our story

Moving visual stories forward

Docking Station is a platform where visual stories from different cultures find a form. We do this by charging them with knowledge and then, in co-creation with Dutch creators, turning them into concrete products. In this way, the stories can be more widely shared, and thereby contribute to a more conscious society.

With us, international photographers work on socially urgent photo stories and moor to our rich network. Our photographers work on beautiful and relevant stories, but often miss the connection and development opportunities needed to take their project to a higher level. The result is that the public never gets to see their work. Docking Station is a platform that brings international photographers (we call them our “Dockers”) into contact with Dutch makers, an expert network, and the public. The visual stories of our Dockers question the world around us from within, and by using the power of artistic imagination, they seduce us into looking at and reflecting on our own role and contribution. In this way, their stories offer the public a new window onto the world.

We grow the stories of our Dockers and develop them into products. The online product is our website Far Away – Up Close where we embed the interactive stories of our Dockers. We do this because we have noticed that there is a shortage of layered stories at the intersection of photography/visual art and socially relevant and urgent themes. We see the subjects of our Dockers in the news on a daily basis, but the news is mainly negative or too one-sided. Our Dockers give that layered look from the inside and know how to portray it through their artistic sensibilities. This contributes to bringing stories closer, whereby the public is moved and becomes engaged, and discussion is stimulated.

We work across sectors because this not only provides new points of view for our Dockers, but also, and most importantly, for the public. The photographers are nominated by our ambassadors—talent scouts associated with leading international institutes and museums—and we have a community of enthusiastic experts who generously share their knowledge with our Dockers.

In Amsterdam we have a small mobile pavilion on wheels (our Story Station) where our Dockers live and work. This pavilion functions also as a small theatre stage for their stories. For this stage we brought their stories to an audio-visual product, which will be performed in front of a live audience.

So, to be short; all of our activities focus on taking you on a journey around the world in which our visual stories make you look at the world in a different way, contributing to a more conscious society.