Yanai Toister

My academic trajectory originated in art practice—primarily in photography and conceptual art—marked by significant international exhibitions. These formative experiences, alongside brief engagements in photojournalism and human rights work, prompted my return to academia, where I immersed myself in the theory and philosophy of art, analytic aesthetics, and German media studies. Currently, I am primarily a scholar, though I still occasionally engage in film and media art.

My research has been published in edited volumes and leading academic journals. My first scholarly monograph, Photography from the Turin Shroud to the Turing Machine (Intellect/University of Chicago Press), interrogated the conceptual evolution of photography as an inscriptive, depictive, and programmable medium, while simultaneously challenging entrenched notions of ‘artisthood.’

My current research resides at the confluence of visual studies, media philosophy, and image theory, with a specific focus on technical and synthetic images. I examine how visual apparatuses and programmes—both sentient and non-sentient—generate information that not only shapes individual perception and cognition but also exerts a profound influence on collective behaviour and the broader trajectories of societies. Recent projects have scrutinised the shifting paradigms of image-making in the context of autonomous technologies and non-visual data systems, as well as the development of post-visual aesthetics—wherein electromagnetic and coded signals, imperceptible to human sensory faculties, wield increasing impact in cultural, political, and ecological contexts.

Broadly, my current research can be articulated through three interrelated domains of inquiry:

(1) Interrogating the implications of “algorithmic thinking” (drawing from Frieder Nake) for the future of visual culture and aesthetics. This strand of my research critically engages with the historical and conceptual development of both hardware and software systems, from early computational experiments of the 1960s to contemporary manifestations of generative artificial intelligence. I explore how information aesthetics, generative photography, and generative art are reshaping conventional understandings of creativity, authorship, and artistic production. These inquiries aim to elucidate how algorithms are reconfiguring not only the processes of creation but also the interpretation and value ascribed to visual artefacts.

(2) Exploring emergent visual systems that extend beyond human sensory limitations. This research domain investigates how non-human perceptual models, such as echolocation and electroreception, are reflected in designs and operational logics of contemporary visual technologies. By analysing how these systems engage with and construct realities through confluences of visual and non-visual data, I explore their capacity to challenge fundamental assumptions about human perception, representation, and agency. These complex technologies, all-too-often black-boxed and trademarked, not only introduce new conceptual frameworks for understanding visual experience but also raise crucial questions regarding how these systems contribute to cultural and environmental shifts. In particular, they prompt a reconsideration of human interactions with alternative modes of knowing that increasingly mediate political and ecological contexts.

(3) Examining the functional integration of visual information technologies into various societal systems, with particular attention to their deployment in everyday life. This domain of inquiry focuses on how visual and algorithmic systems are embedded within diverse infrastructures—ranging from medical practices, autonomous mobility and agricultural technologies, and even scientific research itself. I explore the design, implementation, and ethical challenges posed by these systems, focusing on issues of reliability, accountability, and governance. These technologies reshape the ways we interact with information and quotidian environments. Moreover, their integration into public and private spheres—whether in transforming medical diagnostics, sharing urban spaces autonomous vehicles, or managing ecological systems—necessitates a revaluation of how humans engage with automated processes that now mediate both our physical and intellectual environments. The profound shifts brought about by visual information systems signal a need to rethink not only our interactions with space and technology, but also our broader relationships with knowledge production, care, and sustainability.