Media Technology & Activism Flashcards
To which question does media technology and activism relate to?
Do systems of representation, technologies of representation, and anthropological media reflect or construct the world?
What characterises the rise of media technology and activism?
An effort to gain visibility
What is the argument of Sturken & Cartwright on interpretations of images in media technology?
Divergent interpretations of images
“The aura of machine objectivity clings to mechanical and electronic images.”
“the camera lens always involves some degree of subjective choice”
What is the importance of the Rodney King Trial (1992) in the evolution of media technology and activism?
Images and Justice
- Prosecutors and activists rely on an original video clip
- the Defense slowed down the clip and used portions of the frames, and suggested the meaning was not self-evident, but required process of abstraction to be interpreted
What are two principles of photographs in relation to media technology and activism?
- Images are always up for divergent interpretations
- their expressive and evocative qualities resisting an authoritative interpretation - Images are evidentiary and informative, capable of speaking for themselves
What is the positivist approach to photography?
19th century ideas:
- empirical truths could be established through visual evidence
- machines more reliable than humans
What is the myth of photographic truth (Sturken & Cartwright)?
“A photograph is often perceived to be an unmediated copy of the real world”
What is the role of photography beyond the normativity of the content and meaning?
- Social meaning
- Viewer’s own experience of the world
-> importance of context and subtext
How might abstracting from what is pictured in an image be done to distract or direct viewers?
In other words, what is central to the interpretation of an image?
Context:
- photographer
- subtext
- authority
- outlet
- alternate vantage points
Which lessons can we take from studies on police body cameras and the interpretation of police footage?
- It’s essential to have access to alternate vantage points: multiple footage
- One’s lived experiences “colour” the interpretation of a video
- Biases and stereotypes have a significant impact
- It’s essential to have the broader context of a video
What does authority refer to in media outlets (platforms)?
- Who produces and distributes the media
- Who is in control in the photograph
What is David MacDougall’s argument on transcultural cinema (1998)?
“The real crime of representation is representation itself”
“By freezing life, every film to some degree offends against the complexity of people and the destiny that awaits them”
-> some people fear photography
-> some religions forbid it
What does David Namer call “Mundane Technology”?
- “an episteme to understand oppression and Freire’s process of conscientização in the Information age”
- “digital technologies can be simultaneously sites of oppression and tools that can be appropriated by the oppressed in their pursuit of freedom”
How does David Namer use his framework of “Mundane Technologies” to understand the role of digital technologies in favelas?
- Residents grapple with daily challenges from specific forms of oppression in their lives
- They appropriate Mundane Technologies as an act of hope, and use technology to seek liberation
What is the role of the selfie in favelas (David Namer, ‘Technology of the Oppressed’)?
- “finding a safe space to hang out”
- Communicating to their close ones that they are safe in the context of street violence, between gangs, between gangs and police
- A way to communicate
