Symposium

on April 25, 2026
German version here

Present Tense. Attitudes toward the Present

A collaboration between Darmstadt Photography Days and the Design Department at Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences (h_da)
Concept and direction: Prof. Robin Hinsch, Prof. Sara Maierhofer

Newly appointed professors Robin Hinsch and Sara Maierhofer would like to continue the tradition and once again host the accompanying symposium at the Design Department of Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences as part of the Darmstadt Photography Days.
The symposium “Present Tense. Attitudes toward the Present” is planned for April 25, 2026, as a collaborative project between the university and the Darmstadt Photography Days.
They are inviting speakers to this symposium who deal with the challenges of photography in the present.
In addition to positions from photography and art, they are deliberately setting interdisciplinary impulses and also incorporating perspectives from other disciplines. The focus is on the question of what potential for action photography can develop today: as a medium that enables contact, initiates dialogue, and promotes exchange—especially in a time of increasing social polarization. The symposium strengthens the dialogue between the university, the city, and the professional public. The aim is to bring together current photographic, curatorial, and image-political positions, to make debates accessible, and to actively involve students and a broad audience in the exchange. The format thus negotiates photography not only as an aesthetic practice, but also as a socially effective field of action.

Program April 25, 2026

11:00 a.m. – Welcome
11:30 a.m. – TBD
12:30 p.m. – TBD

Lunch break

2:30 p.m. – TBD
3:00 p.m. – TBD
4:00 p.m. – TBD

Location:

Auditorium of the Design Department at Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences
Olbrichweg 10
64287 Darmstadt

Speakers

*** will be published in March ***