“Being a Docker is great for your creativity. Besides all the great workshops and inspiring people you meet that help you with your work, it sometimes feels like being in your childhood again. I’m living in a small treehouse and I’m outside constantly. When you’re home there’s always something else to do. Here your mind is free to be inspired.
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“You could say that I’m some sort of activist that tries to get the word out to the right people. And I’d like to do that over and over again with every story that I think is important to be seen or heard. Being part of Docking Station helps me to realise this by meeting people who can generate more awareness about the project.”

“What makes Docking Station special is this idea of connecting you with people that can help you and your project in the stage you’re in. You really build a network of people that are eagerly motivated to help you move the work forward
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“It’s been a great, unforgettable and recreational period with Docking Station. Loads of wonderful expert meetings, ideas, new opportunities, experiences and places. The residency taught me to be more pro-active when approaching experts in the field. Instead of waiting for doors to open I started to knock on them. I gained an incredible network and it also reminded me of how beneficial networking is and how forming one contact can lead to another.”

“As a photographer, my main passion lies in the act of creating the work. But in the end, we don´t make it to have it sitting in our archives collecting dust. We want it out there, the story to be told, the work to be shown. And I am, like I suspect many of my peers are, pretty bad at doing what needs to be done after the work is finished. My stay here has been a huge help in navigating the world of magazines, festivals, curators, galleries and publishers. I have made great contacts and received more feedback and help than I could have hoped for.”

“Docking Station is a rare and unique sort of residency, designed to maximise meetings with possible collaborators and supporters of the artist’s project. This residency is very valuable particularly for us practitioners working far away from the centres of creative production in the world. The open-ness of the Dutch creative scene, blurring the lines between art, photograpic, film, performance and journalistic practices is a welcome breath of fresh air. ”

“My docking experience was a super intense one - I had meetings almost everyday, which was great since every expert was somehow moving the project one step forward conceptually. It was a very inspiring time, and Docking Station did a great job in curating the people to meet - all experts who have worked on topics I could very much relate too. I’m sure the project will take a completely new direction after this experience - which is, i guess, the best can happen to an ongoing body of work.”

““The residency at Docking Station was truly inspiring. My time was filled with meeting various people who shared their knowledge and helped to move my story forward. I received a lot of food for thought which I was able to digest while living at the Docking Hub next to the river IJ and while being in a culturally rich place like Amsterdam. I am grateful for the attention and generosity of Marga and Anaïs; they made me feel at home.””

“The way in which Marga and Anais share their extraordinary resourcefulness with emerging storytellers makes Docking Station a truly beautiful initiative. I’m so grateful that I was invited to stay at the Docking Hub in Amsterdam, where I met with Dutch experts and, furthermore, had the privilege to join Docking Station at Krakow
Photomonth (Poland). There I continued my working period while also participating as an exhibiting artist of this great festival. This made it very accessible for me to test-case my work to fellow artists, as well as other experts in the field. I made some great contacts that I’m sure will impact my work in the time to come, and I returned with buckets of energy and motivation to continue my work!
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“My Docking Station experience was an intense one. Marga and Anais were amazing; they brought in their network, understanding and expertise for the advancement of my project.
I was touched by the generosity of the experts’ willingness to devote time to understanding my project and proposing pertinent possibilities. The experts were curators, writers, editors, and policy makers, and they all had concrete contributions regarding how to tackle the project as well as its eventual dissemination. I hope to see the project go off in a multitude of very interesting directions henceforth, and that all goes back to the unlocking of potential that is ingrained in the very essence of this very special program that is the Docking Station.
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“ ‘Docking Station is a great platform for moving your project forward, improving your skills and gaining new knowledge for your development as a storyteller and artist. From now on, elements of the Docking Station experience will be reflected in each new project that I create.’”

“My time at Docking Station was essential in order to deconstruct all my preconceived concepts about storytelling. I went to them with an open mind, ready to gather as many ideas and perspectives from the experts as possible. This experience made me question and rethink my project and practice. I am sure that it has given me the tools to tell stories in a richer and deeper way.”

“Being an independent photographer is often a bumpy road; it is difficult to find other professionals to share ideas and to receive productive critique on one’s work, as well as the time to do that oneself. Docking Station offered exactly that, for which I’m very grateful. I believe the lessons learned were essential for the development of this project.”

