Pride Photo is furious: on the night of May 3rd to 4th, 2022 the exhibition ‘Celebrating the Unseen’ of Pride Photo in Vlissingen was damaged irreparably. Five panels were sprayed with red and green graffiti. It concerns the works of photographers Prins de Vos, Robert Siegelman, CrazinisT artisT, Robert Coombs, and David Těšínský.

“It is not vandalism, but motivated destruction on purpose. For me, it proves the right of existence and the necessity of our exhibition” says Hein-Jan Keijzer, director of Pride Photo. “With this exhibition, we want to make people think about diversity and start a discussion. We also do this with some controversial photos. I understand that they provoke reactions from people who think differently. I would love to have a substantive discussion with them. But this demolition is absolutely not part of that debate. We are very angry! I would like to call on those who were brave enough to do this to come forward and talk to us.“

For Pride Photo it is again clear why the visibility of the Queer community is so desperately needed. Why we need to fight for more straight allies, why Pride is necessary, and why Pride Photo should continue with this exhibition that can be seen all year round in all provinces of the Netherlands. It should be safe to do so.

HELP TO REPLACE THE PICTURES

Pride Photo is determined to continue with the national tour of the 2022 exhibition, which will travel throughout the Netherlands until the end of December. After Vlissingen, the destroyed panels need to be replaced. The foundation is not insured for the costs of this. Therefore, people are asked to make a contribution to make this possible, so the photos can be shown in the rest of the Netherlands as well.