Cameras, campuses and the future of politics in an era of imaging technologies

Abstract

The recent explosion and changes in camera technologies has had a bearing on state surveillance, amateur photographic practices, and people’s involvement with camera cultures. Much of urban life is now mediated by photography in different forms—from being caught, often unaware, on CCTVs, to a far more self-conscious engagement with some of the more readily available camera forms. This article is an attempt to open up some of the issues at stake when engaging with this array of cameras, and to think about the stakes involved. Would the manner in which one engaged photography differ if it were produced by a surveillance device rather than by a personal camera? The article is divided into two main parts. The first engages the contexts and nature of surveillance technology, focusing particularly on the CCTV camera. The second locates the CCTV discussion within campus politics and attempts to think about the uneasy and challenging relationship between photography, truth and politics.