A collaboration between the School of Creative Media, CityUHK, Goethe-Institut Hong Kong and the Consulate General of France in Hong Kong and Macau. Supported by the Franco-German Cultural Fund, this symposium brings together artists, scholars, curators, photojournalists and researchers to reflect on how images are changing. It runs alongside the workshop programme 200 Years of Photography: Images, Representation and AI.

Abstract

For two centuries, photography has shaped how we see, record, remember, and understand the world. What began as a light-sensitive chemical process has evolved into a diverse field of image-making that now includes digital manipulation, computer-generated imagery, virtual environments, simulation, and AI-generated images.

Accompanying the workshop programme 200 Years of Photography: Images, Representation and AI, this symposium invites artists, scholars, curators, photojournalists, and researchers to reflect on the changing role of images in contemporary culture.

The symposium unfolds across three thematic sessions. From Photography to Synthography traces the evolution of image-making from analogue photographic processes and experimental camera systems to synthography: the creation of images through synthetic means, including computer-generated imagery, 3D modelling, virtual environments, simulation, and artificial intelligence. Image and Archive explores how images shape memory, construct histories, and enable speculative engagements with the past in an age of ecological and technological transformation. The Faithful Image examines photography’s enduring role as witness, addressing questions of authenticity, credibility, and trust in contemporary documentary and journalistic practice.

Through contributions from international keynote speakers and Hong Kong-based artists, researchers, and practitioners, Imagining Photography reflects on the transformations of the image across two centuries. Spanning analogue photography, synthography, archives, and documentary practice, the symposium explores how evolving image technologies continue to shape the ways we document, remember, and imagine the world.

Welcome Address

- Mr Oliver Bräuner, German Deputy Consul General in Hong Kong

- Ms. Johanna Bouyé, Consul for Education, Science and Culture Consulate General of France in Hong Kong

- Prof. Espen Aarseth, Dean of the School of Creative Media, SCM, CityUHK

Session 1

From Photography to Synthography

10:30 am - 12:45 pm

Keynote Speaker:

Andreas Müller-Pohle

Presenters:

Xuanyang Huang

Prof. Tamas Waliczky

Chan Hoi Tat

Session 2

Image and Archive

1:30 pm - 3:45 pm

Keynote Speaker:

Prof. Gwenola Wagon

Presenters:

Dr. Lai Chui-han Linda

Dr. Vennes Cheng

Session 3

The Faithful Image

4:15 pm - 6:15 pm

Keynote Speaker:

Prof. Gwenola Wagon

Presenters:

May James

Phil Shek

Prof. Lam Miu Ling

Organiser:

Elke Reinhuber (City University of Hong Kong)

Registration

https://forms.gle/T74vYn3cQLKPTMLNA (RSVP by 12 October 2026, 5:00 pm)

For more detailed programme and schedule, please visit: https://www.cityu.edu.hk/scm/imagine/200/