The goal of the Graphic Art/Photography Department is to enable students to develop their own original visual language through artistic and experimental engagement with all forms of analog and digital graphics and photography. A defining feature of the department is an open, exploratory attitude toward the diverse relationships between text, image, film, and objects in both analog and digital spaces.

Through the choice and combination of media, processes, and representations, students challenge and expand the boundaries of their own medium—for example, when graphic or photographic elements appear alongside other media in installations, prints, projections, montages, or digital spaces. The program is largely structured around students’ own artistic projects, with individual or collective artistic approaches developed through the interplay of practical and conceptual work and contextualized in relation to current artistic positions.

Students are encouraged to develop the ability to reflect on their own artistic position, to situate it within diverse cultural contexts, and to actively shape these contexts. Numerous international collaborations and exchange programs offer opportunities for perspective shifts and intercultural experiences. The interdisciplinary structure of study at HFBK Hamburg allows for direct engagement with neighboring artistic and scholarly disciplines.

To gain experience in various fields—such as reproduction techniques, printmaking, interface or web design—students are encouraged to make full use of the university’s open structures and well-equipped workshops. Accompanying academic courses deepen artistic inquiries and experiences, providing theoretical knowledge as well as historical and methodological tools that can expand understanding of both artistic self-perception and art history.

Beyond the realization of artistic projects, emphasis is also placed on their mediation and discussion within institutional and societal art contexts. The annual exhibition, the university gallery, the Material Verlag, and numerous partnerships with institutions, civil society actors, and digital networks provide opportunities to explore and discuss questions of image and art presentation and reception. Workshops with international guests and other universities, as well as regular lectures by invited artists and researchers, further enrich the discourse.

The goal of the Master’s program in the Graphic Art/Photography Department is to deepen students’ original and individual artistic approach within the field of contemporary art and design. Experimental openness to the relationships between text, image, film, and objects in both analog and digital spaces enables the independent artistic and scholarly work and research that is essential for the Master’s degree.

To this end, an artistic project is conceived, realized, and discussed—individually or collectively—in engagement with contemporary and diverse historical forms of graphics, typography, digital graphics, and photography. The open structures of the university and the high value placed on interdisciplinary work provide numerous opportunities to experiment practically in the artistic workshops and to situate one’s own efforts within a broader framework.

International exchange programs and projects are of particular importance, giving Master’s students the opportunity to expand and refine their perspective within intercultural contexts. The curriculum in Theory and History supports the students’ artistic inquiries, providing historical and theoretical knowledge as well as methodological tools that can deepen understanding of both artistic self-perception and art history.

The immediate relationship between art and society is made tangible through numerous collaborations and events with external partners, where the mediation, reflection, and discussion of projects are central. The annual exhibition, ICAT, and additional workshops with international guests provide students with further stimuli and opportunities for exchange.