18:30-20:00 // KEYNOTE SPEECH
Presenter: Michele Smargiassi
Speaker: Juan Fontcuberta
What remains of photography in the age of post-truth, selfies, the indiscreet windows of Facebook, the drive of consumerism, emoji and spam? Today we are facing a ferocious level of globalisation and the virtual economy. The capitalism of goods has been absorbed by the capitalism of images. We live in a hyper-modern society characterised by consumerism, quantification, excess and urgency. We discover the world through digital screens that offer access to a fluid, complex and monitored reality. Internet, social networks, mobile phones and CCTV create an overabundance of images that are no longer a neutral mediation between us and the world, but agents that format our collective consciousness. Amid widespread scepticism and fanatical credulity, how can photography contribute to providing reasonable certainties? How to find the “right” image when there are both too many and too few? The story of Bin Laden offers us a case study.