The Bus
The Fotobus is a cultural and social offer for all students of photography, design, film, art and media. The Fotobus—a medium-sized coach with 32 seats—offers excursions and research trips to regional, national and international destinations. The trips by photobus are free of charge for the participating students. Expenses such as fuel, tolls, repairs, maintenance, insurance, taxes etc. are borne by the Fotobus Society.
The aim of the excursions and research trips with the photobus is to make a contribution to European international understanding, peace work and cultural and academic international exchange. Students are given the opportunity to establish international professional contacts and gain unique practical experience.
Christoph Bangert
The fotobus project was initiated by Christoph Bangert, a German photojournalist, author, educator and certified busdriver. Bangert has extensively covered the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for The New York Times and other publications. He is the author of several books including, War Porn (Kehrer 2014) and hello camel (Kehrer 2016). He teaches photojournalism and documentary photography at universities and photo schools. He lives in Cologne together with his wife and their two daughters.
Activities
➊ Excursions
photo festivals, exhibitions, workshops, scientific symposia and conferences
➋ Research trips
for the realisation of photographic group projects
➌ Cooperation projects
with partner universities at home and abroad
➍ Setup and support
group exhibitions of students at photo festivals, in museums, galleries or in public spaces
The activities of the photobus are accompanied by intensive media work.
If there should be more registrations for an excursion than free places in the photobus, a three-person committee decides on the allocation of the places. BAföG recipients, students who are not financially supported by their parents, students with a migration background and students with a disability will be given preference when selecting participants for the excursion. The same number of female and male students should be able to take part in excursions with the photobus.