographs. We feel her entanglement with the complexity of the situation. Ultimately, her work reveals intricate narratives that counter the violent public and private conventions in Lebanon with intimate fantasies, reminding us that photographs can also bear witness to our inner worlds— and that inner worlds can be a path to liberation. We look forward to her future exhibition at Foam!”

Myriam Boulos’ reaction: “It means everything to me to receive the Foam Paul Huf Award at a time when images denouncing violence are constantly gaslighted by the world. This documentation is a visual translation of how I have been navigating neurodivergence, sexual fantasies and Israel’s aggressions on Lebanon during the past 5 years. It is based on encounters I made to connect with people who are struggling too. Through personal stories, this work documents the intersectional oppression on our bodies and land. It attempts to give space for our emotions and to keep on looking for tenderness and desires instead of being defined by our normalized pain.”

Shortlist 2025

Muhammad Salah Abdulaziz, Soumya Sankar Bose, Myriam Boulos, Nanna Heitman, Amina Kadous and Zora J Murff.

The prize

Myriam Boulos will receive a cash prize of €20,000 and a solo exhibition at Foam in 2026. Boulos will see her name added to an impressive list of alumni. Previous winners include Vietnamese-born, Hamburg-based multimedia artist Hiền Hoàng (2024), Colombian artist Felipe Romero Beltrán (2023) and South-African artist Lebohang Kganye (2022).