Baden, 13 June 2025. The international photo festival La Gacilly-Baden Photo has opened its doors with a multifaceted evening of inauguration. In the spa town of Baden, where for years images from around the world have unfolded in summer elegance and political depth, the opening evening spotlighted not only art – but also a moving humanitarian concern: the little-known illness ME/CFS.

Between Photography and Responsibility

After a brief welcome by Silvia Lammerhuber, the festival’s commercial director, artistic director Lois Lammerhuber introduced this year’s theme: Australia & The New World. Before that, a minute of silence was held for the victims of the recent mass shooting in Graz – a tragedy that was also addressed in several of the official speeches, reflecting how profoundly this act of violence has shaken society as a whole.

This was followed by speeches from political and diplomatic representatives – polite, cordial, interspersed with affirmations of art, sustainability, and dialogue. I will refrain, however, from measuring the lofty proclamations against the actual environmental, health, and cultural policies of the respective governments.

Silvia Lammerhuber during her opening speech

Lois Lammerhuber

Quite different – and far more immediate – was the moment when South African photographer Brent Stirton presented his work on ME/CFS via video message. Stirton, known for his powerful photo essays from conflict and crisis zones, spoke with palpable emotion about the silent suffering that affects millions worldwide (around 80,000 people in Austria alone!) and which remains largely ignored by the public.

Then Kornelia Spahn took to the stage – with visible effort.

Making the Invisible Visible: Kornelia Spahn Speaks about ME/CFS

These were, without doubt, the most moving moments of the evening. Severely affected by ME/CFS herself, Kornelia Spahn gave an impressive account of what this illness “feels like” – or rather: how it paralyses the body and the life of those affected. No pathos, no grand gestures – but every word hit home. It was a moment of profound dignity, raising the question of just how much strength it must have taken for her to speak publicly at all. The applause was long, sincere, deeply touched.

Kornelia Spahn

Former Austrian health minister Rudi Anschober, now a committed supporter of the ME/CFS initiative we&me, and Gerhard Ströck also addressed the audience, lending the topic both political and civil society depth. What began here is more than just a side event: it is an appeal to make illness visible – through photography, through words, through solidarity.

Brent Stirton’s video message

In Memoriam: Christine de Grancy & Sebastião Salgado

Two major losses also shaped the dramaturgy of the evening. Actress Mercedes Echerer commemorated Austrian photography doyenne Christine de Grancy, who passed away in March, with quiet intensity. Her tribute combined personal memories with a feminist perspective – a rare moment of justice for a woman too often overshadowed.

Mercedes Echerer

The legendary Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado, who died on 23 May, was also honoured. His close friend Cyril Drouhet found the right words: not sentimental, but marked by deep respect for the political and aesthetic power of photography, which Salgado embodied over decades.

Images, Music, Atmosphere

After the official speeches, the photographers present – Matthew Abbott, Adam Ferguson, Anne Zahalka, Viviane Dalles, Georg Steinmetz, Ulla Lohmann, Gael Turine, Hans-Jürgen Burkhard, Herbert Frei, Alfred Seiland, Isolde and Dieter Bornemann, and Markus Eisl – were invited onto the stage. A collective moment of recognition that culminated in the festival’s formal opening.

Group photo of participating photographers

The second part of the evening blended photography and music: images from the exhibitions were projected onto an 11 × 4 metre screen, accompanied by the Appalachian Spring Suite by Aaron Copland, performed by the Beethoven Frühling Festival Orchestra under the baton of Dorothy Khadem-Missagh. An audiovisual symbiosis that clearly touched the audience – a contemplative final chord before the evening concluded with a reception in the Max Reinhardt Foyer.

Dorothy Khadem-Missagh and the Beethoven Frühling Festival Orchestra

The La Gacilly-Baden Photo 2025 festival remains a platform for great photographic art – but it is also a forum for empathy and awareness. The concept of “concerned photography” mentioned by Lois Lammerhuber materialised at the opening – not just as an idea, but as lived practice.

Both in La Gacilly in Brittany and in Baden, this festival is not about abstract “beautiful images” – the photos on display show the world in all its diversity and beauty, but also the scars humankind inflicts on nature. Hot topics are addressed from multiple angles: George Steinmetz’s question of how many people the planet can feed is juxtaposed with the very concrete issue of food waste in Austrian households, portrayed by Isolde and Dieter Bornemann.

The courage to give the topic of ME/CFS a public platform cannot be praised highly enough. Especially in a time when political parties with growing influence – some of them even in provincial governments – deny the very existence of pandemics and prefer to campaign for alleged “vaccine victims” rather than support the real victims of COVID and ME/CFS. Incidentally, these are also the parties that ignore climate change and instead panic about “chemtrails.” Here, the power of photography becomes clear: it can present a vision of the world as it is – to those who can, and want to, see.

“Australia and the New World” is this year’s overarching theme. Perhaps this is the new world the festival means: one in which art not only shows – but acts.

Kurt Lhotzky

Note: This report may be quoted and shared freely – especially in support of ME/CFS initiatives in Austria. More about the we&me Foundation: www.weandme.net