ADC & PHOTOPIA: Congress – Beyond the Photoverse

Photography at the crossroads of NFT, AI, Web3, Metaverse and Crypto: Under the motto "Beyond the Photoverse", the Art Directors Club for Germany (ADC) e.V. and PHOTOPIA Hamburg will bring national and international experts on stage to rethink photography at the B2B Day of the trade fair festival on September 21, 2023.

The Festival of Imaging opens this year from September 21 to 24 at the Hamburg exhibition center.

At the PHOTOPIA B2B Day, professional and commercial photographers, videographers, content creators and other experts from creative communication disciplines will spend a day learning all about new tools and platforms. Top-class speakers will provide inspiring impulses with cases, answers to legal questions in connection with the use of AI as well as best practices of successful creations by award-winning top creatives.
Following the ADC Digital Experience 2022 on the topic of "Metaverse" and the upcoming ADC Festival under the motto "Change the world with Creativity - or should we leave it to AI?", Germany's leading authority on creative communication is giving the new disruptive technologies and their potential a forum for the third time - this time with a clear focus on digital imaging.

"Metaverse, Web3, NFT, AI... Which innovations are just hype and which have the potential to revolutionize our everyday lives and the economy? As the representative body of the German creative industry, ADC sees itself as responsible for finding answers so that excellent creative communication can continue to be at the cutting edge," says Burkhard Müller, ADC board member and curator of the congress.
"We are very pleased to present a new congress for disruptive technologies at PHOTOPIA with the Art Directors Club. Beyond the Photoverse reflects the progressive change in the industry and offers participants valuable impulses at our B2B Day. With its content, the congress also ideally complements the existing conferences ImagingExecutives and Creative Content Conference," says Bernd Aufderheide, CEO Hamburg Messe und Congress.

The Line Up

The first confirmed speakers of the approximately fifteen-strong line-up of international experts are L.A.-based photographer Rainer Hosch, law firm founder and NFT attorney Dr. Oliver Scherenberg, front-end developer Daniel Zeitler, photo artist André Wagner, photo and video artist Dennis Schmelz, and Anna Pramila Meissner, Director Storytelling, Demodern.
Rainer Hosch is a pioneer in the field of celebrity portraiture and in three decades of his career has photographed world stars such as Iggy Pop, George Clooney, Jennifer Lopez, Jessica Alba, Lenny Kravitz, Taylor Swift and Whoopi Goldberg. His work for clients has appeared in international publications and campaigns, including The New York Times, Vogue, Red Bull, Nike, Sony and Nespresso. As part of Beyond the Photoverse, Hosch shares why he believes no one will be without NFTs in 2023.
Dr. Oliver Scherenberg is an attorney and the founder of Scherenberg Legal & Licensing, a law firm specializing in legal support for the monetization of intangible assets such as patents, trademarks, copyrights, naming rights and image rights. In cooperation with PROCON-IT, Zeitler launched the first NFT collection for PHOTOPIA in Hamburg in 2022.
Dennis Schmelz is a content creator, photographer and video artist. His travel-inspired photographs show places with a unique dramaturgy. Dennis is particularly fond of nature and the wildlife of Antarctica, among other places. Together with Alexander Sachs and Mike Hager, Dennis Schmelz brought the calendar "Auf Reisen 2023" to the Blockchain. A community project has emerged from a free Mint, in which over 20,000 calendar motifs were mined. How he keeps his community happy and what constitutes successful community building for him, he tells on the spot.
André Wagner is an internationally recognized photographic artist whose work is characterized by creative light and color design and a spiritual visual language. He has made a name for himself as a curator and initiator of art projects and is interested in integrating digital technologies and new art forms into his work and society. Wagner was the initiator of PHOTOPIA's first NFT project. His works can be found in major collections around the world, including the Rothschild Bank in Zurich. He has also distinguished himself through philanthropic activities, most notably the Artists for Charity art project, which often puts artists on the blockchain for the first time as a digital collector's image, with 100 percent of donations going to needy children's projects in India. Wagner believes that art can be a powerful force to inspire the world and is passionate about connecting the art world with charity.Anna Pramila Meissner is Director Interactive Storytelling, Copywriter, Creative Strategist, Ideas Evangelist and was also a kiosk owner for a while. After working at Jung von Matt and Überground, she has been combining emotions with emerging technologies to create experiences at Demodern for the past two years. Her mission: She helps brands, people and organizations to tell their story with the help of technology. Additional speakers will be announced shortly. Tickets are available for 199 euros in the online store at

www.photopia-hamburg.com