The Believers in
Fotogalerie De Gang – Haarlem
The Believers
3 October – 30 November 2025
Fotogalerie De Gang
Grote Vermaning
Frankestraat 24
2011 HV Haarlem
‘The Believers shows how deep the human need to belong is, and how faith—religious or digital—remains a force that defines our existence.’
In The Believers, photographer and filmmaker Geert van Kesteren explores what gives people a sense of grounding. Filmed in Israel and Palestine—the cradle of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—he shows how ancient rituals and myths still guide believers today, while drawing parallels with our digital age, where faith shifts to the cloud, data, and algorithms.
For Fotogalerie De Gang, the original video installation (commissioned by BredaPhoto, produced by Forhanna, 2018) has been reimagined as an intimate photo presentation around four themes: Worship, Sacrifice, Bliss, and Control.
Geert van Kesteren (1966) worked for many years as a photojournalist for Newsweek and Stern. He published the acclaimed books Why Mister, Why? and Baghdad Calling on the war in Iraq.
His work has received numerous international awards and has been exhibited in major museums worldwide. Van Kesteren lives and works in Jaffa–Tel Aviv.
In this short film – underneath – Geert van Kesteren helps you better understand the scope and quality of this project.
Photography in the Culture Monitor
Forhanna is pleased to share an important development. Thanks to the research and report Photography and the Culture Monitor, made possible in part by Forhanna’s support, the Boekman Foundation has, for the first time, explicitly included photography in its annual report on the cultural sector.
This is good news: it increases the visibility and recognition of photography as a fully-fledged discipline within the Dutch cultural landscape. The report highlights the importance of multi-year data collection and supports the recommendation by researcher Marc Prüst that the photography sector must—and can—play an active role in this process.
There is a clear opportunity and challenge for the sector: to collaborate more, share knowledge, and invest in structural insights. This paves the way for sustainable growth and recognition.
You can read more about the findings on the Culture Monitor website
Tina Farifteh at BredaPhoto Festival
In the autumn of 2024, BredaPhoto transformed the city of Breda into a grand stage for photography and video art. International top photographers and emerging talents presented their vision on the theme Journeys. This theme encompassed both physical journeys—such as the search for a new home or freedom—and psychological and spiritual journeys, such as discovering one’s identity or a new purpose in life.
Among the 50 photographers and artists sharing their stories was Tina Farifteh.
Tina was supported in the realization of her project by Forhanna. With her latest work Tina in Sexbierum, produced by Prospector, she took us on a journey through her search for a new home in the Frisian village along the Sedyk—an impressive total experience of video and light art.
Prüst presents
Edit your story
Forhanna had a successful evening at Pakhuis de Zwijger on June 26. Marc Prüst presented his new booklet, emphasizing the importance of editing photos into a series to tell a story, with a focus on consistency, coherent style, and narrative continuity. This book offers a method for editing photo series and identifies eleven different storytelling formats.
Edit your story is now available to everyone.
Visual by Xiaoxiao Xu
Aeronautics in the backyard
Bahram Sadeghi interviewed Jacqueline Dersjant, who practices memorial photography in a unique way. Journalist Irene van der Linde, who traveled through Europe with Nicole Segers, clearly explained how she maintains a narrative line and structure in her creations.
Curator Daria Tuminas discussed the power of storytelling and how to approach it differently than in books. Teun van der Heijden, the renowned designer, guided the audience through his method of evaluating projects and turning them into inspiring books.
You can buy the booklet here and watch the program in Pakhuis de Zwijger.
Visual Story webinar #16
‘The Book Of Veles’
In edition 16 we discuss ‘The Book Of Veles’ by Jonas Bendiksen, and how this photographer tackled the issue of ‘fake news’ by creating his version of the story he found in the town of Veles.
Project updates
Forhanna supports visual stories
Forhanna was founded by Dutch documentary photographer Willem Poelstra.
About us
We invest in projects and offer intensive support to help makers find their full potential.
