Violent Images

Images both reflect and exert violence: AI mimics war photography in Gaza; snapshots from Abu Ghraib become a meme shared around the world; surveillance expands with automated image production and analysis; sexist images still permeate advertising and entertainment. Violent images are part of our lives. They shape how we perceive the world. They may represent violence directly, or their violent potential may be associated with their production, dissemination, or use. 
Many questions arise: Where does the violence in and of the image begin? What makes an image violent? Who decides this, and in what context? How do production technologies and distribution channels influence the relationship between image and (the exercise of) violence? And how do artists deal with the issue of violence and the violent potential of image technologies?
Through the lens of various disciplines, Violent Images investigates the politics of visual violence and its potential to provoke, subvert, and transform social, political, and media discourses. The artists and scholars invited to contribute to this image-text publication discuss "The Whiteness of Silicon Valley's Digital Ecologies" (Stephanie Polsky); "Gender and Violence in News Media and Photography" (Roland Bleiker and Emma Hutchison); transgressive image-making practices (Monica M. Haller), and more. All the contributors critically examine established and emerging visual concepts of violence, suggesting that our engagement with them is inherently political and more pressing than ever.
Continuing Giulia Cordin and Eva Leitolf's exploration begun with Landscape with(out) Locus, Violent Images explores the intricate relationship between visual culture and the social and economic conditions that influence and are influenced by it. It illustrates the need for a more critical and engaged approach to visual representation and communication in the context of local and global conflicts and crises.