SUMMARY

The globalization of image
JUAN CUETO ALAS

Images that positive-print dreams, images in the service of plundering, images that star at wars and are worth more than gold: the process of colonization was, above anything, the imposition of an iconography on the part of the Other. Today’s globalizing adventure is neither the only nor the most brutal one: the attempt to replace the native imagery with the baroque, wielded by the Spanish conquerors, or the mercantilist zeal instigated by maps of commercial routes spread out before the thirsty eyes of the Dutch sailors laid the groundwork for the ones that were to follow. But the current one bestows on image not only a potential of hate and destruction, but also the ability to become the underwriter of fundamental rights.

The laid table and Marilyn’s scar
MARÍA ANTONIA MATEOS MARTÍNEZ

This paper is an invitation to revisit the milestones in the history of photography: from the initial wonder caused by an invention that was “halfway between chemistry and magic” to its becoming a driving force in the transformation of the way we see. The first productions, marked by idealized pictorial models; the eager turn to more distressing motifs —such as war photography—; the birth of the motion picture or photojournalism... And the course of photography goes further yet as it takes part, in the 20th century, in disciplines that adopt sophisticated technologies —never losing, though, its immense power of seduction.

Are we what we see?
Cultural identities and the screen society
CARLOS LOMAS GARCÍA

Today, man is “surrounded” by all-pervading advertising, which appears before him so that he consumes not only objects, but also more and more advertisements. The reality industries clip, show and interpret certain pieces of information while holding others back and imposing their own versions. In that sense, the role of school is key: it must foster the development of selection and critical assessment skills, rather than keep offering a mere accumulation of traditional knowledge. Mass culture is the mirror on which we put together our view of ourselves: “a different education is urgent”, Lomas tells us. And, judging by the soundness of his points, we had better listen.

Eleven theses for a materialist theory of Photography
PABLO HUERGA MELCÓN

With a review of the concept of image from prehistory to our time, the author sets out to contribute to a materialist philosophic theory of photography, raising the need of a classification into the categories of true/false and formal/material. He confronts us with the consequences of digital manipulation: the distortion of history by the means of technology, says Huerga Melcón, is today a reality in the face of which we are powerless, and the less than remote prospect that technological devices make it possible to remove any trace of image alteration will compel us to “say goodbye to formal photography”.