Salon of Photography: In Honor of Nicéphore Niépce
02/10–26/11/2026
FOTOHOF Studio
Curated by Rainer Iglar, Michael Mauracher, Martin Mlineritsch
The oldest surviving photograph was made by Nicéphore Niépce (1765–1833), marking the beginning of an epochal media invention that, originating with photography, has expanded into the broad field of “lens-based media” and continues to shape our perception of the world—today more than ever. His View from the Window at Le Gras (1826) has become an iconic metaphor for a functionality inherent to the new medium: visually fixing the outside world through an apparently objective apparatus, thereby making it comprehensible in a new way.
We want to celebrate the milestone of “200 Years of Photography” with an exhibition that offers an engaging and humorous glimpse into the studios of Salzburg photographers. The exhibition concept is based on an invitation to each artist to identify the earliest work within their own oeuvre and make it available for the exhibition, either as a vintage print or as a reconstruction.
The curatorial idea is founded on the assumption that this approach will make visible and open to discussion the diverse starting points and artistic concepts from which each photographer’s subsequent body of work developed. The number of participants will determine the form of the presentation: a “Salon de Paris” of the 19th century, characterized by an excessive spatial and conceptual concentration of highly diverse personalities and formal approaches.
2026 also marks the 45th anniversary of FOTOHOF, which has thus accompanied almost a quarter of the period since the invention of the medium. We are delighted to celebrate this (small) anniversary with a kind of community project bringing together Salzburg’s photographic artists.
With early works by:
Anna Aicher, Rolf Aigner, Sebastian Albert, Motahar Amiri, Valentin Backhaus / Katrin Froschauer / Christian Zwerschina, Ruth Bayer, Alba Malika Belhadj Merzoug, Franz Bergmüller, Elisabeth Czihak, Mateusz Dworczyk, Michaela Fellner, Gertrud Fischbacher, Karin Fisslthaler, Vincent Forstenlechner, Ira Grünberger, Ilse Haider, Barbara Holub, Dieter Huber, Rainer Iglar, Kurt Kaindl, Helena Kalleitner, Marion Kalter, Gerhard Kaserer, Vera Kern, Gerhard Kowald, Sigrid Kurz, Kai Kuss, Benjamin Laabmayr, Sigrid Langrehr, Ulrike Lienbacher, Michael Mauracher, Stella Meyer, Selma Mierl, Reinhart Mlineritsch, Bernhard Müller, Gregor Neuerer, Dirk Obracay, Hanns Otte, Karin Peyker, Andrew Phelps, Stefanie Pirker, Hans Pollhammer, Sigrid Riepl, Joyce Rohrmoser, Birgit Sattlecker, Patrick Schaudy, Eva-Maria Schitter, Elisabeth Schmirl, Werner Schnelle, Peter Schreiner, Sabine Schwaighofer, Herman Seidl, Annelies Senfter, Rudolf Strobl, Wolfgang Thaler, Nadine Weixler, Josefa Wiedemann, Katharina Maria Wimmer, Elisabeth Wörndl, Stefan Zenzmaier, Johannes Ziegler
News
Stadtgalerie Lehen, Literaturhaus Salzburg and FOTOHOF at Stadtwerk jointly invite you to a art walk through the neighborhood!
Always on a Wednesday, under the motto »Seeing Lehen«, free of charge, every other month, relaxed, with questions and answers, artists, curators and works »up close« and lots of information all around.
Meeting Point: Stadtgalerie Lehen | Inge-Morath-Platz 31 | 5020 Salzburg
→ To the exhibition: Salon of Photography: In Honor of Nicéphore Niépce
FOTOHOF>CALLING has been offering artists a platform to present their photographic work and engage with other positions in contemporary photography since 2021. The format creates opportunities for networking and fosters dialogue within the photographic community. From 380 submissions, the FOTOHOF team selected 25 projects to be published on calling.fotohof.at and in the magazine. Eleven shortlisted artists will be invited to Salzburg to present their projects in person and receive feedback from invited experts. A first preview of this year's selection was already shown as part of a projection in Arles this summer. We are now delighted to present the projects in Salzburg on the occasion of the Long Night of Museums.
