The politicization of images: from the mechanical era to the digital communication networks

Abstract

The political potential of images produced by activists in recent social protests that emerge all over the planet can be better comprehended if a pre-existent field of knowledge calls our attention. In this sense, our intention is to show to what extent contemporary images dialogue with visual political strategies previously verified and what original aspects they bring to the current debate about digital images and their political environment. Broadly speaking, it can be noticed that such images impose themselves by urgency, emotional appeal emphasizing the body and the extension of meaning acquired in digital communication networks, showing lines of continuality and disruption with the political-imagetic tradition surrounding them.