Abstracts
Abstract
If the smartphone typifies the post-photographic interface, then the data center epitomizes post-photographic infrastructure. Through critical engagement with cloud computing and its ecological impact on natural environments, this article problematizes the metaphorical conception of ecology in media studies, and argues for a materialist approach to post-photography that takes account of the natural resources and material infrastructures enabling contemporary image practices.
Résumé
Si le smartphone incarne le parangon des interfaces post-photographiques, la ferme de serveurs constitue l’archétype de l’infrastructure post-photographique. À travers une critique de l’informatique en nuage et de son impact écologique sur l’environnement naturel, cet article problématise la conception métaphorique de l’écologie qui prime au sein des études médiatiques. L’argument proposé défend une approche matérialiste de la post-photographie qui tient compte des ressources naturelles et infrastructures matérielles grâce auxquelles les pratiques contemporaines de l’image sont rendues possibles.
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Appendices
Biographical note
Nina Lager Vestberg is Professor of Visual Culture at NTNU (Norwegian University of Science and Technology). She was educated in the UK, and holds a PhD in the history of art from Birkbeck, University of London. Before embarking on an academic career Nina worked as a picture researcher in the UK press, a background which has shaped her research interest in the impact of digital technology on photographic archives. Her work has been published in international refereed journals, and she sits on the editorial board of History of Photography. Nina is also engaged in research on the environmental aspects of media technologies, and recently co-edited a volume entitled Media and the Ecological Crisis (2015, with Richard Maxwell and Jon Raundalen).
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