By SUNSHINEGIRL
Last week, I attended The Ethics of Image panel, which featured panelists Emmanuela Kucik, Jefferson Pooley, Elenea FitzPatrick Sifford, and Jeremey Teissere. The conversation started off with the concept that images aren’t neutral, and an example of this could be a picture of former President Donald Trump sitting in the oval office. The speaker explains that photos like this are filled with assumptions. Dr. Elena talked about how depictions in art and media have created stereotypes of black people. These stereotypes have challenged and characterized the experiences of black people. An example of this is black people being portrayed as supplicants in religious pieces of media, such as Saint Luis Beltran baptizing an African justice. Then she showed a coin that depicted Simon Bolivar (a Creole) freeing slaves and then explained how the Thomas Ball, Emancipation Memorial, was paid by the formerly enslaved. She talked about Frederick Douglas’ critique of this memorial. His critique included the fact that Abraham Lincoln was towering over the slave and the slave was taking a knee. In recent years, there has been a protest against the movement at the memorial. In 2016, the image of kneeling was re-imagined by the kneeling of various football players, such as Colin Kaepernick, who took a knee during the national anthem to protest the unfair treatment of black Americans and their oppression. Dr. Emmanuela Kuick then discussed how society charges genocide. She discussed how postcards of lynching were common images on postcards. In my education about genocide, I had never learned about how photographs of lynchings were used in postcards. She explained that the everyday spread of these images was used as a teaching tool for the younger generations. In 1961, the Civil Rights Congress used these images to refer to these hate crimes as genocide. It was dismissed by the United Nations. The Civil Rights Congress used these images as a key part of their argument. Then Jefferson Pooley talked about the medium of images. He explained that they are presentational and discursive. He also explained how photographs stop time. I was unable to listen to panelist Jeremey Teissere’s full discussion because I had to get up. What I do remember is that he discussed how medical photographs such as x-rays can be manipulated, and this manipulation causes issues with the validity of medical journals and articles. The overall panel had this common message, which was the ethics of images and the effect of these images on society. Overall, I really enjoyed this panel, and it kept me engaged throughout the discussion. It was also nice to see the connections between the different fields of study come together to discuss the ethics of images. It made me reflect on how images can make or break others perceptions and how these images ultimately create stereotypes or inform people.
