Why Camera Arts?

From analogue processes to new imaging technologies

Computergeneriertes Bild mit Händen

Photography, which has always been a technical medium, has lived through a host of changes, advancements and developments throughout its comparatively short history which is believed to have started in 1839. Its application and aesthetics have thus always been strongly linked to the technical developments of the day. Digitalisation has set off photography’s ongoing and profound transformation and created entirely novel conditions for its production, application, dissemination and reception in the process. The ubiquity of digital technologies and the rise of the internet and social media has profoundly changed the way people engage with visual media. The boundaries between photography, video, AI, gaming and other new media are increasingly blurred. In Camera Arts, we therefore make a conscious effort to expand our understanding of photography, to challenge and to use it.

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In our curriculum, today's range of image production, which has been expanded to include processes such as scanning, CGI, photogrammetry, creative coding and other imaging techniques, is equivalent in our curriculum to traditional analogue production methods such as working in a photo studio or darkroom. Working in the studio and the mastery of analogue techniques are given just as much space as the application of new imaging processes and the discussion of their theoretical underpinnings. This will give you a profound understanding of the technical and aesthetic developments as well as the scope of the medium, and perfectly prepare you for the future of visual professions. 

Visual Narratives / Transmedia Storytelling

Visual Narratives

How can I tell a visual story? What are the narrative strategies, what do I want to say and how? What are the visual media at my disposal and which ones should I use?

In our two core modules Visual Narratives and Transmedia Storytelling, we discuss these very questions. Here, you will learn to work in series, to build images on each other and to combine them in a way that allows you to develop new perspectives and to tell stories far removed from convention. 

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In short, you will learn to express your own point of view in a personal, reflective and multilayered way. In times when the uses and possibilities of photography are rapidly developing, we make a point of integrating the medium’s transmedia qualities, and of expanding our creative practice through video, the moving image, sound, and AI.

Accordingly, the content of our classes goes far beyond the design of, and techniques required for, photography projects. You will learn to steer projects, to work in groups, to engage in discussions, to foster a constructive feedback culture and to achieve a common goal in group projects. While these are requirements for many fields, they are of particular importance in artistic and design professions.  

Experimentation, collaboration

Experimentation

Key inventions and further developments within the medium of photography have always been and continue to be the result of an open mind and a willingness to experiment. The curiosity to challenge the status quo, to test its boundaries, to expand the creative process and to rethink it is absolutely vital.

In our CA Lab module, which is for students at various stages in the programme, experimentation comes first. It yields new insights into photographic and imaging techniques or narrative forms, but you will also learn a lot about yourself, about your strengths, weaknesses and preferences in collaboration with your fellow students. This makes the CA Lab another core element of our programme. It allows you to playfully test your boundaries, to break new ground, and to learn to understand the process as an important and inspiring feature of creative practice.

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Regular one-week workshops with international artists and visual media experts complement these opportunities to experiment and to familiarise yourself with various artistic strategies. In close collaboration with the relevant institutions, museums, agencies, galleries and artists, they will also offer access to the professional world and to networking opportunities, provide insight into the different fields of activity and the associated requirements. 

You will attend workshops to learn how to create a professional portfolio or to make a pitch and to discuss design-related, legal and financial issues when dealing with clients. There are also regular Networking Days with experts from different visual fields of activity who will help you to get ready for your professional career after graduation.

 

Interdisciplinarity

Interdisziplinarität

Like experimentation, looking beyond one’s medium, one’s own boundaries, is just as important for interdisciplinary work and thinking. This is not only the case in Camera Arts, but in all the programmes of the Lucerne School of Art and Design. We offer regular interdisciplinary modules that give you the chance to look into other disciplines, to try them out and gain new skills, views and perspectives that will benefit your work in the medium of photography.

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We also learn from the medium itself: photography, like other mediums, constantly pushes its boundaries and mixes with other artistic and academic fields.  It is therefore more important than ever to understand interdisciplinarity as an integral part of the curriculum, one which helps to break down the barriers in our own minds.

Internationality

Internationales

We are living in a globalised world, and visual media take place on an international stage. This is reflected in the curriculum of the Camera Arts programme. Your lecturers will be internationally renowned artists, you will take regular field trips abroad, and we constantly invite international guests to give talks at Luzern-Emmenbrücke, be it for our one-week workshops or for the POSITIONS, our regular series of events.

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You can also attend a semester abroad at one of our partner universities in your fourth semester, benefit from their curricula and develop intercultural skills. That is why at Camera Arts, the language of instruction is not just German. Many of the classes are also taught in English. For both languages, a B2 level is required.