Post-Photography

During the past decade digital transformation has directly or indirectly inspired the development of new study programmes at the Lucerne School of Art and Design. Encouraging digital competence and reflecting on the creative and societal implications of technological change are now key aims of the institution. Post-photography emerged as a central topic in that process. But what exactly does the school mean when it uses the term? Is it photography for the electronic age, where digital technology transforms, intensifies and expands photography, or does it include all self-interrogation of photographic practices? Does it imply the dominance of metadata over the experience of the image? Is it image or information? Is there any intrinsic link between the post-photographic and post-truth? Do we need new concepts for visual literacy?

Post-photography has been evoked to address a growing range of phenomena. It remains equivocal and will often leave us confused; there’s too much in the term 'post-photography' and too little. But that’s not so bad after all. This publication maps social, political and aesthetic perspectives on post-photography that have gained ground in various working contexts at the institution and in the related art and design activities of the school.