Elena Efeoglou: Blurring Reality and Fiction – August Sander meets AI

An Exhibition at Die Photographische Sammlung/SK Stiftung Kultur, Part of “Artist Meets Archive” by the Internationale Photoszene Köln

At the heart of the exhibition project is the Greek artist Elena Efeoglou (*1978 in Drama, Greece) and her engagement with selected portraits by August Sander (1876–1964) from his portfolio “People of the 20th Century”. During a multi-week residency at Die Photographische Sammlung/SK Stiftung Kultur in summer 2024, Efeoglou reviewed a wide range of photographs by the renowned photographer, whose objective yet profound portraits form an impressive chronicle of German society between 1900 and 1950.
From this collection, Efeoglou selected ten photographs and wrote fictional texts imagining possible biographical contexts, emotional tensions, and social backgrounds of the depicted individuals. Using artificial intelligence, she then generated further corresponding images. These AI-generated visuals echo the atmosphere and appearance of the historical photographs, while deliberately diverging from their documentary character. Instead, they open up new narrative layers and question the boundaries between reality, memory, and projection. The AI-generated portraits serve as visual resonance spaces – inspired by historical imagery, but detached from an actual past.
The exhibition invites visitors to reflect on the possibilities of contemporary image-making and its relationship to photographic heritage. Efeoglou’s works offer a fresh perspective on historical portraiture, bridging documentary history and speculative present.