Camera phones entered the marketplace in 1999(1)combining two technologies and industrial sectors– imaging and communications. At that time few imagined how people would seize their potential as image-makers and the difference this would make. Since then camera phones have brought significant changes to art and culture, businesses, markets, politics and society – arguably, democratising photography and putting an end to an era of celebrity photographers(2).
Anyone with a smartphone can now take a high-quality photo and share it on Instagram or other social media sites to great acclaim. Some images go viral, trigger debate about world events, even shift public awareness. Whether images can change the world though is open to question. From critiques of the ubiquitous selfie to proclamations about the end of privacy, the impact of the camera phone continues to provoke fierce debate. Certainly, the images produced and shared on social networks are shaping how we present our public and private selves, how we engage with friends and family, and how we see the world.
A phone camera in the hands of roughly 3 billion people - or 40% of the human population -means exposure to aspects of life that were previously hidden from public view. The compact portability of the camera phone allows for people, secretly, to record images that bear witness to crimes and misdemeanours, as well as wars and conflicts. There is no place to hide for authoritarian despots or protesters
The camera lens doesn’t just change what we see - whether we see things close-up or from a distance, it changes our relationship to the world because it changes how we see.
We carry an archive of photos around with us and most of us have only ever used a phone camera. This is changing the nature of photography. The time we spend taking, sharing, manipulating and gazing at images provoke many questions – are we seeing life through a lens?(3) Are social media platforms like Instagram turning us into voyeurs or narcissists or simply better photographers? Who controls what we see and what we don’t see? Can the digital traces that we leave behind ever be fully or finally erased? What can we do to protect our privacy and prevent the harmful effects of surveillance?
The instantaneous production and circulation of some images on a global scale have certainly brought changes not only to the ways world events are captured on camera. The camera lens doesn’t just change what we see - whether we see things close-up or from a distance, it changes our relationship to the world because it changes how we see. Susan Sontag has written eloquently about how news images of war encourage us to see human suffering from a distance with detachment(4).
Public debates rage unresolved about whether exposure to images of violence and death inure us to the pain of others or heighten our consciousness of suffering and empathy. There are no easy answers to such vexed questions, but we must consider carefully the impact of different contexts of the production, circulation and reception of images, and not presume effects on audiences. However we respond to these questions, there is no doubt that the modulation of our proximity and distance to the world, to what we see and how we see, has been transformed by the ubiquity and portability of the camera phone.
Courtesy of Knut Bry
The war in Syria has been the most documented in history, much of it captured and shared on smartphones. Indeed, while phone cameras have become important tools for many of us, for Syrian refugees they have become an essential tool. The Open University’s research(5) and teaching(6) and co-productions such as Exodus: Our Journey to Europe, investigated how smartphones are changing experiences of migration(7). We have documented how the smartphone is both a resource and a threat. It has become as important as food or water for Syrian refugees on their journey to safety(8). At the same time, when images of war crimes, torture or abuse on refugees’ phones get into the wrong hands, incarceration, torture and even death can follow. The smartphone enables surveillance by hostile forces on an unprecedented scale.
But smartphones have creative uses too. A new wave of refugee cinema is emerging forged by refugees who use images shot on their mobile devices to produce powerful documentary films. Outstanding examples from Syrian refugees include Silvered Waters. This harrowing film recombines footage from thousands of Syrians’ mobile phones to create a powerful story of life under siege and pose some searching questions. Its multi-authored, multi-layered narrative conveys a sense of the Syrian people themselves telling their stories. To watch an interview with the director, click here.
Poster for the film 'For Sama'
For Sama is a tale of love and war, family and friendship, courage and fear - of what it is like to live and work in a hospital in Aleppo under siege. It is a poignant filmic letter from a mother to her baby daughter Sama – full of courage, determination and hope.
These films combine an acute emotional and political intensity. They afford to close up insights into the horrors of war. They offer intimacy, authenticity and a new style of social realism, based on direct and immediate experiences. These films challenge mainstream representations of the Syrian war.
The camera phone also allows for new film forms to emerge. Midnight Travellers captures the epic journey to security of an Afghan family with compelling factual accuracy and with a depth of emotion and humanity that is extraordinary. It bears witness to the suffering endured with humour and love.
