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Transhistoricizing the Drone: A Comparative Visual Social Semiotic Analysis of Pigeon and Domestic Drone Photography
Örebro University, School of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences.ORCID iD: 0000-0001-5554-4492
Department of Sociological Studies, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, England.
2022 (English)In: Photography and Culture, ISSN 1751-4517, E-ISSN 1751-4525, Vol. 15, no 4, p. 327-351Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

This article seeks to situate drone imagery within a more extensive lineage of practice by focusing on one particular form with which it is comparable: pigeon photography. Using a combination of visual social semiotic analysis, literature from Drone Studies, and archival research, it highlights four overarching characteristics shared between photographs taken by pigeons between 1908 and 1912 and contemporary drone visuals produced by hobbyists: verticality, geographical reimaginations, access to inaccessible places, and aerial self-portraits. In doing so, it aims to develop a better understanding of the social and material affordances/constraints of aerial photography, its meaning potentials and how they may have changed across space and time, and the social relations that are reflected in and shaped by its images. The article concludes by suggesting a nuanced perspective into the relationship between "new" and "old" media, arguing that images taken by drones and pigeons have similarities in their forms and functions, but their creation is guided by different ideological values and bounded by the potentials, norms, and traditions of the time. This perspective builds upon the recent turn in media studies toward transhistorical approaches to place seemingly novel contemporary communication technology within historical patterns of practice and use.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Routledge, 2022. Vol. 15, no 4, p. 327-351
Keywords [en]
drones, pigeons, photography, visual social semiotics, perspective, gaze
National Category
Media and Communications
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-101460DOI: 10.1080/17514517.2022.2116899ISI: 000853788000001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85138388030OAI: oai:DiVA.org:oru-101460DiVA, id: diva2:1698786
Note

Funding agency:

UK Research & Innovation (UKRI)

Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) AH/T012528/1

Available from: 2022-09-26 Created: 2022-09-26 Last updated: 2025-02-07Bibliographically approved

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O’Hagan, Lauren Alex

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