About the Priority Programme "The Digital Image"

Since the end of 2019, the priority programme (SPP) “The Digital Image”, funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), has been investigating the role that the image plays in the complex process of digitising knowledge in theory and practice.
The two project leaders, Hubertus Kohle (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich) and Hubert Locher (Philipps-Universität Marburg / Deutsches Dokumentationszentrum für Kunstgeschichte – Bildarchiv Foto Marburg), are now also coordinating ten individual projects in the second three-year funding period from 2023 to 2026, which approach the phenomenon of the digital image from different thematic focuses and subject perspectives.
The SPP focuses not only on theory and ethical dimensions, but also on technical developments and the impact of digital images.
Alternating between theoretically and practically oriented processing, the aim is a multi-perspective and critical reflection on the epistemological upheaval that accompanies the digital image.
In order to facilitate close cooperation and interlinking of the sub-projects and a constant transdisciplinary exchange within the framework of the project as a whole, conferences and workshops are held regularly, bringing together researchers from all over Germany and often also invited international guest speakers for joint discussion.
While the first funding period was primarily coordinated from Munich, the main speaking role is now shifting to the DDK team in Marburg