Image Wars
As the election draws near, the battle of the image has
acquired a frantic momentum. Posters are put up in any available space, then
taken down, smiling, turbaned, clean shaven, mustached, bearded or draped in dupattas, and the inevitable
smutty images shared on social media. Videos
are shared, and a whole industry emerges
for songwriters, performers, printers,
production houses and poster pasters.
Ballot paper symbols arrive looking like a child’s qaida or first alphabet reader - some familiar such as the lion, kite and
cricket bat , some incomprehensible and inevitably comical like the ones shared
by blogger Rameeza Ahmad - an energy
saver bulb, a laptop, an air conditioner, an ostrich and an egg plant – who
would accept a symbol that evokes the phrase “thali ka baingan”!
Statecraft has always depended greatly on images. The Pharoahs
commissioned monumental statues as did the Mesopotamian empires, the Greeks and
Romans, and continuing right into the
twentieth century. Coinage carried the image of the ruler far and wide. It is
difficult to imagine that 21st century states would consider
commissioning statues of their rulers, and even coins are rarely minted with an image of a country’s ruler. Saddam Hussain’s statue was
probably the last of its kind. This is
at least in part due to widespread access to the internet and digital imagery.
Images can no longer be controlled and disseminated by those in power. Great
leaders, public figures, movie stars, become ordinary like us when we can
download or photoshop them on our laptops.
Arjumand Hussain, lost his job as General Manager of Gerry’s
for sharing a cell phone video of lawmaker, Rahman Malik, being refused to
board a PIA plane by passengers annoyed at being delayed to accommodate his
late arrival. But Hussain became a hero overnight. The police in America are
regularly challenged by publically shared cell phone footage of excesses.
At a time when to caricature royalty or politicians was
punishable by death, nursery rhymes were composed disguising political
commentary: Baa Baa Black Sheep against a 13C tax on wool by King Edward I, Rock
a Bye Baby referred to the smuggling of a male child into the birthing room of
the queen to ensure James II had an
heir, Mary Mary Quite Contrary refers to the torture of Protestants by Mary
Queen of Scots. Goosey Goosey Gander was about religious persecution when
Catholic’s were forbidden Latin prayers, even in their homes. The list goes on.
Today, the laws have become more liberal, and cartoonists and photographers can
reach audiences bypassing the editorial control of a newspaper chief.
In their book, “The Mouse that Roared: Disney and the End of
Innocence” Henry A. Giroux and Grace
Pollock reveal that Disney created the concept of EPCOT, “Experimental
Prototype Community of Tomorrow” giving the power to manage society and its
values to corporations, that will in time banish the need for politics
altogether. His white, middle class, suburban values disseminated through
Mickey Mouse and his cartoon colleagues and a string of Disney films, is a
global phenomenon with 13 billion person-hours spent in contact with various
Disney brands.
More than 90 % of all the information that comes to the
brain is visual. We recognize and understand a scene in less than one tenth of
a sec. But visual perception also involves interpretation, analysis and
awareness.
Lina Khatib in her book “Image Politics in the Middle East:
The Role of the Visual in Political Struggle”, suggests
that the Arab uprising led to a strategy of visibility through images. Political
positions are communicated almost exclusively via mass media, digital imagery, posters , messages
on wall, or cartoons. Images of the Twin Towers, Abu Ghuraib, Saddam’s execution
video, Banksy’s graffiti on the Palestinian Israel wall are enduring and
politically influential images.
Hypermedia – e mail, Facebook, mobiles, YouTube, and now Twitter,
Instagram and Snapchat are a serious challenge to the power of governments and
regulatory bodies.
Picasso’s Guernica and Goya’s war paintings were seen by a
few. During the first Gulf war it was possible to impose a ban on live media
coverage. Today, an overwhelming number of images and videos from the Middle East
battlefronts or any corner of the world, are accessible to everyone.
Inevitably, as all with all new technology, it is equally
used for malicious manipulation. Private lives are distastefully exposed. The spread
of false images, known today as “fake news”, by individuals or government
institutions is a new version of yellow journalism, a term ironically associated
with Joseph Pulitzer of Pulitzer Prize fame.
Subliminal messaging dating back to the 50s and visual cryptology the
creation of two Israelis, Moni Naor and Adi Shamir, are even darker uses of
imaging.
Acquiring visual authorship creates opportunities for
performers such as Justin Bieber, who became visible through his songs uploaded
by him on YouTube, or by chance images that go viral such as Arshad Khan aka “Chaiwala”
who went on to became a model, the politician, Sheikh Rashid, dodging detection
to arrive at a public meeting on a motor bike, the outspoken old lady with her
“bik gai hai gorement” rant or tragically, Qandeel Baloch, who made one video
too many.
Durriya Kazi
July 4, 2018
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