The 2nd International Photography Conference "Blurring the Lines"
“Blurring the Lines”, a project that was started in 2016 by Klaus Fruchtnis in collaboration with Steve Bisson, aims to promote students’ thesis research work, to get international recognition, and to contribute to an academic dialogue.
Photography education has come a long way over the years. Photography evolved from science to art in a century of existence, proving its artistic merit over great debates about its technicity and communication and transformation potential.
From the real to the virtual, new uses of the medium have quickly emerged, and multiple upheavals and problems accompanied them, like blurring of the boundaries between information, advertising, artistic creation and production, deregulation of markets, and industrial and economic logics. That shift mixes the productions of amateurs and professionals, and causes a profound change in the field.
In today’s world, where we are over-connected, subject to a constant flux of images, photography seems to be an attractive medium and a necessary field to engage a discussion on the features, advantages, limitations, and interrelations of photography education. Photography can help develop many skills and capacities, stimulating self-reflection and critical thinking, promoting creativity and personal sensitivity, social cohesion through collective reflection on society, encouraging tolerance and defense of humanism values, and fostering citizen expression.
The need for image-makers and experts to understand and participate in education systems’ evolution is more urgent than ever. In this context, this conference aims to bring together image-makers, educators, and experts to provide new perspectives and critically explore and interact with a possible classification, aimed at a better understanding and practical utilization.
Klaus Fruchtnis, Steve Bisson & ECC Team
Conference Committee
Program of the conference
Friday, November 27th, 2020
Panel discussions with winners, finalists, and curators
Saturday, November 28th, 2020
Part I Educational learning settings (Photography as an Educational System) moderated by Klaus Fruchtnis
9h45 Welcome – Photography and Education: Formal, Non-formal and Informal by Klaus Fruchtnis (Chair of Photography, Associate Dean of Graduate Studies at Paris College of Art)
10h00 The real Decisive Moment. Online Methodologies in Photography Education by Pedro Vicente (Director of the Master’s Degree in Photography at ELISAVA, Barcelona School of Design and Engineering and at SHIFTA Online School of Digital Makers, by Elisava)
10h20 New scenarios in image-making education. Is there anybody out there? by Steve Bisson (Urbanautica Institute, curator and publisher)
10h40 The End of the Line: How photographers become by John Fleetwood (Photography curator, educator, and director of Photo:)
11h00 Deconstructive Approach: The Educational Benefits of Contextualizing Photography by Lucas Pandolfo (Filmmaker and image-maker)
11h20 Photography pedagogical project in the Museum for Memory and Human Rights by María José Bello (Ph.D., Professor of film and audiovisual studies at the Universidad Austral de Chile)
11h40-12h30 Q&A
Part II Professional learning settings (Photography and Entrepreneurship) moderated by Steve Bisson
14h30 Launching of 2020 Blurring the Lines catalog
14h50 Case study: What opportunities can art institutions create to support upcoming talent? by Lisanne van Happen (Curator and head of talent development at FOTODOK)
15h10 Case study: European Cultural Centre: a platform for image-makers by Lucia Pedrana (Exhibition Organiser, Head of University Relations at the European Cultural Centre)
15h30 Case study: Abstraction, listening, and empathy by Jackie Neale (Artist photographer)
15h50 The empowering role of fine art photography by Rudi Bianchi (Photography collector)
16h10 Case study: How to expand an exhibition space into a laboratory of production and reflection by Katharina Kolakowski (Cultural manager at FotoForum)
16h30-17h Q&A