Image as Translation: The Ideological Implication of the Camera Obscura for Media Studies

Authors

  • Philippe Theophanidis York University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17742/IMAGE.VT.11.3.2

Keywords:

image, translation, ideology, <i>camera obscura</i>, media

Abstract

This essay relies on the historical figure of the camera obscura, as the site or place of articulation between the visible and the invisible. With the help of iconographic documents, it shows that it is not merely a process of inversion that defines the camera obscura. Indeed, a crucial spatial component is at play in the medium of the room itself: the camera is the very milieu where both an inversion and a displacement take place. From this perspective, it will appear more clearly that visibility does not stand beside or float above the invisible, but “takes place” right at its heart.

Author Biography

Philippe Theophanidis, York University

Philippe Theophanidis is Assistant Professor with the Communications Program at Glendon Campus, York University. He holds a Ph.D. in Communication Studies from Université de Montréal. He is interested in philosophies of communication, media studies and visual culture. He has published academic articles and book chapters in French and English on a variety of topics, ranging from cinema to contemporary political issues.
Imaginations 11-3 (2020) cover: Cia Rinne's <i>Das Erhabene</i>

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Published

2021-02-23

How to Cite

Theophanidis, P. (2021). Image as Translation: The Ideological Implication of the Camera Obscura for Media Studies. Imaginations: Journal of Cross-Cultural Image Studies, 11(3), 15–31. https://doi.org/10.17742/IMAGE.VT.11.3.2

Issue

Vol. 11 No. 3 (2020): Visibility and Translation / Visibilité et traduction

Section

Articles

License

Creative Commons License
This work by https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/imaginations is licensed under a  Creative Commons 4.0 International License although certain works referenced herein may be separately licensed, or the author has exercised their right to fair dealing under the Canadian Copyright Act.