The Age of Images

Catalog description

In 2022, 54,400 photos were taken per second, 196 million per hour, 4.7 billion per day. We are surrounded by surveillance cameras, viral images, selfies, social media, gaming culture, Google Earth, news outlets, advertising and reproductions. Is the image a new social currency for the articulation of our identities? How does machine viewing change our view and experience of the world, when we can travel the globe, view the interior of our bodies, and watch the bombardment of cities on various electronic devices? How do we mediate reality as we click, swipe, scroll, delete and like, and how is this imagery experienced in different global contexts? What do these pictures want from us? This course addresses such critical questions from a global perspective drawing on a range of examples from popular culture, media, news, art and photographic practices and visual cultures across the globe. Students will have the opportunity to author a visual essay and develop visual literacy skills.