Photography is undergoing a period of radical change: digitalisation, artificial intelligence and computational photography are transforming the way images are created and the claims they can still make to truth. At the same time, a counter-movement is emerging – a conscious return to traditional, analogue techniques as a counterpoint to algorithmically produced and AI-generated visual worlds. This tension between technological acceleration and a return to analogue forms lies at the heart of the project.

Participants are free to choose their own methods: from traditional camera-based photography through digital photography and generative techniques to 3D photography, video, performance and interactive media. The starting point in each case is a question formulated by the student themselves, which is addressed in a practical manner over the course of the semester – accompanied by image-theoretical perspectives on authenticity, the politics of the image and the epistemic consequences of AI-based images.

Workshop discussions and interim presentations serve to facilitate the exchange of ideas and critical discussion of the works in progress.

Third-semester students on the foundational project 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.