This thesis is focused on the portrayal of Arabs and Muslims in post 9/11 war films and television shows. The case studies used to do research on this topic were the popular and mainstream...Show moreThis thesis is focused on the portrayal of Arabs and Muslims in post 9/11 war films and television shows. The case studies used to do research on this topic were the popular and mainstream productions: The Kingdom (2007), Lone Survivor (2013), and Homeland (2011). The aim of this research was to examine how Arabs and Muslims were depicted in these productions and identify the underlying causes of these portrayals. The analyzation reveals that the majority of Arab/Muslim characters were portrayed as violent and dangerous, reinforcing negative stereotypes that originated from orientalism and have been incorporated in films since the beginning of the twentieth century. The stereotypes that have been identified within the case studies include: the Islamic rage boy, the savage and violent terrorist, the sex-deprived Muslim, and the portrayal of Islam as a violent religion. In order to be as thorough as possible, the following sub-questions have been answered: (1) How was the connection between the U.S. Military and Hollywood constructed, and what did it entail before 9/11? (2) How did the combination of a jingoistic sense of national identity, desire for retribution and the relationship between Hollywood and the Ministry of Defense, create the ideal circumstances for the vilification of Arabs and Muslims in the wake of 9/11? (3) In which way were Arabs and Muslims depicted/portrayed in in post-9/11 war films and television such as The Kingdom, Lone Survivor and Homeland? The first sub-question has displayed why it was “normal” for Hollywood producers to meet up with the people from the U.S. government by describing the history of the relationship of Hollywood and the U.S. military. The second sub-question was focused on how the American society reacted towards the 9/11 attacks and what kind of rhetoric was popularized as a consequence. This rhetoric created the ideal circumstances for the vilification of Arabs and Muslims. In the last sub-question, analyzed scenes, visuals, and dialogue from the case studies showcase that Arab and Muslim characters were depicted in a negative light. The latter meant that the events of 9/11 still had a substantial influence on the productions and it showed that Matusitz, Bayraktaroğlu and Westwell were wrong by claiming that the tone of post 9/11 cinema had a turnaround from 2004 onwards as a result of the Abu Ghraib scandal, because the negative stereotypes were still very prominent within the case studies.Show less
Dealing with one’s mental health after experiencing physical trauma is brave but sharing one’s own experience with a broader public opens up an important conversation about trauma and mental health...Show moreDealing with one’s mental health after experiencing physical trauma is brave but sharing one’s own experience with a broader public opens up an important conversation about trauma and mental health. Contemporary emerging photographers deal with their trauma through self-portrait photography, which has a therapeutic function that is self-initiated but also opens up a bigger conversation. By showing visible and invisible traces of their traumatic experiences by taking self-portraits, these photographers deal with their personal traumas via self-reflection. This thesis uses visual analysis to analyse two main case studies and their peers to see how self-portrait photography can be used to reflect on mental trauma after experiencing physical trauma. The aim is to see how self-portrait photography specifically can be used to reflect the mental trauma that is left after having suffered from physical trauma that was inflicted onto the body.Show less
This thesis explores the application of corporeally bereft urban landscapes in the medium of photography. In my case study, I examine Mauricio Lima's photographs as he retraces Eugéne Atget's steps...Show moreThis thesis explores the application of corporeally bereft urban landscapes in the medium of photography. In my case study, I examine Mauricio Lima's photographs as he retraces Eugéne Atget's steps in Paris during the height of the COVID pandemic of 2020. I aim to provide insights into the multiple roles and meanings that “empty places” can take on and connote. To elucidate, I engage with concepts such as the decontextualized place, Benjamin's notion of the Optical Unconscious, rephotography, and appropriation. Additionally, I question the use, shifts, and possible expanded meaning gained through the combination of images with text.Show less