With works by: Pavle Banović, Rudolf Bonvie, Rhune Bervoet, Konrad Bryczek, Mark Chehodaiev, Marija Đondović, Melanie Forsthuber, Tim Gassauer & Manu Gruber, Alexander Henting, Ronja Hermann, Claudia Holzinger, Jana Islinger, Hyun Jang, Ruslana Kliuchko, Anie Maki, Jakob Nonnen, Jakub Nowaczyk, Martin Schgaguler, Oliver Schützinger, Michał Solarski, Maria Sturm, Emese Tóthová, Ulrike Unterbruner, Annika Weertz, Masha Wysocka.
More information: calling.fotohof.at
Magazine Presentation & Projection
This year, eleven artists were invited to Salzburg to discuss their work with the FOTOHOF team and invited experts. During the evening, the artists will present the works they submitted for the 2026 Open Call in the form of pop-up presentations in the gallery’s workshop spaces.
Visitors will be able to view the projects as prints, portfolios or book dummies brought by the artists, and engage in conversation and exchange with the participating artists. This will be followed by the presentation of the FOTOHOF>CALLING Magazine 2026. The 25 projects on the longlist will be shown as an open-air projection on the forecourt of the gallery, accompanied by a DJ set.
Artists: Pavle Banović, Mark Chehodaiev, Marija Đondovic, Melanie Forsthuber, Tim Gassauer, Alexander Henting, Ronja Hermann, Ruslana Kliuchko, Jakob Nonnen, Jakub Nowaczyk, Masha Wysocka.
Experts: Margot Wallard, photographer from France; Magdalena Vukovic, curator at Photoinstitut Bonartes, Vienna; István Virágvölgyi, artistic director of Capa Center Budapest; Lisa Ortner-Kreil, curator at Landesgalerie Niederösterreich.
Long Night of the Museums
Popup Presentations
8 pm, FOTOHOF>BIBLIOTHEK
Magazine Release und Projection
9 pm, FOTOHOF>GALERIE
DJ-Set: Jan Leitner
Talk with Margot Wallard
10 pm, FOTOHOF>GALERIE
Conversation as part of the current exhibition »Oran« between French artist Margot Wallard and Birgit Sattlecker (FOTOHOF)
→ To the exhibition: Salon of Photography: In Honor of Nicéphore Niépce
As the granddaughter of a »Pied-Noir« (a term used to describe the French population in Algeria during the violent French colonial rule from 1830 to 1962), Margot Wallard seeks to reflect the fluidity and mutability of memory and to expand it through a new perspective.
During her visits to Oran between 2018 and 2020, she explored the city with her camera and, while her biographical search for traces of the past, encountered a new generation: present, complex, and self-determined. This resulted in portrait series centered around the Bonbon Café, she photographed street scenes, urban vegetation, and the still-evident traces of the colonial past in the cityscape.
In her exhibition, Margot Wallard interweaves her grandmother’s photo archive with her own images from Algeria and with photographs she took of her grandmother during her final years in France.
Saturday, 03.10.26, 10 pm
Talk as part of the Long Night of Museums:
Margot Wallard in conversation with Birgit Sattlecker (FOTOHOF)
Salon of Photography
We want to celebrate the milestone of “200 Years of Photography” with an exhibition that offers an engaging and humorous glimpse into the studios of Salzburg photographers. The exhibition concept is based on an invitation to each artist to identify the earliest work within their own oeuvre and make it available for the exhibition, either as a vintage print or as a reconstruction.
The curatorial idea is founded on the assumption that this approach will make visible and open to discussion the diverse starting points and artistic concepts from which each photographer’s subsequent body of work developed. The number of participants will determine the form of the presentation: a “Salon de Paris” of the 19th century, characterized by an excessive spatial and conceptual concentration of highly diverse personalities and formal approaches.
→ To the exhibition: Salon of Photography: In Honor of Nicéphore Niépce