240 participants at the 3rd Essen Symposium on Photography
On February 4 and 5, 2026, the 3rd Essen Symposium for Photography took place by the Essen Center for Photography. Under the title “What Will Photography Be? An Invitation to Speculate”, an international audience exchanged views on the current state of international photography research.
In the 200th anniversary year of photography – the first photographic image dates back to 1826 – eleven internationally renowned researchers shared their perspectives and approaches to pressing social and technical issues in photography. These included contributions on the use of artificial intelligence in photography, the rediscovery of development techniques, reviews of history and speculations about the future. Speakers were: Prof. Dr. Monica C. Bravo (Princeton University), Prof. Dr. Jens Schröter (University of Bonn), Prof. Dr. Michelle Henning (University of Liverpool), Irina Pelea Cringuta (PhD student at Tito Maiorescu University Bucharest), Terrence Phearse (Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts Portland), Bernd Behr (London), Paul Frosh (Jerusalem), André Gunthert (Paris), Daniel Rubinstein (London), Therese Schuleit (Mülheim/Ruhr), Helen Westgeest (Leiden).
With around 240 participants, the event was fully booked. Some of the participants visited the Krupp Historical Archive as part of the symposium. On site, the delegation was given an insight into the photographic holdings and was able to exchange experiences afterwards.
About the Center for Photography Essen
The Essen Centre for Photography is an association of the Folkwang University of the Arts, Museum Folkwang, Stiftung Ruhr Museum and the Historical Archive Krupp. It organises conferences, supports exhibitions, coordinates research projects, courses and the overarching exchange on questions of archiving, restoration and conservation. The centre is particularly committed to the public communication of the cultural asset of photography – in the entire range of its areas of application and use.
The Krupp Historical Archive
The Krupp Historical Archive was founded in 1905 and is now owned by the Krupp Foundation. It has around 2.5 million photographs and films – on around 5,000 rolls – that date back to the early days of these media. The Krupp Historical Archive regularly answers inquiries from all over the world on topics from Krupp’s history. It supports museums with exhibits for exhibitions or television productions with image sources.