Conclusion: Points of Departure

A summery of the 3rd Essen Symposium for Photography by Markus Rautzenberg, Media Theorist and Professor of Philosophy at the Folkwang University of the ArtsWhat if photography’s future is not defined by what it is, but by how it operates? In his conclusion, Markus Rautzenberg reframes photography as a shifting field of »modal configurations« – a set of changing, rule-based practices that gain and lose relevance over time – rather than a stable medium grounded in technique, materiality, or indexicality. The lectures of the 3rd Essen Symposium for Photography reveal a medium shaped by friction, overlap, and transformation.Follow this talk to understand how photographic knowledgeemerges not from images alone, but from shared social expectations and uses. When and under what conditions do images count as credible, meaningful, or true? And does this mean that photography may be less in crisis than our waysof understanding it? Join the conversation and leave a comment to speculatewith Markus and us.This session was recorded on February 4, 2026, on theoccasion of the 3rd Essen Symposium for Photography »What Will Photography Be? An Invitation to Speculate«, hosted by the Essen Center for Photography. Photo credit: Essen Center for Photography / Silviu Guiman