Today everyone with a smartphone seems to be a photographer. But is that really the case?
Photography is a rapidly changing medium with a direct relationship to the changing society. A photographer looks at the world and works with what reality has to offer. The Photography programme at the Academy trains the image makers of tomorrow by familiarising them with the technical, conceptual and aesthetic aspects of the medium.
A passionate team of professional photographers with international careers, complemented by experienced teachers of photo technique and photo history, challenge the student to develop a subjective and critical attitude towards visual culture and contemporary art.
Photography is both a profession and a language. A thorough understanding of the photographic métier and its history, of its visual codes, symbols and metaphors, allows the student to occupy a critical position within our complex society in which images claim an increasingly important place. The digital and analogue image, the photograph as multiple or unique object, the presentation as print, projection or publication, the static or moving image; these and other strategies are discussed.
Creating, presenting and interpreting photographs, and this with a personal, authentic interpretation, are a main focus. The lecturers stimulate a permanent open dialogue through which the student learns to determine and defend a point of view.
By organizing lectures and workshops by internationally renowned photographers, artists, and theorists, the Photography course maintains a strong bond with the local, national, and international work field. In addition, we work closely together with photo festivals and institutes such as BredaPhoto, Photography Museum Antwerp (FOMU), Extra City Art Hall and with various partner schools in Havana, Cuba; Guangzhou, China and Hanoi, Vietnam. The theoretical framework includes research methods, art history and art theory, but also more specific subjects.
Since 2020 the Photography programme has been expanded with the module Moving Image that initiates and coaches students of all disciplines into the technical and visual possibilities of digital video art.
Alumni of the photography department testify to their versatility: they are active as autonomous artists, independent photographers, curators, critics and art teachers; capable of setting up their own collaborations.