“My time as Docker #2 was filled with wonderful and unique experiences. It was a great balance between professional meetings with industry experts where I gained valuable insight I will take forward and apply to my project, alongside culturally immersing myself within the city and creative spaces!”

“‘’I love this beautiful idea of the Docking Station: helping photographers from around the world to develop their projects and make them seen, with the help of professionals from various industries in the Netherlands. For me, this month was a very useful and insightful experience; I worked on a project consisting of both photography, texts, objects and videos. With the help of the people I met, I properly organised this material and the idea behind it, and finally I prepared a strong installation of the project with Ffotogallery in Cardiff later that year.’’ ”

“By providing a dedicated time, space and team of field experts, the Docking Station residency was a rare and special opportunity to devote nonstop energy to advancing and deepening the scope and intentions of my long-term personal project ‘Love From Manenberg’. I can’t wait to get to work on the ideas that were generated during my time as a Docker.”

“ “The experts I have met, are very interesting and professional.
Since 2015 I am working on my project about the female Kurdish fighters and besides several portfolio meetings,
I can say that my time at Docking Station has truly been and will be very important
for the development of my work. I haven’t had so much effective input and inspiring meetings so far.
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“‘’My experience as a Docker will always be an important reference point for me. It was my first visit to the Netherlands and I was given tailored access to the Docking Station network, meeting with Dutch professionals in different fields that would push my project and overall practice to the next level. As an international artist, I learnt that it is possible for me to use the world as a platform for my work and to create opportunities for myself.””

“My time at the Docking station went fast as it was filled with a meeting almost every day. It has been a great pleasure meeting all the inspiring experts. I gained a lot of valuable input for my project from various sides - artists, curators, gallerists and people with superpowers as well. I was delighted about the selection Docking station made for me, as they make a strong effort to make the best fit for both sides.”

““The residency at Docking Station was wonderful. It allowed me to get acquainted with a lot of people both connected with and outside the photography world and that enabled me to look at my project in a new way. During the meetings, we were able to find the focus in my topic. I realised that I need to work harder and harder to get my story out there. Throughout my time with Docking Station, I was able to completely focus on my project and that was very valuable to me. It was amazing.””

“I’m truly grateful to Marga and Anais for inviting me to spend almost a month at the Docking Hub in Amsterdam, and for organizing all sorts of meetings for me to discuss my work. When explaining my work to different profiles, I was confronted with a lot of perspectives and questions, which created a great opportunity for me to step out and find a new balance. All the experiences and thoughts that were shared helped me a lot in finding my centre again; I returned full of energy and with the motivation to evolve the work and extend my path.
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“Docking Station is a great platform for photographers and to me it functioned not only as an opportunity to broaden my network, but also as a platform that connects
stories to an audience in a mindful way. The location of the Docking Hub is amazing. My stay in this tiny house enabled me to experience it as a temporary shelter, which connects so well to my story about the massive tsunami that hit my hometown in 2011. The people in Onagawa have lived in similar shelters for six years after the tsunami disaster. The Netherlands has also suffered from floods in the past and has a history of restoration; that’s why I felt more urgency to share my project with the Dutch. Docking Station really helped me connect with all kinds of experts in and outside the world of photography so that my story is now more powerful. I will never forget this special time in Amsterdam.
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“My time at Docking Station opened my eyes to my subject and theme, allowing me to find new ways of telling my story. The process helped me simplify my complicated story so that I could start constructing a complex narrative in a more organised way.

I received very thoughtful feedback from different perspectives and from there, I developed the presentation and brought it to the next meetings. This training helped me to identify the strong aspects of my project and to understand how to organise a storyline.

It was also important for me to meet experts who are in the same domain, with different specialisations, who have similar passions and concerns. Before, I felt isolated in my country, but now I’m part of community of people who encourage each other to pursue this subject.

Docking Station gave me wonderful experiences and allowed me to step forward to the next phase. Thank you very much, Marga and Anais! ”

“It was an intense residency! It was all about work, with lovely and helpful people and Anais and Marga were super cool hosts. It is really nice and sometimes overwhelming to see people investing their time in understanding my story and also giving valuable suggestions. I can without a doubt say that I have learned a lot from the residency with Docking Station. I am also very grateful to Docking Station and Webster University Leiden Campus for organizing a small research show of my project during my stay. ”