The Mid-Air exhibition gives access to the creative minds behind a visionary approach to editorial photography.
Amsterdam’s Foam museum presents Mid-Air, the first major solo exhibition for Dutch photography duo Blommers & Schumm. Known to walk the delicate tightrope between editorial imagery and fine art, the pair have built a collaborative portfolio of whimsical still lifes, combining high fashion with the downright obscure.
After meeting nearly thirty years ago at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy, Anuschka Blommers and Niels Schumm have carved their own genre of mind-melding fashion photography. Their clients include major designers Versace, Gucci, Hermés and Chanel, as well as publications such as Self Service, Purple, and The New York Times Magazine. They also featured in Mission Magazine’s Women of Today issue, incorporating their uncanny style of visual experimentation.
The philosophy at the very centre of their work: expect the unexpected. Mid-Air invites visitors into the pair’s history of image-making. The exhibition title perfectly encapsulates the elusive quality of their work, sitting at the transient space between the real and the unreal. In Falling glas, a half-full glass of water teeters on the edge of the desk, a snapshot taken in the milliseconds between order and chaos. A man’s face is constructed amongst the carefully constructed clutter in David wearing bodega Veneta, a playful lesson in the power of perception.
Each image in the exhibition demands a second glance, then a third and a fourth. There’s delight in their delirium, as Blommer & Schumm ask us to look deeper, to question our initial instincts and see the world through a new lens. The rules of space and time become malleable – a headless model, a defiance of gravity – without a reliance upon digital effects.
Alongside Mid-Air, the pair have eight pieces in Foam’s permanent collection, and previously participated in the gallery’s travelling group exhibition Still/Life: Dutch Contemporary Photography. Their work transitions effortlessly from the glossy pages of editorial publications to the walls of the exhibition space.
The exhibition coincides with the release of More, an archive of their joint career and artistry. Published by Roma Publications, the book traverses the duo’s creative history, from commissioned works to autonomous art pieces. More will be available to purchase at Foam throughout the duration of the exhibition.
Blommers & Schumm – Mid Air opens from 20 September 2025 and runs until 23 February 2026.
Homepage banner image: left Ciara, styling by Suzanne Koller, 1998 and right Jana for Agenda Magazine, styling by Danielle van Camp, 2024. Homepage image: Falling glas, 1997. Inside page images from left to right: David wearing bodega Veneta for Middle plane magazine, David Hockney special, 2022, Josefina wearing Bless, styling Georgia Pendlebury for Exhibition Magazine, 2018 and L’escar go Gourmand magazine, 2012. (No animals were harmed during this shoot) all imagery by © Blommers & Schumm.