These films made with mobile devices are reaching new audiences and are widely available on Netflix, Channel 4 and/or YouTube. They are winning prizes and acclaim in international film circuits because they allow for new vantage points, they shift the frame, they move the gaze. They combine facts with feelings. They generate new knowledge and insights, creating empathy, compassion and solidarity. These films attest to the agency of image-makers in an interconnected world and make us aware of what we see, what we don’t see and above all, how we see.
Explore further: To learn more about the digital witnessing of war, watch a beautiful and inspiring short animation film that captures the poignancy and potency of images of war and its aftermath: 'Witnessing War and Conflict Animation'.
The programme that inspired this article:
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Age of the Image
Art historian James Fox explores how the power of images has transformed the modern world.
Learn moreAge of the Image
Qualifications
BSc (Honours) Computing & IT and Design
You will need a computer with internet access to study for this qualification. For most OU qualifications a Microsoft Windows (new since 2007), Apple Mac (OS X 10.6 or later) or Linux computer should be adequate. However, some qualifications require more specific IT equipment, in which case you will need additional software to use an Apple Mac or Linux computer. A detailed technical specification for your modules will be made available when you register. Please note, technical specifications do change over time to match computer developments and the way we teach.
Learn more ❯BSc (Honours) Computing & IT and Design
BA (Honours) Social Sciences
In a fast-changing world the social sciences seek answers to the big questions we face as a society. Those answers inform the work of anyone needing to base their decisions on the best available evidence ? civil servants, policy makers, business executives and many more. Half of your studies will be interdisciplinary social science and sociology, giving you a firm grounding in knowledge and ideas central to the social sciences. For the other half, you can specialise in criminology, economics, geography, politics, philosophy, psychology, religious studies or sociology, or you can choose a combination of modules that most suits your interests. Whatever path you take, you will acquire valuable transferable skills opening up employment opportunities in private, public and voluntary sector organisations.
Learn more ❯BA (Honours) Social Sciences
Modules
Introducing the social sciences
This OU level 1 module provides an ideal introduction to the social sciences ? psychology, social policy and criminology, geography and environment, politics and international studies, economics and sociology. You'll explore a wide range of topics which shape the nature of contemporary UK society; from questions of identity, inequalities and differences to consumerism and environment, and issues of social order, disorder and governance. Using a blend of text, audio, video and online materials, you'll be equipped with a range of skills for independent study and for your personal and working life.
Learn more ❯Introducing the social sciences
Introduction to computing and information technology 2
This module builds on (TM111) and prepares you for further study of computing and IT modules. You will:
Learn more ❯Introduction to computing and information technology 2Some free courses related to imagery
Reading visual images
What does a picture or an image tell you? This free course, Reading visual images, is an introduction to analysing and interpreting photographs as social data. Who controls what the image is saying? You will look at how photographs provide visual evidence and how they can illustrate and support our ideas about society.
Learn more ❯Reading visual images
Designing the user interface: Text, colour, images, moving images and sound
Why is the way something looks important? Text, colour, images, moving images and sound all interact to produce a user-friendly environment within a user interface. This free course, Designing the user interface, will help you understand the effect each software component has on the user and explain how a consistent and thoughtful application of these components can have a significant impact on the look of the final product.
Learn more ❯Designing the user interface: Text, colour, images, moving images and sound
Word and image
Why does the way a page looks influence how we interpret the information it contains? This free course, Word and image, will examine how typography and images can be combined to improve literary creativity and allow a document to communicate more readily with the reader.
Learn more ❯Word and imageRead more about the power of images
Detecting fake images
Is seeing believing, or have we all become a bit cynical with the rise of fake news? Read on as Patrick Wong shares some tips on how to detect a fake image.
Read now ❯Detecting fake images
A brief history of the lens
Have you ever thought about the history of the lens, how technology has impacted on what the human eye can see, and extended the possibilities of what humans could explore?
Read now ❯A brief history of the lens
Witnessing war through a smartphone lens
Wherever there are protests, conflicts and wars, the smartphone camera has become instrumental. Protests captured on camera can spark public debate and help trigger political change – as was the case with the Arab Spring.
Watch now ❯Witnessing war through a smartphone lens
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