Queer Havens Workshop & Portfolio Day

INTRO

This special programme explores the subject of Queer Havens—the complex interplay of safety and danger, resilience and joy within the LGBTQIA+ community. Through photography, visual archives, and speculative storytelling, we reflect on how queer spaces are created, remembered, and reimagined.

Presented in collaboration between Pride Photo and World Press Photo, the day features two powerful talks: Samira Damato, Artistic Director of Pride Photo, explores how queering the archive can reclaim erased histories and challenge dominant narratives through visual culture. Mackenzie Calle, award-winning visual storyteller, shares her acclaimed project The Gay Space Agency, imagining queer futures in space and reshaping visibility in traditionally exclusive domains.The lecture programme is free, but registration is required through a short application process. Due to limited capacity, we want to ensure that those attending will truly benefit from and contribute to the experience.

REGISTER HERE

In the afternoon, a special ticketed portfolio session offers participants a unique opportunity to engage directly with these curators and artistic voices. This is a rare chance to receive feedback, share work, and connect around queer storytelling and photographic practice. To gain access to this opportunity, register to the free special programme.

Join us for a day of dialogue, reflection, and creative exchange at the intersection of queerness and visual culture.

PROGRAMME

10:00 – 11:00 

Queering the Archive: A Glance Back on General Archives
Samira Damato

From the haunting legacy of coded symbols to the tender revelations hidden in forgotten private archives, Pride Photo’s Artistic Director Samira Damato delves into what it means to queer an archive. Spanning decades of photography, this talk traces patterns and recurring themes within the medium to explore how ‘queer photography’ might be understood — not just as a genre, but as a lens through which to read history and identity.

At its core, the presentation questions what an archive really is, and what dangers it can hold — in what it preserves, and in what it silences. It also proposes alternative approaches to genuinely queering the archive: how we might reclaim the past, challenge dominant narratives, and shape new, more inclusive futures.

Including a Q&A

Samira Damato Bio:

Samira Damato is a Maltese-German filmmaker, artist and curator living and working in Malta and the Netherlands. She graduated from the KABK in Fine Art, the Piet Zwart Institute with an MA in Lens-Based Media, and an MA in Cinema Theory and History from the University of Antwerp (BE). As a curator, she has developed and curated exhibitions for the World Press Photo foundation, NOOR Images, PhotoSaintGermain (FR), MAXXI (IT) and non-profits such as Greenpeace (SEA), Friends of the Earth (MT/NL) and Here to Support (NL). She is artistic director of Pride Photo and guest lecturer in photography at the KABK, NL.

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11:30 – 12:30
The Gay Space Agency, Mackenzie Calle

Join us for an inspiring lecture by acclaimed visual storyteller Mackenzie Calle, as she delves into her groundbreaking project The Gay Space Agency—a bold and imaginative exploration of queerness, representation, and space travel. Celebrated for its visionary narrative and striking visual language, The Gay Space Agency made history as the first project to win both the Pride Photo Award and the World Press Photo Contest.

In this talk, Calle will share the creative process behind her work, how she built a fictional agency to reimagine LGBTQ+ futures in space, and what it means to carve out queer visibility in historically exclusive domains. With a blend of documentary practice and speculative fiction, her work challenges norms and opens dialogue about identity, inclusion, and the cosmos.

This is more than a lecture—it’s a journey through art, activism, and the infinite possibilities of queer imagination.

Including a Q&A

Mackenzie Calle Bio:

Mackenzie Calle is a photographer from Southern California, currently based in Brooklyn. She grew up as an athlete who was passionate about science and television, which led her to NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts where she majored in Cinema Studies and was a member of the school’s volleyball team. For over five years she worked for NBCUniversal as a photo producer, editor, and photographer across networks including NBC, Bravo, MSNBC, CNBC, and NBC News.

In 2021 she was awarded the Director’s Fellowship to attend the Documentary Photography and Visual Journalism program at the International Center of Photography. Later that year, she began The Gay Space Agency, which reckons with the history of NASA astronauts and the LGBTQ+ community. The project was recently awarded the Magnum Foundation Counter Histories grant and was shortlisted for the PhMuseum Women Photographers Grant.

REGISTER HERE

How to Attend

The lecture programme is free of charge, but registration is required via a short application process. As spaces are extremely limited—with only 20 participants admitted—we want to ensure this intimate setting brings together individuals who will both benefit from and contribute meaningfully to the experience.

To apply, you’ll be asked to answer two brief questions:

1. What is your relationship to photography?
   
2. Why do you feel this programme would benefit you?

We’re looking for a diverse group of attendees who are passionate about visual storytelling and engaged in exploring themes of identity, community, and representation. Whether you’re an emerging photographer, a student, or simply someone with a deep interest in queer visual culture, we encourage you to apply.

Those selected to join will be notified ahead of the event. We appreciate your understanding as we work to create a space that is focused, impactful, and genuinely enriching for all involved.

Portfolio review 

15h-17:15h Portfolio reviews

An exclusive opportunity for photographers working with queer themes and visual storytelling

As part of this special programme, we are offering a bespoke portfolio review session tailored specifically for photographers and visual storytellers engaging with queer themes, identities, and narratives. This is a rare opportunity to receive focused, one-on-one feedback from leading voices in the field—professionals who are deeply invested in supporting and advancing queer visual culture.

The reviews will be conducted by four respected experts working across photography, curation, and storytelling:

• Zindzi Zwietering (Director, Pride Photo)
  
• Raphael Diaz de Silva (Curator, World Press Photo)
  
• Samira Damato (Artistic Director, Pride Photo)
  
• Mackenzie Calle (Photographer, The Gay Space Agency)

Each participant will have a dedicated 15-minute review slot with one of the reviewers. This is a chance to present your work, discuss your ideas and approaches, and receive meaningful, practical guidance on how to elevate your practice—whether you’re refining a project, exploring new directions, or seeking visibility and mentorship.

These sessions are especially valuable for artists working on or developing queer photographic narratives, offering direct engagement with professionals from world-renowned institutions who are actively shaping the future of inclusive visual storytelling.

Please note: The portfolio reviews require a separate ticket, and spaces are limited. Register to the free Special Programme to gain access to portfolio review sessions. 

20:30 

Ketelhuis Queer

Join us for a unique evening in which we celebrate queer communities and stories! During the opening weekend of the exhibition Queer Havens, World Press Photo, Pride Photo and Roze Filmdagen are hosting a special Queer Film Night at the Ketelhuis

Find out more at the Ketelhuis

Supported by Pictoright Fund.