2026/05

EIKON #132 | WHERE IS PHOTOGRAPHY NOW?

Languages | Deutsch / Englisch
Size | 280 x 210 mm
ISBN | 978-3-904083-26-3
104 pages
Price: € 18,00 (inkl. 10% USt)

Artificial intelligence is currently having an impact on photography in a similar way to how photography once affected painting: it undermines the medium’s claim to realism and technical perfection. As a result, a long-standing constraint dissolves, opening up space for abstraction.
Katharina Hoffmann | Bildraum, Bildrecht Vienna

CONTENTS

FOCUS |WHERE IS PHOTOGRAPHY NOW?
STAGED MEMORIES | Anja Bohnhof
AMID WORLDS | Anna Schober-de Graaf
BETWEEN ARS UND TECHNÉ | Thomas Ballhausen and Paul Feigelfeld in conversation
PHOTOGRAPHY AS THOUGHT | Patrizia Feichter and Agata Madejska in conversation
THE CONDITION OF THE IMAGE | Gudrun Zacharias in conversation with the team of Francisco Carolinum

PORTFOLIO
ANTON KEHRER | Wolfgang Giegler

PUBLICATIONS / REVIEW
MOEBIUS: The Airtight Garage – Hunter and hunted | Thomas Ballhausen

NEW RELEASES | COLLECTOR’S EDITION | EIKON EDITION | TIPS & NEWS

What bothers me about “deep learning” is the image of depth and profundity it conveys, when in fact it simply learns one thing particularly well in a vertical manner and cannot do much else. It has little to do with learning or intelligence as we understand or desire it.
Paul Feigelfeld

EDITORIAL

Dear Readers!
For almost 35 years, EIKON has been a key platform for contemporary photography and media art. With its extensive network of artists and authors, it positions itself as a space for connection, reflection, and presentation – an ambition that this issue seeks to realize through the inclusion of diverse voices.
At the heart of this issue is the question: Where Is Photography Now? In response, we have gathered statements from renowned voices in photography. These contributions run throughout the magazine, opening up multiple perspectives on a question that resists a singular answer and calls for a plural understanding.
Photography no longer exists as a clearly defined medium, but as part of a complex constellation of visual practices. Cameras, algorithms, archives, and machine learning models all produce images – often without a direct connection to visible reality. What does photography mean when it is no longer produced through light, but through calculation?
This development challenges both the definition of the medium and established institutional categories. The boundaries between photography, media art, video, and installation are becoming increasingly porous. At the same time, the notion of authorship is shifting: the traditional photographic is replaced by practices that operate through data, models, and systems. The audience, too, is changing – it demands not only images, but also insight into their production.
Within this highly technologized present, a counter-movement is emerging: a renewed interest in the analogue. Craft-based processes are regaining attention, particularly among younger photographers.
It is precisely in this coexistence of technological expansion and analogue return that the medium’s capacity for transformation becomes most evident. Photography is not disappearing; it is continuously evolving. Perhaps the decisive question is no longer what photography is, but what we are willing to recognize as such.
We invite you to approach this issue as a collection of positions, approaches, and contradictions, and to immerse yourself in the multifaceted present of photography.
Gudrun Zacharias | May 2026

SPECIAL THANKS
All experts for their statements on photography

ART DIRECTION & DESIGN
Martin Hassler

TRANSLATION
Urška Longer

EIKON #132

WHERE IS PHOTOGRAPHY NOW?

2026/05

EIKON #132 |​ WHERE IS PHOTOGRAPHY NOW?

EIKON #132 | WHERE IS PHOTOGRAPHY NOW?