For her final project in the Campaigns class of the Visual Communication program, Paula Hornickel documented encounters between humans and robots across Germany—from robots used in hospitals to robot dogs that provide companionship in people's homes. Despite skepticism surrounding the future of AI and robotics, she presents the human-machine relationship in a hopeful light. Her work, Anthrobocene, has now been awarded the prestigious World Press Photo Award, an international prize for documentary photography.

Her project has also been shortlisted for the Nikon Fotobus Grant, was longlisted for the Ian Parry Photojournalism Grant, and has been selected for a photobook workshop led by Rob Hornstra as well as a curatorial workshop at C/O Berlin in 2025.

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