Lucas Foglia – Constant Bloom Foto museum Den Haag May 17, 2025 | September 28, 2025
Lucas Foglia – Constant Bloom
Photographer Lucas Foglia (1983) has transformed the world’s longest butterfly migration into a powerful metaphor for connection across international borders. For millions of years, Painted Lady butterflies have migrated between Africa, the Middle East, and Europe in search of blooming wildflowers. As climate change shifts when and where wildflowers bloom, these resilient butterflies increasingly rely on human-planted parks, farms, and gardens to survive. Constant Bloom weaves together the story of this delicate yet determined species with that of people, drawing poignant parallels between the butterflies and refugees who follow similar routes in search of safety and sustenance. The series offers a message of hope and resilience in the face of environmental and geopolitical uncertainty.
The world’s longest butterfly migration
The Painted Lady makes the longest migratory journey of any butterfly in the world. This phenomenon was recently discovered. Scientific research shows that in February, the butterflies begin migrating north from the African grasslands. They cross the Sahara and the Mediterranean and continue over the snowy Alps, as far as Scandinavia, before returning south in September. Driven by the search for blooming flowers, ten generations cover roughly 15,000 kilometres in stages. Each Painted Lady lives about five weeks and can fly up to 4,000 kilometres before its wings wear out. By laying eggs along the way, the next generation of butterflies can continue the journey. The Painted Lady is remarkably resilient, especially compared to other butterfly species. They adapt. In times of drought, they survive by relying on flowers grown by humans.
Allegory
At first glance, Constant Bloom appears to be a straightforward visual story of an impressive natural phenomenon: a butterfly species migrating between the south and the north in search of food. But the Painted Lady’s journey also reveals a more profound truth. Interwoven with images of butterflies are photographs of boats crossing the Mediterranean and of refugees who, often displaced by climate change, are forced to seek new lives far from home.
In Constant Bloom, The Painted Lady Butterfly becomes a symbol — not just of migration, but of survival and the search for home along a shared route. Through the story of this butterfly, Foglia helps us recognise profound connections between people and nature that transcend international borders.
Publication
The exhibition is accompanied by the book Constant Bloom, published by Nazraeli Press. Featuring 71 photographs, the book contains contributions by Willemijn van der Zwaan (curator at the Fotomuseum Den Haag) and scientists from the Worldwide Painted Lady Migration Project. The texts are in English, French and Arabic.
Lucas Foglia
Lucas Foglia (USA, 1983), a 2024 Guggenheim Fellow, makes photographic stories about people in nature. His prints are collected and exhibited internationally at institutions including the International Centre of Photography, Les Rencontres d’Arles, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and Victoria & Albert Museum. His sixth book, Constant Bloom, was just published by Nazraeli Press. His prints are available from galleries including Galerie Caroline O’Breen in Amsterdam, Robert Morat Galerie in Berlin, Galerie Peter Sillem in Frankfurt, Fredericks & Freiser Gallery in New York, and UP Gallery in Taiwan.
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Joanne Carter is a British photography journalist, editor, curator, and the founder of *TheAppWhisperer.com*, one of the world’s leading platforms dedicated to mobile photography and art. Since its launch in 2009, TheAppWhisperer has become an international hub for artists of all levels to discover, learn, exhibit, and engage with contemporary photographic practice.Built on principles of inclusivity, accessibility, and artistic excellence, Joanne has spent almost two decades championing mobile photography as a serious artistic medium. Through interviews, critical essays, exhibitions, competitions, and education, she has helped shape and document the evolution of mobile art on a global scale.Her work has taken her internationally, lecturing on photography and mobile art at institutions and events including the Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea, alongside appearances in the UK and Europe. She has served as a juror for international photography and mobile art awards across Portugal, Canada, the United States, South Korea, Italy, and the UK.Joanne is also the founder of *TheAppWhispererPrintSales.com*, one of the first online galleries dedicated exclusively to collectible mobile art, connecting artists with collectors across Europe, the United States, and Asia.Before founding TheAppWhisperer, Joanne worked extensively in print journalism and photographic publishing, including roles at a paparazzi photo agency and as deputy editor of a leading photography magazine. Her freelance journalism, criticism, and commentary have been published widely in both the UK and the US, with bylines in *The Times*, *The Sunday Times*, *The Guardian*, *Popular Photography*, *NikonPro*, *DPReview*, *Which?*, *Vogue Italia*, *LensCulture*, the *BBC*, and more recently, the *Financial Times*, where her published letters on photography continue to contribute to wider conversations around the medium.Alongside her editorial and curatorial work, Joanne’s own photographic practice has been exhibited internationally across the UK, Europe, South Korea, and the United States. Her work increasingly explores themes of grief, loss, death, memory, and the body.Her current research interests centre on grief, death, and poverty, with forthcoming postgraduate study leading towards doctoral research in these areas.Joanne is currently developing new long-form writing and photographic projects and is available for commissions, editorial projects, speaking engagements, and collaborations.Contact: joannetheappwhisperer@gmail.com)
