External Speaker
March 20, 2026

Trine Søndergaard is external speaker at the PhD course; The image as empiric material and visual research communication, at The Royal Academy, Copenhagen

The course addresses the systematic collection of data and use of empirical material with a particular focus on photography and phenomenological method. The photographic image is the focal point as a tool for registration and documentation, as a medium for visual communication as well as an independent artistic form of presentation. The course concerns the theoretical foundation, methodological approaches and practical skills in relation to using the image as empirical evidence and visual communication.

The purpose of the course is to qualify the academic legitimacy and quality of the use of images for data collection and research communication. The course is broadly aimed at research students from architecture, design, conservation, philosophy, anthropology, archaeology, geography, engineering and other research fields within the humanities and social sciences. The focal point is a common interest in the use of photography as empirical material and form of communication, including the associated philosophical theories, phenomenological methods and hands-on, practical approaches.

The course is structured around lectures with the participation of invited guests, discussions based on the compendium texts, practical exercises and individual presentations of a homework assignment in the form of a selection of photographs, phenomenological descriptions, reflections and discussions – preferably related to one’s own PhD project. This can, for example, be as part of documenting places and people, taking registry of objects and works of architecture, selecting and curating images for research or the systematic visual presentation of observations.

Read more about the course here.