Pop-up Fotofestival

From November 21 – 30, 2024, around 6,000 guests visited our festival with over 30 projects, 14 lectures and discussions, as well as 4 workshops on topics such as photojournalism, documentary and street photography, media literacy, artificial intelligence and FakeNews. More than 50 photographers were involved in the exhibition and supporting program.

b° future festival

With the b° future festival in October, the Bonn Institute brought together all
those who are committed to future-oriented journalism for the second time.

laif was on site as a partner of the b° future festival with several events!

Hamburg Press Freedom Week

Freedom of the press is in danger – at all levels, globally and locally.

With their initiative, the Körber Foundation and the ZEIT STIFTUNG BUCERIUS want to publicize the topic as an important element of pluralism and democracy.

The value of press freedom for democracy and peaceful coexistence is elementary. That is why everyone is called upon to defend the freedom of the press – at all times and everywhere with determination.

Right from the start, laif has been involved as a partner for press photography with visuals and presentations.

Most recently with a lecture and screening of the award-winning photo project “Zuhause riecht es nach Rauch”.

Online community for photojournalism

Development of an international community and publication platform for photojournalism and documentary photography.

We need more journalistic formats that reach their audience emotionally. On all channels, whether on the web, on paper, on social media or live on site. Formats in which people can participate and get involved and in which their living environment and everyday life are brought into focus and in which the connections are explained in a simple and catchy way.

We are building a steadily growing community through our shared passion for high-quality documentary photography and photojournalism. We arouse a fundamental interest in journalistic content through individually tailored added value around the topic of photography.

Think tank “Visual solutions for science communication”

We are experts in visual storytelling. We can help translate complex topics into accessible language. The language of images. This is because it has an emotional impact, appeals to people more directly, arouses interest, sensitizes and quickly opens up discourse. We can be the “warm-up” for the start of effective and sustainable communication.

We want to make abstract or complex topics such as climate change or sustainability tangible and communicate them effectively. Based on our special focus on authentic documentary photography, we are developing a unique concept for a new form of scientific photography and are building up a pool of experts for this purpose.

We do not simply illustrate problems, symptoms or solutions. We bring things into the world that have never existed before. Because our photographers are already asking the question visually. Using this approach, they find new documentary or artistic answers that sensitize and open the audience to a topic.
The right format is considered right from the start, because visual formats are like a warm-up BEFORE entering into the complexity of facts and forecasts.
Whether lectures, discussion events, workshops, books, exhibitions, mobile photo events, social media or out-of-home campaigns, our projects and formats work like translators. Using the medium of photography, they interpret scientific facts and contexts beyond a cognitive level in such a way that they reach a broad and often uneducated audience on an emotional level.

As part of cooperation projects with scientific institutions and journalists, we want to further develop this concept and make a significant contribution to effective climate and sustainability communication.

Feel free to contact us so that together we can develop the right concept for you that will help your scientific work and your content to have more impact.

Quality seal for the authenticity of images

For real images. Against disinformation. For a strong democracy.

Every day we see countless photos in the news and on social media. But not all pictures show the truth.

Even today, most new images are generated using artificial intelligence. Manipulated photos and false information endanger our democracy and trust in the media.

Our Authenticity Seal stands for genuine, unadulterated photography. So that you can recognize at a glance: This picture is genuine.

Together, we protect the freedom of the press and ensure that the public receives reliable information.

Youth workshops

Young people primarily use image-based media (Insta, TikTok, YouTube). AI makes creating images easier, but also more challenging. Our workshops accompany young people through this development. They increase media literacy, visual analysis and critical thinking skills (e.g. with fake news and deepfakes), as well as an understanding of photography, photojournalism and artificial intelligence. Important skills for the participants’ everyday lives and therefore for society and democracy.

Tracing the Possible – from July 2025 in Arles

Around 150,000 guests visit the “Les Rencontres de la Photographie d’Arles” photography festival every year – one of the most renowned photography festivals in the world.

For the three-month duration of the festival, 7 laif photographers will be exhibiting works on the theme of “Utopia” at the Fondation Manuel Riviera-Ortiz.

THE LINE BETWEEN US – Eleven positions of queer photography

From August to October 2025 at Galerie Nord in Berlin.

The exhibition project focuses on the question of the extent to which photography can influence processes of social change and how the selected photographic positions can provide answers through their conception.

Jugend fotografiert Deutschland

In May 2026, the award ceremony for the “Jugend fotografiert Deutschland” competition will once again take place under the motto “Be you. Be seen. Be heard.”.
We invite young people from as many different social groups as possible aged between 10 and 18 to submit photo stories on a topic relevant to them. It is a new and particularly low-threshold journalistic format that promotes young people’s media skills and enables them to voice their concerns through their own actions. This motivates them to engage with new topics and opinions and to enter into an effective dialog with others.

The topic is open. The competition enables young people to put the idea of “living democracy” into practice. For the competition, a documentary photo series is to be created that represents a personal concern of the young people and points out a problem or a particularly positive aspect in the reality of their lives. Through this creative form of participation, young people can raise their voices and draw attention to social issues.