The Present Image

The Present Image explores the world of images in the contemporary, increasingly digitized, habitats of the world. Moving across a theoretical spectrum that brings visual and digital culture in touch with anthropology, political theory, phenomenology and art-history, and based on the author's practice-based involvement with images, the book argues against the idea of the digital as a revolution in the world of images. Present images are the result of a dialectic between the material and the immaterial, the manual and the mechanical, the visible and the audible, the old and the new. Offering an analysis containing simultaneously elements of timeliness and timelessness, the book addressed practices such as VR and 360 degrees, iDocs and action cameras in a dialogue with classical art, religious iconography, early photography and contemporary art. In the final chapter the book explores the significance of images and image-making in the context of dying, mourning and living.

Draws connections between the history of mechanically produced images with understandings of intangible visuals Offers a critical exploration of contemporary emerging visual technologies while illustrating how they can live beyond the specific technologies and practices addressed and their present popularity Uses a multi-method approach drawing from ethnography to communication studies

Autorentext

Paolo S. H. Favero is Associate Professor in Film Studies and Visual Culture at the University of Antwerp, Belgium. A visual anthropologist, he has devoted his career to the study of visual culture in India. His core interest is the role of images (new and old) in human life.

Inhalt

1. Introduction: Present Images.- 2. Participated Images.- 3. Immersive Images.- 4. Material Images.- 5. Images of Living and Dying.