Photography and Ghost Imaging

A lecture by Jens Schröter, Professor for Media Studies at the University of Bonn Chair: Franziska Barth, Ruhr University Bochum & KWI Essen – Institute for Advanced Study in the HumanitiesWhat if the future of photography is about measuring and reconstructing the unseen? Jens Schröter explores speculative but historically grounded futures of photography through two cutting-edge laboratory technologies: Ghost Imaging, which forms images via correlated or entangled light fields without direct contact with the object, and Non-Line-of-Sight (NLOS) Imaging, which reconstructs hidden scenes from scattered light. Both approaches, he argues, remain photographic because they rely on indexical traces of electromagnetic radiation, even when the final images are computationally rendered.Follow the discussion to see how these techniques expand what can be visible, raise military and surveillance questions, and challenge how we understand reference, trust, and authorship. What responsibilities and interventions are demanded, when photography can see around corners? Join the conversation and leave a comment to speculate with Jens and us.This session was recorded on February 4, 2026, on the occasion 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