Every year, Paris Photo develops an educational project designed to introduce the public to the practices and skills associated with photography. Conceived as an immersive experience accessible to all, it highlights the technical and creative dimensions of the medium, while providing a dedicated space for learning, knowledge-sharing, and exchange.
Soft photography, ECAL/École cantonale d’art de Lausanne
Zhiyue Liu, Animals Shanshui, 2026 — Courtesy of the artist & l’ECAL/École cantonale d’art de Lausanne
About
How do we react to AI-generated or CGI images ? What role do these representations occupy within contemporary visual culture? Rather than focusing on the question of realism, the Soft Photography project, run at ECAL/University of Art and Design Lausanne, approaches the use of generative photographic technologies through the lens of emotion. Starting from the central place occupied by our emotional reactions to the visual flows of social media, and to very specific formats such as satisfying videos, ASMR or rage-baiting, the project interrogates the role of images designed above all to provoke our anger, secure our adherence, or simply capture our attention. Through a participatory device enabling visitors to experience these emotional responses, together with a didactic exhibition, this research aims to make accessible the concepts emerging from this research – attraction-repulsion, engineered emotion, emotional photorealism or potential image.
Program - Paris Photo 2026
Discover the complete Paris Photo 2026 program.