200 Years and Counting . Marking the Anniversary of Photography

With guests from the fields of art, photography, and media studies, the event will explore the history and future of the medium: How is our understanding of images changing in an era shaped by artificial intelligence, digital infrastructures, and a flood of images?

In the context of the exhibition *The Lure of the Image*, the program explores the impact of AI on photography, visual culture, and society—from its history and relationship to photography to its ecological footprint.

Program

12:30

• Welcome by Sophia Greiff, Curator and Co-Program Director, C/O Berlin
• Language: English

1:00–2:00 p.m.

• Keynote
• The Metabolic Logic of AI Slop
• Kate Crawford . AI researcher and professor, University of Southern California
• Welcome Remarks Boaz Levin . Curator and Co-Program Director, C/O Berlin
• Language: English

1:00 p.m. (DE) / 2:00 p.m. (EN) / 3:00 p.m. (DE) / 4:00 p.m. (EN)

• Express Tours
• The Lure of the Image + Walter Schels . 16° Fische

3:00 PM–4:30 PM

• Panel Discussion
• Looking Back
• Michelle Henning . Artist and Professor of Photography and Media, University of Liverpool
• Susanne Kriemann . Artist and Professor
• Ryan S. Jeffery . Filmmaker and artist
• Moderator: Steffen Siegel . Professor of Theory and History of Photography, Folkwang University of the Arts
• Language: English

5:00–6:30 p.m.

• Panel Discussion
• Looking Forward
• Florian Ebner . Chief Curator of the Photography Collection at the Centre Pompidou, Paris / Annekathrin Kohout . Freelance writer and cultural studies scholar / Armin Linke . Artist
• Moderator: Anika Meier, writer and curator
• Language: German
• Workshop
• Adversarial Acts: Subversive Artistic Practices with AI
• Bruce Eesly . Artist
• Language: English

9:00 PM–11:00 PM

• Open-Air Short Film Program
• Bruce Eesly: Endangered Gestures (2026), 5 min.
• Daphné Nan Le Sergent: Silicon Islands and War (2025), 37 min.
• Gala Hernández López: Like Moths to Light (2026), 26 min.
• Ryan S. Jeffery: An Engineer / Not a Camera (2025), 12 min.