Atlas Lab Masterclass Reframing Reality — Documentary, Fiction, and the Politics of Representation | Lead Instructors: Max Pinckers & Yumi Goto

■ Overview
This masterclass is a special edition of Atlas Lab, an experimental workshop series organized by Reminders Photography Stronghold. We are pleased to welcome photographer and researcher Max Pinckers, known for his critical inquiry into the boundaries between reality, construction, direction, and documentation in photography, as well as Yumi Goto, who has long supported socially rooted, long-term photographic projects through editing, mentoring, and curatorial practice.
Max’s approach questions the assumptions of photographic “truth” and documentary reliability by intentionally embracing performance, fiction, and conceptual framing. In contrast, Yumi brings a deep engagement with personal narratives, historical memory, and the ethics of visual storytelling. Their combined perspectives aim to reconfigure the relationships between image-making and witnessing, authorship and storytelling, fact and imagination.
Participants will be invited to work on their ongoing photographic projects through the lens of editing, narrative structure, authorial position, and the ethics of representation, engaging in group discussions and one-on-one sessions with both instructors.
Over the course of five days, the first two sessions will involve lectures by the instructors, followed by project presentations by participants. Through both group and individual feedback, each participant will clarify their conceptual goals and reshape the structure of their project. The final three days will be devoted to further development, feedback, and re-presentation of the work, with personal consultations held with both Max and Yumi.
Rather than aiming for polished final outcomes, this masterclass offers a space for thoughtful reflection, experimental composition, and reframing of questions at the core of your practice. It is designed for artists who are open to feedback, motivated to engage critically, and committed to advancing their project with intention and care.

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■ Schedule
December 8 (Mon) & 9 (Tue), 2025 + December 16 (Tue) to 18 (Thu) [Total: 5 days]
※ Detailed daily schedule will be shared only with selected participants.

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■ Venue
Reminders Photography Stronghold, Tokyo (2-38-5 Higashi-Mukojima, Sumida-ku, Tokyo.)

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■ Lead Instructors
・Max Pinckers
・Yumi Goto (Reminders Photography Stronghold / RPS)

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■ Who Should Apply
・Photographers or artists working on documentary- or research-based photographic projects
・Those seeking to critically develop and restructure a work-in-progress
・Artists of any background or experience level are welcome, as long as they are actively working on a project and open to deep engagement and experimentation

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■ Maximum Participants
・Up to 12 participants (subject to selection).
・In case of high application volume, participants will be selected based on submitted materials.
・Selected participants will be notified by email

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■ Fee
75,000 JPY (tax included: 82,500 JPY)

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■ Language
・The masterclass will primarily be conducted in English.
・If a majority of participants are Japanese speakers, the sessions may be accompanied by interpretation.
・In past editions, we have welcomed mixed-language groups, and participants often make flexible use of translation apps or interpretation tools as needed.
・English communication is preferred but not strictly required—language is rarely an obstacle to meaningful participation.

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■ Requirements
Applicants should:
・Bring their own laptop
・Be able to use basic image editing software such as Photoshop or Lightroom
・Prepare their project materials (photo prints, layouts, notes, etc.) in advance
・Adobe InDesign or other DTP software is not mandatory, but those who are familiar with it are encouraged to use it
・Be open-minded and receptive to differing perspectives and suggestions as they develop their work

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■ Structure (tentative)
・Day 1: Lectures by the instructors; wall presentations by participants

・Day 2: Group critique and one-on-one feedback sessions; redefinition of project structure and focus

・Midweek: One-week period for self-directed project development

・Final 3 Days: Continued feedback, refinement, and final presentations
　※ Each participant will receive individual sessions with both instructors (approx. 20 min × 2)

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■ How to Apply
・Please complete the following Google Form to submit your application.
・Application deadline: Saturday, October 12, 2025, at 11:59 PM (JST)*

＊If the form does not display correctly, use the following link : https://forms.gle/u8hekGcEiL9fBy24A

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ABOUT INSTRUCTORS |
Max Pinckers (b.1988, BE) grew up in Indonesia, India, Australia and Singapore, and is currently based in Brussels, where he was born. His work challenges the conventions of documentary photography by exploring theatricality, performativity and collaboration within documentary and photojournalism, made visible through the explicit use of cinematic lighting and staging in a documentary context. Photography, for Pinckers, is a speculative gesture that involves more than the mere representation of external realities. His approach to reality and truth is plural and malleable, open to articulation in different ways. Extensive research and teamwork are combined with improvisation to obtain lively, unexpected, critical, simultaneously poetic and documentary images. His works take shape as self-published artist books and exhibition installations such as The Fourth Wall (2012), Will They Sing Like Raindrops or Leave Me Thirsty (2014), Margins of Excess (2018), Red Ink (2018) and State of Emergency (2024). Pinckers is a Doctor in the Arts and a guest lecturer at the School of Arts/KASK in Ghent. He has received multiple international awards, such as the Edward Steichen Award Luxembourg 2015 and the Leica Oskar Barnack Award 2018. Pinckers is co-founder of the independent publishing imprint Lyre Press and The School of Speculative Documentary. He is represented by Gallery Sofie Van de Velde in Antwerp and Tristan Lund in London.
https://www.maxpinckers.be/