The University of Westminster invited computer industry and educational specialists to present, exchange and discuss the different advances of computational and virtual images at the Virtual Photography Symposium on 28 June 2022.
The Symposium aimed to explore the implications of the changing virtual image landscape for industry, education and individual creative producers, artists and photographers. It was the first of several landmark events to consider the future of the photographic image and the implications for everyone involved.
The conference was opened by the conveners David Bate, Professor of Photography, and Dr Paula Gortázar, Lecturer in Photography.
The first session looked at Virtual Industries and featured contributions from Anders Printz, Photography Manager at IKEA in Sweden; Brandon Harper, an Augment Reality Designer at Microsoft in California; Robert Overweg, Innovation Catalyst and Virtual Photographer and Founder of Adaptable Mindset; and Petri Levälahti, In-game Photographer at EA DICE in Sweden.
The second session, The Future of Image Education, had contributions from Ziggy Kolker, Lecturer in Photography and Artist at the University of Portsmouth; Professor Sophie Triantaphillidou, Lecturer in Computational Vision at the University of Westminster; and Dr Christopher Fry, Lecturer in Contemporary Media Practice also at the University of Westminster.
The last session discussed Virtual and Computational Arts with speakers Arieh Frosh, Digital Producer and Artist at the Photographers’ Gallery in London; Dominic Hawgood, a cross-disciplinary artist; and Professor Sebastian Schmieg, an artist, designer and lecturer at HTW Dresden in Germany.
The Symposium ended with a plenary session chaired by Professor Bate and Dr Gortázar, followed by a drink’s reception for speakers and attendees.
Speaking about the Symposium, speaker Brandon Harper from Microsoft, said: “I’m excited to see the impact that the students have. I hope I provided some unique insight for what the future holds in the virtual space. There is a vast variety of opportunities for artist and creators in the photography industry. Today is just the tip of the iceberg.”
Julia Neal, a Documentary Photography and Photojournalism MA student who attended the event, commented: “I greatly enjoyed the Virtual Photography symposium. It opened my eyes to new or updated technological and career possibilities in areas that I hadn’t considered before or didn’t know existed.”
Jayde Donovan, also a Documentary Photography and Photojournalism MA student, added: “I found the day very thought provoking. It gave me insight into how I could use different virtual techniques in my practice. The day also made me want to learn coding.”
Find out more about Art, Design and Visual Culture courses at the University of Westminster.
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