Looking at migration from a new perspective: Photographer Michael Danner visits the Visual and Media Anthropology program

With his conceptual-documentary long-term project “Migration as Avant-Garde”, Michael Danner pursues the goal of gaining a new perspective on current refugee movements and developing a counter-design to classic, sometimes stereotypical news images. Instead of merely informing or deliberately provoking, Danner wants to consciously question established thought patterns and perspectives about one of the oldest phenomena of mankind. Movement from one place to another has always existed since the dawn of time. It brings new ways of thinking to our society, the great potential of which is too often overlooked in the refugee debate.

In addition to a comprehensive overview of his photography project, which was already published as a book in 2018, the VMA students also learned more about the conception of the same-titled exhibition at C/O Berlin. Danner explained in detail what thoughts guided him in the design of the individual exhibition spaces. Through his very descriptive presentation as well as the numerous photos, he enabled a virtual visit to the exhibition, which is unfortunately currently closed due to the lockdown.

Whether it was questions about the exhibition concept, his working methods, or how to start a career in the world of documentary photography, Michael Danner answered numerous questions from the students after his presentation and shared his expertise with them in a very personal and approachable way. We would like to thank him very much for taking the time for this informative lecture and for being our virtual guest.