Photography is undergoing a period of radical change: digitalisation, artificial intelligence and computational photography are fundamentally altering how images are created, what is considered photographic, and what claims to truth they can still make. In this course, students will engage with this transformation both through practical, artistic exploration and through reflective, theoretical analysis.

At the heart of the course is the observation that whilst many students are intensively engaged with new photographic technologies, a counter-movement is simultaneously emerging: a conscious return to classical, analogue processes as a counterpoint to algorithmically produced and AI-generated visual worlds. This tension between technological acceleration and a return to analogue forms the core of the course’s content.

Participants are free to choose their own media and may address current themes in visual culture or develop their own photographic inquiries – ranging from traditional camera-based photography through digital and generative techniques to 3D photography and hybrid imaging techniques. The practical work is framed by image-theoretical and media-critical perspectives on authenticity, indexicality, the politics of the image and the epistemic consequences of AI-based images without sensory reference.
The projects are developed as ongoing processes, accompanied by discussions and workshop sessions. The starting point in each case is a question formulated by the student themselves, which is addressed practically over the course of the semester. Interim presentations serve to facilitate the exchange of ideas and critical discussion of the works in progress.

Students on the foundational project in their third semester receive a comprehensive introduction to independent project work, theoretical and practical guidance to get them started, and an overview of previously successful interdisciplinary photographic projects.