The monumental and breathtaking grand vistas seen in technologically advanced sublime landscape photography aiming to objectively warn about the fragile state of the earth, raise the question of...Show moreThe monumental and breathtaking grand vistas seen in technologically advanced sublime landscape photography aiming to objectively warn about the fragile state of the earth, raise the question of whether landscape photography could offer a less heroic, yet ethically engaging counter language that facilitates a responsive involvement with our environment. The research introduces the concept of a non-representative “minor landscape photography” as a change-seeking approach to camera technology that regains the ideological erasure of subjective technological vision. In that sense, minor landscape photography rejects the humanist ideology of objective vision that conceptually excludes the observer from the field of vision. Assisted by an elaborate case study with photographers that are critically involved with landscape representation the research investigates three counter perspectives to “unsee” the authoritative, all-seeing eye of disembodied vision. In a performative process of embodied unseeing, the perspectives operate on reduced visibility with photographs that consciously act as mediating surfaces between the observer and the world. Ultimately, in favour of a non-oppositional, multi-perspectival and transformative liaison with contemporary technology and its subject matter, the research emphasises the ethical promise of minor landscape photography to inform a “world that is yet to be.” In times of environmental concern, the ultimate rejection of technology’s repressive magic and its static “view from nowhere” invite camera technology to assist in the formation of a liberating, life-informing and eco-conscious landscape photography that empowers accountable “views from somewhere” to evolve.Show less
There are many things that escape our perception on a daily basis. Ranging from paranormal encounters to neurophysiological health to algorithmic control, there is a plethora of invisible phenomena...Show moreThere are many things that escape our perception on a daily basis. Ranging from paranormal encounters to neurophysiological health to algorithmic control, there is a plethora of invisible phenomena that dominate western culture. Because these things live outside of human perception, they require extra steps to prove their existence. Historically, photography has been a useful tool to capture the invisible. This thesis will investigate the representation of invisibility and its aesthetic forms in the twenty-first century. Specifically, with a focus on new media art. Melting Memories is an artwork by Refik Anadol which discusses the elusive nature of our memory. To represent memory as a tangible object, Anadol has leaned heavily on a photographic history as well as on a transparent aesthetic and policy that is projected onto the algorithmic. Moreover, this transparency is rooted in a photographic spectrality that has been redefined to fit new technology. Melting Memories is a reimagining of real neurophysiological data on memory collection in a way that touches on memory preservation and individual versus collective experiences. The artwork is an ode to memory and a celebration of its changeable nature that was meant to combat the morbid truths of memory loss. By incorporating all these themes, this work becomes a productive case study for investigating the alleged dichotomy between the invisible and the visible in the current media landscape.Show less
Raffaella Carrà (1943-2021) was an Italian actor, singer and television presenter with a career that spanned over fifty years (1960-2000s), achieving international fame by the 1970s, particularly...Show moreRaffaella Carrà (1943-2021) was an Italian actor, singer and television presenter with a career that spanned over fifty years (1960-2000s), achieving international fame by the 1970s, particularly within Europe and Latin America. Carrà’s stardom was marked by her controversial stance with regards to sex and freedom of sexuality. She had an extensive fan base and went on to be heralded as an icon of women’s liberation and the LGBTQ+ movement. She broke the well-established image of what an Italian woman should be, re-appropriated the significance of femininity and broke bounds of tradition. Carrà had a multi-faceted career, however, she owed the longevity of her presence in the public eye and her status as a pop icon to her collaboration with the Italian national broadcasting channels of the RAI (Radiotelevisione Italia). Under the control of a government-run administrative body, the RAI as all other vestiges of Italian society, was under the influence of both religious and political conservativism of the post WWII years. Carrà stepped into the public visual space on a stage provided to her by the RAI, during a period where Italy faced both political turmoil domestically and stood in the path of strong winds of change that blew across the Western world at large. This thesis will analyse how Raffaella Carrà used television as a space to promote message of change and equality for the conservative Italian society. Her iconicity will be examined through textual analysis of her lyrics and the visual analysis of her image. The three-way interplay between audience, broadcast media and pop icon will be studied through the eyes of cultural critics. It will be shown that Carrà stepped onto the public stage with agency. By recognising and directly addressing the concerns of her multifarious audience, she refined the concept of television audiencehood in Italy and opened space for the marginalised members of society.Show less
