Laura Pérez León (Cornell University) will give a short talk concerning the social use of visual representations.
Abstract:
"On the one hand, we draw on the content of photographic representations to move forward in debates and questions that concern social matters, just as we do when we visit a photography exhibition about migration in the U.S. or institutional corruption in Mexico. On the other hand, the evidential character of photographs has been disputed by their opaque character. In other words, photographic representations, reveal certain information but conceal other. In order to give photographs a social use, we need a view that grounds their transparent character as much as their opacity. I argue that thinking of photographs as social artifacts might be that view."
Further information
Jani Hakkarainen (jani.hakkarainen@tuni.fi)