Visual Communication and Digital Media (MECM20014)

This subject offers a critical analysis of the ways in which contemporary practices of visual communication are being reshaped by digital media. It provides an overview of the digitisation of key visual media such as photography, cinema and video, and addresses the social and political implications of the growing use of digital networks as primary forms for the distribution and consumption of images. On successfully completing this subject, students will have gained an understanding of a wide range of issues affecting contemporary communications.

Students will engage with key issues for 21st century media industries including:

• How professional organisations such as news media and institutions such as courts deal with the changing ground for claims to truth and realism by media such as photography, film and video
• The implications of photo-sharing and social networking websites as new cultural forms for the circulation of images
• The blurring of lines between amateur and professional media production, and the growing use of visual communication by activists and NGOs.