Towards Photography examines the present and explores the future of photography. The event series is meant to be a free forum for discourse between international artists, theorists, scientists, authors, the local art and culture scene, and local citizens. In talks, lectures and panel discussions at Salon des Amateurs, Düsseldorf and online, the events enable a direct exchange between all participants.

The rapid development of photography – which affects all parts of life, from the way we see, recognize, remember, communicate, know, investigate, prove, punish, research, develop, heal, and sometimes even feel – continuously poses new questions not only for cultural institutions. How do we react to such an agile medium – culturally and socially, but also individually and personally? How does photography affect our everyday lives? What narratives does it create? From which perspective does it tell stories? How does it shape history? Which knowledge does it store and which does it hide? Which themes shape our present and thus the canon of photography? And last but not least, what is its core in the current of the present – into the future? Asking itself these questions, Towards Photography reflects the polyphony of a medium that is changing the world in a lasting way.

Together with the Kulturamt Düsseldorf and in cooperation with SPARTA, Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, the Verein zur Gründung und Förderung eines Deutschen Fotoinstituts e.V. (DFI e.V.) invites you to reflect on the present and future of photography and to shape it together. Towards Photography is curated by Ania Kołyszko.