Future Memories at the Rijksmuseum: Reflections on Visual Culture and Photographic Responsibility

Lebohang Kganye in conversation with John Fleetwood

On Wednesday, 14 May 2025, the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam hosted Future Memories, an international symposium that delved into the shifting landscape of photojournalism and documentary photography. Moderated by Photo:’s Director, John Fleetwood, the event brought together photographers, curators, academics, and cultural practitioners from across the globe to reflect on the evolving responsibility of image-makers in shaping how we remember the past, experience the present, and imagine the future.

Framed around three central themes—visual conventions, contemporary practice, and the future of photography—the symposium explored how recurring photographic tropes have constructed a shared visual language, and questioned whether this language is truly universal. From the depiction of suffering to the idealization of innocence, the sessions traced how these visual codes have been canonized across media, archives, exhibitions, and platforms.

One of the day’s highlights was a keynote address by South African artist Lebohang Kganye, whose work stands at the intersection of personal memory and collective history. In her deeply evocative practice, Kganye weaves family archives, oral histories, and theatrical storytelling into complex visual narratives that interrogate absence, belonging, and the role of photography in shaping identity. Her use of silhouettes, cutouts, and layered photographic installations blurs the line between fiction and memory, reminding us that photographs are not static documents, but active agents in the construction of history.

Kganye’s work resonated profoundly with the symposium’s core questions. By centring familial and local narratives often excluded from dominant histories, she challenges the idea of a singular, objective visual truth. Her keynote underscored the potential of photography not just to reflect the world, but to reimagine it—offering counter-archives that make space for nuance, memory, and multiplicity.

John Fleetwood in conversation with Tina Farifteh and Kadir van Lohuizen

The symposium closed with an open dialogue between speakers and the audience, reinforcing the importance of collaboration and conversation in rethinking photographic futures. Attendees were also invited to explore current exhibitions at the museum, including Carrie Mae Weems: Painting the Town and American Photography—further deepening the day’s discussions on representation, race, and the politics of the image.

As photography continues to navigate new terrains—technological, ethical, and epistemological—events like Future Memories offer critical space to question, remember, and imagine. We’re proud to have been part of this important conversation and extend our thanks to the Rijksmuseum for hosting a gathering that champions reflection, responsibility, and care in visual storytelling.

This event was made possible through the support of the Vincent Mentzel Foundation.

4 June 2025