Program
4 September – Seminar at Tampere University from 1pm to 4 pm
13–13:30 Asko Lehmuskallio
13:30–14:10 Markus Sjöberg
14:30–15 Maija Tammi
15–15:50 Panel discussion with the curator Anna Ruth and the artists
The Visual Studies Lab and the MA in Visual Journalism and Visual Studies collaborate with the Backlight Photo Festival 2026, asking how various forms of photographies participate in ”the art of lying”. While photography has never been a neutral medium, today the rapid development of artificial intelligence, algorithmic systems and synthetic imagery has further complicated our relationship to photographic truths.
The festival opening seminar introduces us to means of reflecting photographic truths by focusing on the notion of metamorphosis (Asko Lehmuskallio), the interrelations between visual AI and photography (Markus Sjöberg), and artistic reflections on where the lie lies (Maija Tammi). The exhibition artists Dana Benlakhdar, Joel Jimenez Jara & Sasha Velichko discuss with curator Anna Ruth the art of lying in their works selected for exhibition, after which executive director Terhi Asumaniemi will provide an overview of further Backlight Photo Festival 2026 events, inviting seminar participants to join to the exhibition opening at Nykyaika, Koppelo and Vooninki.
Prof. Dr. Asko Lehmuskallio: ”Metamorphosis: A Forgotten Visual Technique”
Every discussion about fake images assumes that there are two categories of images, a real one and a fake one, and the task of forensics, courtrooms and journalists is to find out which one is which. In this model, truth is fidelity of transmission, a lie is tampering with code. The act of metamorphosis does not fit this model, as metamorphosis is a transformation in form. This technique, described by Ovid vividly already two thousand years ago, has quietly become a dominant mode of visual deception, one that presses us to go beyond the forensic binary of encoding and decoding. The act of metamorphosis challenges our assumptions of the world, and especially our ways of deciphering it.
Dr. Markus Sjöberg: ”Metamorphosis: A Forgotten Visual Technique”
As AI-generated images become harder to identify by looking, exceptionality itself has become grounds for suspicion rather than a mark of vision. Doubt falls both on what the photographer did and on what the world did, and since a strong photograph usually owes something to both, the suspicion gathers precisely on the images that were worth taking. The accusation is rarely aimed at an ordinary picture, which sits awkwardly with the assumption that generative images are generic.
The image, then, no longer testifies on its own. Verification shifts from the picture to the person presenting it, and photography comes to be read the way text has always been read: we trust the source, not the representation. Drawing on examples from social media, the presentation asks what this shift means for exceptional images and those who make them.
Dr. Maija Tammi: “The Artist’s Perspective: Where Does the Lie Lie?”
Visual artist and Doctor of Arts Maija Tammi ponders where the lie lies when it comes to photographic art from the artist’s and viewer’s point of view.
5 September – Screening at Siirtymä Festival from 5 pm to 22 pm
Hatanpää Rowing center, Hatanpäänkatu 6
Photographs from the artists
Anssi Ruuska
Nikolas Palonen
Sari Soininen
Patrik Rastenberger
Iuliia Gataulina
Vilma Pimenoff
Heidi Kirjavainen
Keijo Laitala
Artist talks
5 September at 15 Joel Jimenez (Photographic Centre Nykyaika)
19 September at 14 Sheung Yiu (Vooninki)
Curator Tours
12 and 20 September at 14 (Vooninki)