Image and Ideology Photography and the Making of Meaning

Images shape our perception of reality – subtly and powerfully. This symposium explores the ideological dimensions of photographic images. The focus is not only on photography as an artistic or documentary medium, but also on its role as an active agent in the construction of social reality. 

What roles do visual codes, aesthetic strategies, and cultural contexts play in the production and reception of photographic content? How do visual narratives influence our understanding of truth, identity, or belonging? To what extent do images reflect and reproduce societal power relations – and how can these mechanisms be questioned or subverted through artistic and theoretical engagement?

The symposium brings together perspectives from theory, art, and practice. At its core is a critical reflection on the tension between image and ideology, and the potential of photography to shift, disrupt, or rearticulate dominant narratives. Through a plurality of perspectives, the symposium foster to opens up space for alternative viewpoints and sparkle new forms of engagement with photographic practices. 

Organized in collaboration between Photoforum Pasquart and the Bern University of the Arts, the symposium will take place on Friday, 10 October 2025, from 10.30am to 5pm at HKB in Bern.

Timetable

10.30am–10.45am

Welcoming Words and Introduction to the Symposium
Felicity Lunn, Amelie Schüle and Corinne Futterlieb

10.45am–11.15am

Reading Images and Shifting Meanings
Tine Melzer

11.15am–11.45am 

Viral Hallucinations: Curating Under Algorithmic Conditions
Nadine Isabelle Henrich

11.45am–12.15pm 

I See It, Like It, I Want It, I Got It: The Affective Lure of Networked Images
Doris Gassert

12.15pm–1.30pm 

Lunch Break

1.30pm–2pm 

Violence, death, mourning and an insult to life itself
Claus Gunti

2pm–2.30pm 

From Photography to Virtual Reality: Humanitarian Images and the Experience of Witnessing
Valérie Gorin

2.30pm– 3pm

Perspectives from practice
Tanya Habjouqa

3pm–3.15pm 

Break

3.15pm–4.30pm

Roundtable: All speakers, 
moderation Amelie Schüle and Gonzague Rebetez

4.30pm–4.45pm 

Closing words
Corinne Futterlieb and Amelie Schüle

4.45pm–6.30pm

Apéro