Visual Representation & Well-Being
The project explores the question of how staged visual representation in social media influences the well-being of those portrayed. This concerns first of all the dispositif, i.e. the constellation when taking pictures, in which gender aspects play a role, but also creativity lived out together. With regard to the image motifs, it is a matter of dealing with identity, and this on different levels: People can live out parallel identities, possibly unsuitable for everyday life, or embody and at the same time better define through staging what they are not. In favour of the image concept, the body is often overcome to a certain extent – it is no longer a question of how one looks, but whether the image of which one is a part adequately represents a concept.
Moreover, the staging of certain popular themes often reveals something about socially relevant motifs on a more general level.
Research focus
- Qualitative methods / participant observation
- Embodiment
- Identity
- Gender
Curriculum Vitae
- Assoc. Professor for “Media & Photography”, Ajeenkya DY Patil University, Pune
- Studies University of Trier, University of Utrecht, Loyola College Chennai
- Dr. phil. University of Trier
- Managing Director Cluster of Excellence “Social Networks”, University of Trier & University of Mainz
- Faculty Member Indian Institute of Photography
Publications
- Coming up: Staging the Other – Orientalism in contemporary Media. Arte, Individuo y Sociedad
- Ugly on the Internet. From #authenticity to #selflove. Visual Studies 36 (1), 2021.
- Arrogantly looked at – The status of the recipient in High Fashion Photography Fashion, Style and Popular Culture, Special Issue: Eroticism, Photography & Design 8 (2), 2021.
- “Every frame has some touch of Indian culture to it” – Reflections on an Indian Style of Photography. South Asia Research, 41 (3), 2021.
- Modelling the Self. Music, Dance and Art Therapy 30 (1), 2021.
- Two Media and their Implications. Culture and Society. Journal of Social research 12 (1),
Projects
- You+me no2, digital short film project, with Andrea Sunder-Plassmann (Alanus University)