Backstories

Kathy Ryan will choose a handful of photographs that stand out in her mind from the pages of The New York Times Magazine during the 39 years she worked there. She will share the backstory for each picture to give insight into how that image came into being. The photographs will cover a wide range of subject matter including international news, lifestyle stories, and culture coverage.

Ryan will also show and talk about some of the photographs from her Office Romance series that she made during the last decade she worked at The NYTMAG. They are a love poem to her colleagues and a celebration of the radiant light in the Renzo Piano-designed New York Times building.

The longtime director of photography at The New York Times Magazine, Kathy Ryan has been a pioneer of combining fine art photography with photojournalism. She has worked with the world’s best photographers across all genres of photography. She regularly brought new talent into The Magazine’s pages. She left The Times after 39 years to focus on her own artwork, curating exhibitions, teaching a course at Yale, and speaking engagements.

In 2011, Ryan edited The New York Times Magazine Photographs, a landmark book published by Aperture. An accompanying exhibition, curated by Ryan and Lesley Martin opened at the Rencontres d’Arles in 2012, traveled to FOAM Museum in Amsterdam, Palau Robert in Barcelona, Universidad Católica in Santiago and ended its run at the Aperture Gallery in New York City.

Ryan has contributed essays and Q&A’s to books by photographers Lee Friedlander, Christopher Payne, Seydou Keïta, Paolo Pellegrin, Lynsey Addario, Jack Davison and Brian Finke. She was the picture editor of Feeling the Spirit by Chester Higgins.

The Magazine‘s photography and videos have been recognized with numerous awards. Ryan was awarded the Dr. Erich Salomon Prize from the German Photographic Society in September 2025. Ryan was a recipient of a lifetime achievement award from the Griffin Museum of Photography in 2007; the Royal Photographic Society’s annual award for Outstanding Service to Photography in 2012; the Vision Award at the Center for Photography at Woodstock in 2014; and the Outstanding Contribution to Photography recognition from Creative Review in 2016. Ryan has been recognized as Photo Editor of the Year by the Lucie Awards and Visa Pour l’Image. Ryan won two Emmy’s for videos she produced for The New York Times Magazine’s Great Performers series. Kathy was the International Center of Photography’s Spotlight honoree in 2024.

Office Romance, a book of Ryan’s photographs featuring her colleagues and the beauty and poetry to be found in the radiant light in the New York Times building was published by Aperture in 2014. This work has been exhibited in Europe and the U.S. All of Ryan’s photography is done with the iPhone.

AI & Performance

The workshop will give the main keys of Performance Art and its intersections with disciplines, technologies and concepts to propose the exploration of a creative investigative process based on IA and performance. We will explore the history, theories, and practices of Performance Art while learning about the interactions between Performance Art and other disciplines, to be able to incorporate technology and IA into a transdisciplinary creative process.

Núria Nia

Trained in cinema, digital art and communication, doctoral student in Fine Arts at the University of Barcelona, ​​her artistic practice starts from the audiovisual medium to combine with other forms such as performance or installation, activating mixtures of contexts and practices several that nurture theoretical and artistic research on topics such as digital bodies, digital work, the image-screen, the performed archive and collective thought.

Love me one time, two times … x times !

The lecture is not a conventional showcase of selected projects from our daily practice, but rather aims to provide a broader insight into the network of actors in which b+ (bplus.xyz) operates, how we understand the contemporary way of an architectural practice and scope of work of an architect, and how we approach our projects—in short: who b+ is and how we work, what our values are, and what our understanding of our duties and responsibilities as architects is.

Jonas Janke (DE, 1991) is an architect and partner at bplus.xyz (Berlin). He has a diverse background in architecture, was trained as an architectural draughtsman before pursuing his studies in Hamburg, Stockholm, and Berlin. He gained valuable experience as a tutor and assistant in various departments including design & typologies, building construction, and structural design. He was part of the team 2038, the German Pavilion at 17th Venice Architecture Biennale 2021.

His early teaching experiences include guest studios at the University of Innsbruck (Austria) and Politecnico di Milano (Italy). He is regularly invited to give lectures and guest critiques at universities, cultural institutions, and public institutions. His focus is on new ecological construction materials and methods for adaptive reuse and renovation projects, seeking pragmatic and efficient technical and mechanical solutions that use material and construction thoughtfully.

bplus.xyz (b+) is a collaborative architecture practice (led by Arno Brandlhuber, Olaf Grawert, Jonas Janke and Roberta Jurčić) that operates at the intersection of theory and practice, using different media and formats. The practice seeks to engage with the contemporary challenges of our time, particularly those related to the social-ecological transformation of existing buildings, offering economically viable solutions.

b+ understands architecture as an open process, and views buildings as part of larger systems that require a systemic approach. The practice sees the given framework of existing buildings and legislation as an active design tool with the potential for transformation. Thus, b+ celebrates the potential of the existing built environment and aims to reveal and activate the latent potentials within.

b+ emphasizes working with different actors and stakeholders in project development. The practice values their knowledge and expertise and aims to create spaces for exchange and collaboration. b+ seeks to advance a new value system in architecture, one that places greater emphasis on collective responsibility, systemic thinking, and ecologically and economically viable solutions.

The current project in the field of political activism is the European citizens’ initiative HouseEurope! – HouseEurope! wants to create incentives that make renovation the new norm. This will boost the renovation market and give new value to what is already there. The goal is to preserve homes and communities, ensure a fairer and more local building industry, save energy and resources, and preserve our memories and stories.

AI for Good Global Summit 2026 is the leading United Nations global event focused on using artificial intelligence to address major global challenges. Over five days, experts from technology, design, science, public policy and international organisations come together to explore how AI can contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals. The event combines conferences, technology showcases, workshops and multidisciplinary collaboration spaces.

AI for Good is a United Nations initiative led by ITU that promotes the responsible use of artificial intelligence to generate positive social impact. Through summits, projects and collaborative platforms, it connects governments, companies, researchers and designers to develop technological solutions aligned with current and future social, environmental and humanitarian challenges.

Garden of Light, Movement & Sound is an intensive workshop where students explore collaboration between humans, artificial intelligence and physical systems. Over four days, participants design and build reactive plants that respond to human presence through light, sound and movement. The workshop combines creativity, technology and hands-on experimentation, culminating in a collective installation that embodies the idea of human machine co creation.

The workshop offers a collaborative learning environment focused on creative experimentation with artificial intelligence and basic electronics. Participants work in small groups to design an interactive object using Arduino, sensors and AI tools as creative support. The process prioritises exploration, hands-on learning and the collective construction of a shared interactive installation.

Stephanie Rodriguez is a professional working at the intersection of technology and human experience. With a background in mechatronics engineering and intelligent interactive systems, she specialises in artificial intelligence, programming, data science and human robot interaction. Her work focuses on the ethical and human centred use of technology in creative and educational contexts.