Episode 13: The Poor Image

Hito Steyerl's Defense of the Poor Image

Hito Steyerl was born in 1966 and quickly became prominent in Germany's filmmaking circles. She's interested in how images and motifs are spread worldwide due to globalization, militarization, and surveillance migration. Steyerl's work defies convention by layering metaphors on top of metaphors and painting satire over serious subjects. One clear thing throughout Steyerl's work is that she wants the audience to think about the topic as much as she did.

In this episode, I share Steyerl's concept of a poor image. According to Steyerl, a poor image symbolizes this democratization and is a way to resist image commodification. A bad image is an image that has been degraded through technological reproduction. The degradation is a loss of quality and integrity in the image.

Listen to this episode and learn Steyerl's definitions of a poor image, how it can be used to exploit vulnerable communities, market cheap products, the significance of poor image in media, and the value of a poor image.

Key Talking Points of the Episode:

[02:14] How to transform an image

[04:03] High versus low resolution images

[08:07] Valid arguments against the poor image 

[10:12] How poor image can be used to exploit vulnerable communities

[12:06] The significance of a poor image

[14:01] The value of a poor image

Magical Quotes from the Episode:

"A poor image is any image that has been distributed or viewed through digital technology, posted on the Internet or shared on social media."

"A high-resolution image is more immersive, visually appealing and of higher quality than a low-resolution image."

"A bad image is only created as a result of being viewed, distributed, modified, and circulated in a digital landscape."