Studying at an applied university and high-quality creative production both call for foundational knowledge and a reflexive practice. The role of theory within the Camera Arts curriculum is to advance students’ capacity of interlaced thinking. In addition to the necessary practical knowledge, this particularly applies to dealing with historical and contemporary theories about visual media, design, art and culture. The creative practice is cross-fertilized with disciplines such as sociology, philosophy, political science, media science, and linguistics.
Depending on the student’s orientation, topics such as gender, transculturality, social representation, ecology, urban culture, digital transformation, privacy and ethics are examined on the basis of specific questions.
In addition, Camera Arts regularly invites international guests from various disciplines to shed light on a great diversity of practical and theoretical positions.
BA Thesis
The three years of studies at Camera Arts are concluded by a thematically linked practical BA project and a written BA thesis. Students develop their own models for describing the relations between theory and (their) practice. Beyond common scientific approaches, in particular subject-specific methods for visual and creative production are examined. Some of these projects serve as seismographs for future themes and research fields.
ANAR – Pomegranates Grow in Winter. Anna-Tia Buss, 2019
Thesis project: Questioning participatory photography
Anna-Tia Buss, 2019
In what ways do participatory photo documentary projects allow another experience to take place?
Art criticism has interpreted the often-hidden interpersonal interaction in photographs as a participatory moment, criticizing the sole authorship claimed by photographers or artists. Participative documentary photography takes a different stance against this one-sided view. In this photographic practice, those involved as motives are given a certain agency in what is happening, thus becoming co-authors of the result. Participative documentary photography creates more fairness in production as well as recognition, trust and understanding for the achievements of all those involved.
More information about the related
BA project.
How like a leaf I am. Alexandra Baumgartner, 2019
Thesis project: “We are all compost, not posthuman”
Alexandra Baumgartner, 2019
The fight against climate change requires a radically new understanding of the earth and its natural processes as the basis for human life. Man should give up his capitalistically motivated supremacy. Rather, he should perceive non-human matter as a design actor and work with it. In order to cope with this change of perspective, imaginatively experimental and at the same time politically and ecologically motivated photography can take on the role of mediator between society and the sciences.
More information about the related BA project.
Thesis App
The Thesis Project Visualizer is a simple custom App developed for the graduation exhibition of Camera Arts students in 2015. It employs Augmented Reality (AR) to reveal a summary of the students’ thesis projects. Images that represent each student’s thesis allow the viewer – through the iPad screen – to see a hidden layer of information embedded in the photos, providing an alternative entry point into the works.
Project team: Kilian Bannwart, Marco De Mutiis, Media Lab, 2015
