Seeing and Believing: Religion, Digital Visual Culture, and Social Justice

Social media platforms are often criticized for creating "bubbles" or "echo chambers," but social movements like Black Lives Matter rely on the widespread dissemination of digital photographs and videos to challenge normative and normalized ways of grasping the world. Visual images can prompt viewers to see differently and bring people together. Seeing and Believing by Ellen T. Armour examines the significance of digital images in the struggle for social justice, exploring the challenges and opportunities presented by visually saturated social media landscapes. It offers theological perspectives on the power and peril of photography and technology and provides suggestions for navigating the new media landscape to spark "photographic insurrection."

Format: Hardback
Length: 248 pages
Publication date: 04 July 2023
Publisher: Columbia University Press

Social media platforms have been criticized for creating "bubbles" or "echo chambers," where users are only exposed to information that reinforces their existing beliefs. This reinforces what they already believe, shaping their perception of the world. However, social movements like Black Lives Matter have heavily relied on the widespread dissemination of digital photographs and videos through social media. Visual images have the potential to challenge normative and normalized ways of grasping the world and prompt viewers to see differently.

In her book "Seeing and Believing: The Power and Peril of Photography and Technology," Ellen T. Armour examines the significance of digital images in the struggle for social justice. She distinguishes digital photography from its analogue predecessor and places the circulation of digital images in the broader context of virtual visual cultures. Armour explores the challenges and opportunities that visually saturated social media landscapes present for users and organizers.

Despite the power of digital platforms and algorithms, there are possibilities for disruption and resistance to emerge from how people engage with these systems. Armour offers ways of seeing drawn from Christianity and other religious traditions to help break with entrenched habits and rethink how we engage with the images that grab our attention. She develops theological perspectives on the power and peril of photography and technology to provide suggestions for navigating the new media landscape that can spark what she calls "photographic insurrection."

Overall, "Seeing and Believing" provides a valuable exploration of the role of digital images in shaping our perception of the world and the potential for visual images to promote social change. By offering theological perspectives and practical suggestions, Armour encourages readers to engage with the images that surround us in a more critical and thoughtful way.

Dimension: 216 x 140 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780231209045