SITUATION #206

Both in optical and algorithmic photographic systems, guns and cameras have often inhabited a shared space with overlapping interests. Much of the jargon around the photographic act derives from military terminology such as the “armed eye” for assistance in optical magnification, “loading” or “unloading” the film, as well as “pointing” the camera and “shooting” a photo. Furthermore, there is an intertwined technological history of photography and the military complex – from cameras used in combat training to photo safaris sublimating the act of hunting, from aerial reconnaissance to algorithmic systems in drones and CCTV cameras used for identifying enemies and protesters. The following online mind map is a research board created by the curatorial team of Fotomuseum Winterthur to map this interrelationship through different trajectories and developments of the apparatus, from 19th century photographic practices all the way to contemporary imaging systems.Explore the map here: miro.com/app/board/o9J_kn7btEE=